Brain breaks

Your brain works 24/7/365. Even when you are sleeping, your brain is continuing to produce new cells, maintaining your heartbeat and breathing, and engaging in dreams. Much of this occurs at the unconscious level allowing you to focus your attention on higher level functions such as problem solving and decision making. Are there times when you feel like your brain is on overload? The harder you think, the less effective your thinking becomes. You can only see the problem and not the solution. The remedy for this is to give your brain a break. Step away from whatever you are focusing on and engage in a totally unrelated activity. This might involve taking a walk, playing with your pet, listening to your favorite piece of music, or napping. When you return to the problem at hand, you will find that you have renewed energy and the ability to tackle whatever is in front of you. Did you know that some of the greatest discoveries of our time occurred while the person was sleeping? They include the structure of the DNA molecule and the periodic table. We are often told that we should sleep on a problem believing that the solution can appear while we are doing so. The next time you are presented with a difficult situation, consider taking time to give your brain a break and see what happens. What is a problem that you are dealing with that would benefit from giving your brain a break?