Headspace

What is headspace? It’s time out from the normal, from the projects that keep your mind busy, from the routine activities and the abnormal. Where and how do you create an environment that allows your head to have some space?

Headspace is about where you go to get space to think. At the end of a full-on day of face-to-face or Zoom meetings, you might leave your work thinking you’ve finished everything. But have you?

This is the time that  I will take a “headspace walk” and go out in the wind and rain, or sun and shorts. Before I have even made it to the river, which is an eight-minute walk from my house,  I will have stopped several times to leave a little voice message, send a quick email or text about something that has popped into my head and needs concluding.

This happens because I’ve changed my environment and my mind can breathe again. It doesn’t have to be at the end of the day, any time of day works if that suits your working environment or the time available. Just be aware of any presenteeism kicking in – where the little voice in your head states that you should be sitting continuously at a desk to be productive.

Your brain is a massive computer. I like to think of everything inside my head as a sort of mind palace or mind cathedral full of endless knowledge, memories and thoughts. Some of the time I know exactly where things are, all beautifully organised and easily accessed whereas at other times it’s all a bit lost in there resembling a teenager’s bedroom. I’m reminded of the scene in the Harry Potter movies in Dumbledore’s office with the Pensieve. Harry is given someone’s teardrop which he drops into the magic font and then when he sticks his head into the water, he can see the other person’s memory. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to file certain things inside your head and drop them into a memory jar that you can scroll through and pick out as and when you needed?

Try to create an environment where you can get some space for your head. A headspace walk could be 20 minutes around the block or two to three hours long, with your headphones in listening to audiobooks, podcasts, music or making phone calls. I did this recently where I must have made a dozen phone calls over two hours whilst walking. The massive bonus was that my conversations were distraction-free!
No social media pop-ups on the screen in front of me. No things in the office calling me to work on them. I was giving undivided attention to the other person on the phone.

A headspace walk is actually giving undivided 100% attention to other people or 100% to yourself. And that’s why it’s so brilliant. With or without headphones in, listening to the noises of the river, the birds or the simple sound of silence is great for the soul. Give yourself a mental reboot by giving your head some space.