So, you have factored in some breaks to your day but it’s important to find something to do in that time or you will just mill around and feel it is all a waste of time.  So what can you do?

- Go for a walk, even if it is just around the block. This doesn’t have to be a trek, although if you have a longer break at lunch, you could go further afield, and even take your lunch with you.  You could also plan to do this at the end of your working day to create a change of mindset once you have finished work

- Practice Mindfulness – you can do this whilst out walking but could equally do it whilst washing the dishes.  It is a skill you can learn and basically involves you focusing on the here and now, now what has or is going to happen.  The aim is to start noticing the finer details of your surroundings, using all of your senses, so that you are really in the moment, shifting your focus from thinking to observing

- Try Meditation – you could learn and practice your own meditation or listen to some guided sessions.  There are plenty online and on YouTube, and my favourite App is Relax Melodies, where you can even put together your own background music or listen to their own short meditations

- Listen to some uplifting music – if you need a bit of an energy or mental boost, put on some uplifting music. Music is a great trigger for feelings and emotions, so I suggest that you create some playlists so that they are ready to go

- Do Self-Hypnosis - this is a learnable skill, but you could also access some pre-recorded hypnosis sessions.  There are plenty out there but contact me if you’d like a Mind Detox hypnosis session

- Yoga – all you need are some comfortable clothes and a yoga mat.  Again there are plenty of yoga tutorials on YouTube (I particularly like Yoga with Adriene) or you could join an evening class or have one to one sessions.

- Exercise – do a short exercise session – get your Personal Trainer to design you a short workout, or if you are doing exercise after work, make it longer, book your PT in so that you have to stop work, or go to the gym

- Check in on someone/connect – all you need to do is pick up the phone or arrange a video chat.  The good news is that you can make it as long or as short as you wish!

Hopefully, there is something here to inspire you, and you might need a different approach depending on stress levels or the time of day.  Have an experiment and see which ones you like the best, and factor them into your working week.

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