Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to turn down the volume. By consciously
Speaker 1: substituting less stimulating activities for more stimulating ones, we can
Speaker 1: feel less anxious and more calm. Today's tip, like some
Speaker 1: others this week, comes from Chris Bailey's new book, How
Speaker 1: to Calm Your Mind. In this book, Chris shares strategies
Speaker 1: for being more productive by reducing anxiety. When your mind
Speaker 1: is racing, it is hard to accomplish much. But when
Speaker 1: you aren't flitting from thing to thing, you can relax
Speaker 1: and get more done. Chris notes that some activities are
Speaker 1: far more stimulating than others. Our brains get a dopamine
Speaker 1: hit from things that are novel or changing quickly, or
Speaker 1: are alarming in some way. Picture the hyped up face
Speaker 1: of a child interacting with two screens at once, a
Speaker 1: game on a Kindle and streaming a video on an iPad.
Speaker 1: We could laugh about that, but honestly, many adults do
Speaker 1: similar things all the time, theoretically watching a zoom meeting
Speaker 1: while checking email, or scrolling social media while watching a
Speaker 1: TV show, or having podcasts on in the background while
Speaker 1: you're doing something you are trying to focus on. Just
Speaker 1: as with a kid, it can get you in a
Speaker 1: hypercharged frame of mind. The antidote is to go on
Speaker 1: a stimulation fast, as Chris calls it in How to
Speaker 1: Calm Your Mind. Well, stimulation sounds like something of a
Speaker 1: good thing, too much of it can make you agitated.
Speaker 1: You can consciously substitute less stimulating activities for more stimulating activities.
Speaker 1: So instead of checking news online, read a real newspaper.
Speaker 1: The news is still there and you will still be informed,
Speaker 1: but you won't also see a million ads and see
Speaker 1: things trying to make you click this way and that.
Speaker 1: Instead of checking email constantly through the day, designate a
Speaker 1: few times when you will deal with it. Four or
Speaker 1: five checkens per day is still quite frequent. You will
Speaker 1: see anything within an hour or two, which allows for
Speaker 1: a rapid response, but you will lower the volume on
Speaker 1: how much stimulation you are getting. If you are looking
Speaker 1: to interact with people, talk with a friend or two
Speaker 1: instead of diving into an online chat. Now there might
Speaker 1: be places for both in life, but I would recommend
Speaker 1: starting with the real life friends and then giving social
Speaker 1: media the time left over. A real conversation with real
Speaker 1: people is nice, but is inherently less hyped up than
Speaker 1: one yanking you from place to place Online. Even shopping
Speaker 1: comes in more stimulating and less stimulating versions. Chris noted
Speaker 1: that online windows shopping was constantly making him feel more stimulated,
Speaker 1: so he cut back on that. Now he only goes
Speaker 1: online to shop if he knows exactly what he is
Speaker 1: buying ahead of time. I'd add that many people make
Speaker 1: themselves anxious by trying to speed things up. There is
Speaker 1: nothing wrong with being expeditious, but if you don't have
Speaker 1: time to listen to a podcast at the speed the
Speaker 1: podcasters spoke, maybe you don't have time for that podcast.
Speaker 1: Yanking it up to two x speed is just going
Speaker 1: to make you feel more hyped up, so turn down
Speaker 1: the volume on over stimulating things. At first, you might
Speaker 1: feel a little bored, like shouldn't I be multitasking? Shouldn't
Speaker 1: I get more done? Reading a newspaper is obviously doing
Speaker 1: one thing, whereas when we are online reading the news,
Speaker 1: we might also be checking email at the same time,
Speaker 1: other messages, and maybe half working on a project, which
Speaker 1: all feels better, but you are probably not doing much
Speaker 1: of consequence, read the paper, then go on to the
Speaker 1: other things. Do it all in sequence. As Chris notes,
Speaker 1: and how to calm your mind, you will feel less
Speaker 1: anxious and far more calm. That is worth playing with
Speaker 1: a little boredom to achieve. In the meantime, this is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening and here's and making the most of
Speaker 1: our time. Hey everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast pod that's b the number four, then Breakfast
Speaker 1: p o D. You can also shoot me an email
Speaker 1: at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com.
Speaker 1: That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio. For
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Speaker 1: favorite shows. Four