Last week, I blogged about physical clutter = mental clutter. Similarly, physical movement = mental movement, and here’s where your two brains come into play:
- The “left brain” is responsible for things like logic, details, words, mathematical functions, privacy, conserving, organizing, and maintaining the status quo.
- The “right brain” is responsible for things like intuition, seeing the big picture, music, motion, images, spatial functions, interacting with people, creativity, and change.
I’ve had several requests recently for tips on how to function more efficiently, and one of the best recommendations I can make is take your right brain for a walk. Running a business and serving clients requires a tremendous amount of concentrated effort, much of which is spent on processing details. To make sure you don’t get too bogged down in analytics—which affects productivity and your ability to see things holistically—you need to make sure you’re engaging your right brain.
The next time you’ve worked for a long stretch on one project, get up and walk around (easier said than done in Tucson’s summer heat, but even around the office helps). Stand for a few minutes in the sunshine and watch the clouds, or listen to some music in your office while stretching. Those kinds of activities engage the part of the brain that needs light, motion, sound, and spatial stimulation. You’ll return to your next task with renewed clarity and energy, both of which are key to functioning optimally.
Tags: Business Coaching, General
