It’s possible to temporarily ‘trick’ your brain into a short additional period of active attention if you’re feeling sluggish and inactive.
To do this, you need to jolt your brain into needing to feel its way around again.
If I’m asked to facilitate a long meeting, I will ask people to move chairs in the afternoon and face a different direction. Just this small movement that changes the view is enough to awaken your consciousness and jolt it into increased attention.
If you’re working on a long report, move to a new part of the room every half an hour or so.
If you’re working on an Excel spreadsheet, change all the fonts to red and green just for half an hour and then change it all back.
These tweaks in perspective can really help to keep you going that bit longer than you really have the energy for.
What are your tips for keeping the brain active? Let us know in the comments below.
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Interesting ideas Graham and makes a lot of sense.
How do you think this could apply to everyday desk work? Could a small team get an afternoon boost from swapping workstations? And could the novelty wear off if done too much perhaps?
Interesting ideas Graham and makes a lot of sense.
How do you think this could apply to everyday desk work? Could a small team get an afternoon boost from swapping workstations? And could the novelty wear off if done too much perhaps??
Yes and yes! Personally, I like to move people around if they’re in the same seat in a workshop or meeting for a day – my own experience is that my memories are less blurred together if my mind’s eye has a different view.
I think day-to-day at desks, this is best taken personally tho, not as a team. so your second view might be a meeting room, coffee shop, cupboard, spare desk, etc. I think enforcing it in groups the whole time would add the risk that you’re breaking peoples’ flow at the same time as enhancing your own.