Downtime Is a NEED to have for Speech Therapists, not a NICE to have!
When was the last time you recharged your brain? As speech-language pathologists (SLPs), we are so busy helping our students, writing reports, taking care of others, and so much more that we forget about the essential - caring for ourselves and resting.
Downtime has a bad rap in our society. Most of us think of rest as an absence of work and associate it with laziness. But nothing can be further from the truth.
The reality is that your brain needs downtime to rejuvenate and replenish its resources. Rest encourages creativity, improves your mood, and boosts your performance and even productivity. It's what your brain thrives on and needs!
Still not convinced that your brain needs some downtime? Keep reading.
Why do SLPs need some downtime?
Your brain has two main modes. One is action-oriented and lets your mind concentrate on meetings, supporting students, and getting our tasks done during the day. The action-oriented part of the brain is responsible for problem-solving and making sense of the information you process. Obviously, being focused and task-oriented is critical for life and work, but another mode can also be helpful.
This is called the "default mode network (DMN)," which might be known for unfocused or rest time. This is the part that switches on when your brain takes a break from focused activities and partaking in things like daydreaming, thinking about the intentions of others, future thinking, recalling memories. These are things we do when we are just "thinking" or brainstorming without a specific goal in mind.
For instance, when you are reading a book and realize that you haven't absorbed anything because you were thinking of a related memory or daydreaming about how the book will end. Does this sound familiar? Have you ever solved a really big problem, come up with a new idea or had a "light bulb" moment when you were in a state of rest? Spending time in the unfocused part of your brain is crucial and can actually be really productive.
What counts as downtime?
Don't confuse downtime with leisure activity. Watching a movie, scrolling through your social media, reading a book, doing a puzzle, catching up with a friend are great activities to spend your free time with, but those don't count as downtime.
Wait...What?!
All of those activities require processing information, and we know that SLPs do plenty of processing! What we really need is to switch our focus to the unfocused part of our brain.
We do that by letting our brains wander and let them spend more time in the default mode network. The way you do this is by doing less - by sitting and staring or practicing mindful meditation. To just be vs. just do.
If this is not your cup of tea, however, you can try running, vacuuming, gardening, or any mindless task that doesn't require your brain to work.
How to take some downtime when you are too busy?
Being busy is the biggest challenge that we SLPs face. We have to do so much, and the time we have at our disposal is never enough. But truth to be told, if we want to be more productive and boost our performance, we have to allow our brain to take some downtime. Here is how we can do it:
Schedule it. It's hard to relax when you have so much on your plate. So, start by planning on taking a few minutes daily for downtime. You know your schedule and when it is the best time to take a few minutes to rest. Some suggestions might be when you first wake up, and after lunch or evening walk, or when you are going to bed, make time to just be.
Start small. Starting small and then building up is essential. You can start with 5-10 minutes of watching the leaves in the trees or admiring something in nature, or people-watching at a cafe or whatever makes your heart happy.
Eat a frog every morning (well, not a real frog). Eating a frog, i.e., starting your day by doing the most challenging task first, is of utmost importance. This is especially important if the task is challenging and takes a lot of your mental energy. You can read more HERE about the importance of eating a frog daily and how that will free up time for letting your brain rest, maybe even in between the more difficult tasks.
Follow the bliss. Do the things you love and the activities that rejuvenize you and energize you. Make time for the activities that fill your day with enjoyment, even for a few minutes, no matter how busy you feel, and yes, we SLPs often get many things on our plate, so our brains need this!
Our society promotes a culture of productivity and doing. It's no secret that we live in a world of information overload and what we really need is to build some downtime habits that make us more productive, promote our creativity, give us meaning and increase our self-awareness.
Follow the simple yet effective steps above and let us know if you have any questions- we are here for you.