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Why switching off will help your mind switch on

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Here are some everyday numbers that dominate our life…

  • 8 glasses
  • 2 fruit
  • 5 veg
  • 1 hour of exercise
  • 20% of your wage
  • 8 hours of sleep
  • No meat Monday
  • 7 hours and 45 minutes on Facebook per month
  • 29 minutes commuting (one way)
  • 9 hours housework
  • 25 hours eating

Now suddenly, switching off for one hour a day doesn’t seem so bad!

‘Switching off’ – whether it be mentally or digitally – is becoming very popular among the ‘new thinking’ leaders of the world. The Arianna Huffingtons of the workplace who are putting people before profit, (and seeing their profit skyrocket!).

Whether through meditation, turning off phones and screens, or even going for a run, ‘switching off’ and taking personal down time has been shown to lead to the development and strengthen of the disease-fighting gene.

For those of us who simply couldn’t take that lunch break, are too tired before or after work to hit the gym or have to be seen to be working at 10pm, a lack of switching off points to the long term reality that in a year or two, you will be left behind by those around you who have put themselves first and allowed one hour a day of ‘down time’.

The reason is very simple: switching off leads to better, more effective sleep and, this is where we leave it to the professionals:

“And lack of sleep can have a significant impact on our inner lives as well. As the Great British Sleep Survey found last year, poor sleepers are seven times more likely to feel helpless and five times more likely to feel alone – consequences that can affect everything from our relationships to our productivity.

And sleep is linked to one of the most destructive forces in our lives: stress. In fact, work stress keeps 46 per cent of Americans up at night, according to one 2012 study, and stress in general causes 65 per cent of people to lose sleep. Professor Anne-Marie Slaughter put it this way in The Atlantic magazine: “The culture of ‘time macho’ – a relentless competition to work harder, stay later, pull more all-nighters and bill the extra hours that the international dateline affords you – remains astonishingly prevalent among professionals today.”

This is especially true for women. One recent study by professors at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston found that women in highly stressful jobs have a nearly 40 per cent increased risk of heart disease and heart attacks compared with their less-stressed colleagues.

Another study found that women with demanding jobs have a 60 per cent greater risk for type 2 diabetes than their less-stressed peers. And research has shown that stress and pressure from high-powered careers can be a factor in the resurgence of eating disorders in women aged 35 to 60.

For us, as working women who are trying (and succeeding) at having it all, taking one hour for ourselves – a run, a yoga class, a decline of a phone call and flick (off) of the remote – will result in us being happier, healthier, more effective and alert human begins.

Those of us who can give one hour a day to ourselves by switching off, will be able to switch on stronger than ever before.

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Published by Don't Ruin Your Dress

Welcome Ladies and Thank You for joining us! We are Don’t Ruin Your Dress - more specifically we are two best friends wanting to support, encourage and empower young women to be the best they can be at work, at home, in life. We want to inspire women to pursue their goals and ambitions, and to achieve their version of success. We want to give you access to experienced professional women; leaders in their field, who can impart their experience and knowledge, to help you in your career and life. We believe in living a full life, one in which you’re kicking goals at work and laughing loud and pursuing dreams at home. Building professional networks while nurturing friendships. Living a healthy, purposeful life with professional and personal successes along the way. We want to help you learn and grow and break that glass ceiling. We’ll provide you with information, tools, tips, and a place to share and collaborate with a community of women building their careers and finding their path. And along the way we’ll celebrate all the things that make being a woman so great! And we want to hear from you – what challenges are you facing at work? Do you want more time in your day? Is your career stagnating? Don’t know how to find a mentor? Ask Questions, Ask Questions, Ask Questions! Chances are that one of our Mentors has lived it and learned from it, so ask away. Women are capable of anything and together we’re absolutely brilliant!

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