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Airplane Mode

Your “mental battery” is like a “smartphone's battery”. The more you use it, the more it needs recharged. 

Your phone battery is hard to miss because it's on every screen, but you've got to look for signs that your “mental battery” is running low - 

• You become moody or can't concentrate,
• You feel tired or emotional,
• You get stressed, or maybe you get one of those stress headaches.

These are signs that your mental battery needs recharged.

Your smartphone needs a battery to run, and we need mental energy, too. But we tend to worry more about our smartphone than our mental health, and that's why we burn out!

The fastest way to charge your iPhone up is to turn it off and plug it in. But your mind doesn't turn off because it runs everything else, and that's why it keeps working even when you're asleep.

But phones have an “airplane mode”. Your phone's still on, but you're disconnected from the Internet, so you don't use as much battery. And when you're charging your phone, it's the next best thing to turning it off.

It's a good way to recharge your mental battery, too, because the internet burns a lot of mental energy. Email, messaging and texting, the apps you use, your news sites and social media, all drain your mental battery.

Your concentration breaks, your mind races, and your thoughts collide. But when you go on “airplane mode”, you quiet your mind down and preserve both your phone's battery “and” your mental battery.

It doesn't take much. Fifteen-minutes in airplane mode helps your battery health and your mental health. And I don't care how busy you are or how important you are - you can work four, 15-minute breaks into your daily routine where you go on airplane mode. And when you do, there are things you can do to recharge your mental battery.

Close your eyes for 15 minutes, meditate or take a walk. 

Mix it up. You can stretch your body out, play with the dog or have a healthy snack.

These are good ways to recharge your mental battery while you're in airplane mode.

This technique works because we're building on a habit you already have. You already manage your smartphone battery, and you can manage your mental battery at the very same time.

Relaxation is a skill, and it takes practice. So make a plan, set some goals, monitor your progress, and hold yourself accountable.

Remember, the more time you spend in airplane mode, the more mental battery you're going to have when you need it the most.