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digital detox

Indie

Sober Up Your Monkey Mind

The (Drunken) Monkey Mind

This is perhaps the aptest description for your mind I’ve heard. Buddha described the human mind as being filled with “drunken monkeys.” In other words, he is saying that without discipline, our mind can be a wildly uncontrolled space. (Forgive me, as much as I searched, I couldn’t find a direct citation here – it seems like fairly common knowledge – but if you’d like to dive deeper into the origins of this expression – forgive me twice because here’s a Wikipedia article).

Your brain wants to work and it’s not always linear. On any given day, we have over 6,000 thoughts.  We’ve trained it to work. Of course, there’s nothing inherently wrong with this, but there is another integral piece of the puzzle here. The brain also needs rest, and our hearts and minds sometimes need a break.

Test it out.

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Indie

Availability Creep

Availability Creep

Availability creep is my current nemesis, and it’s yours too.

As I sit here in my snowy retreat in the woods, I find myself checking – and replying to – my work email. I came here to escape and get away from the hustle of my day-to-day. Yet I keep dragging myself back into it, afraid I’ll miss something, or checking in just out of habit. Even writing this short article I’ve checked it three four lots of times.

As a card-carrying, somewhat-reticent, member of the Millennial generation, I admit I live my life for my free time. While I love working, growing, and being a professional. Let’s be honest though, I do all of this in pursuit of my ideal personal life. The harder I work, the more I can enjoy outside of work. The more success I see in the office directly translates to more awesome vacations like this one.

For me, as with many young workers, I’m building the life I want to live.

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