Neuroscience can optimize your brain for remote work
Neuroscientist Dr. Tara Swart's advice for training your brain to make you as productive as possible while working from home.
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00:00 If you are working from home, then not only does that have a really different impact on your brain
00:04 from what we've been used to previously from working from offices with other people in a very different environment,
00:10 but also the fact that you have to be conscious of separating what's home life and what's work life.
00:15 To get the best possible day working remotely from home really starts with your sleep the night before.
00:26 So I always say think about how you're going to make tomorrow good by having a good night time ritual.
00:32 You need to have a room that's of a cool enough temperature, that is preferably dark and quiet.
00:38 You could use a particular essential oil or smell to anchor yourself to sleep.
00:43 If you use that every single night, it creates a neuronal connection in your brain between that smell and falling asleep.
00:49 And you can also use other essential oils during the day to transition from the end of the work day to home,
00:55 or from morning to afternoon to keep your brain engaged.
00:58 Try to fall asleep and wake up at regular times each day within a one hour window.
01:04 When you wake up, have some sort of morning ritual so that you almost go into autopilot
01:09 and don't use up too much brain power thinking about what you have to eat or drink or wear
01:14 and what you have to do with other members of the household before you start your work day.
01:18 When we sit at a desk all day, particularly if we're stressed, we tend to do shallow breathing or even breath holding.
01:27 And a lot of people when they're looking at their phone or a screen, hold their breath when they're reading an email or they're looking at social media.
01:34 So just do a check in with yourself. Are you holding your breath? Are you breathing in a shallow way?
01:39 And just do 10 deep breaths at your desk.
01:42 Preferably stand up and you take those 10 breaths. Inhale really deeply.
01:47 Try to make your exhale as long as or even a bit longer than your inhale.
01:51 And that should give your brain a bit of a boost.
01:54 A quick tip is to associate a certain smell, preferably with good quality and potency essential oils, to your morning routine.
02:03 And then a really strong, well chosen for you smell that helps you transition from,
02:09 "Okay, this is the end of my work day and now I'm going to do something to transition, whether it's exercise, take a bath."
02:17 To tell your brain that work is now done and you're going to move into home and family mode.
02:22 Ideally take about half an hour to make that transition to really give your brain time to come down from the mode that it's been in and move into a different mode.
02:31 Once you feel that you can make that transition and move calmly into family mode,
02:36 it's a really, really good sign that you've used neuroplasticity to allow yourself to move from work you to home you in a really great way.
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