When You Breathe In, Don’t Forget to Breathe Out

We all hear and search for the messages on the art of focus. We seem to be utterly afraid of detouring from what we are doing.

But a step in whatever we do is like taking a breath. You can’t take in air for too long. At some point, you need to breathe out. Allow yourself to have those breathing out moments.

When I related this analogy to my husband, he told me about a fun design aspect of the online strategy game he likes playing. After an attack you set and finish, there is a “cool-down” period, in which you are not allowed to attack again, but have to do something else, like building new cities or farming.

So allow yourself to breathe out and cool down. Whether it is a short look out of the window, a brief contemplation of what’s been done, standing up and moving around a little, or doing something different.

If you observe yourself being afraid to be away from your project for too long, support yourself by using a timer and when it goes off, go back to your projects or activity and take the next “breath” of it.

Thank you for reading! This article is a briefly modified and extended excerpt from Self-Gamification Happiness Formula: How to Turn Your Life into Fun Games.

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About the author:

Victoria is a writer, instructor, and consultant with a background in semiconductor physics, electronic engineering (with a Ph.D.), information technology, and business development. While being a non-gamer, Victoria came up with the term Self-Gamification, a gameful and playful self-help approach bringing anthropology, kaizen, and gamification-based methods together to increase the quality of life. She approaches all areas of her life this way. Due to the fun she has, while turning everything in her life into games, she intends never to stop designing and playing them.