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Come on, the kids are home 24/7, but we’re not going to let that get us down! It’s true that midlife can be a difficult time, but it also has its advantages, not least of which is having time to yourself instead of spending it on the subway. Here are three tips to turn your 40s to your advantage + a gift at the end of the article!
Boredom promotes creativity
The idea that boredom promotes creative thinking is not new. As far back as 2014, studies showed the benefits of a moment of deep boredom for creative performance.
In a first study, researchers Sandi Mann and Rebekah Cadman from the University of Central Lancashire asked a group of subjects to copy telephone numbers from a phone book. They then gave them a creative thinking test. They found that subjects who had completed the boredom task beforehand generated significantly more ideas, and these were more out of the ordinary than those in the control group who had not had the boredom task beforehand. They then extended their study by adding a third group: prior to the creative thinking task, this new group simply had to read the phone book. As a result, this group did even better on the creative thinking test. Boredom is at its highest when an individual is passive. And the more passively bored a person is, the more likely he or she is to be able to think creatively afterwards. Indeed, once you start to get bored and go off into your thoughts, you go beyond what is conscious, letting the connections run freely in your brain without having any control over them.
Today’s problem is that we rarely find ourselves in these moments of boredom. We suppress them. We exterminate every moment of boredom in our lives thanks to cell phones. With this in mind, journalist and entrepreneur Manoush Zomorodi has created the “Boredom and Genius” program. Participants in this program reduced the time they spent on their phones by 90%, and gained 70% more time to be bored, but above all to think, ramble and be creative!
Build your immune system by developing your self-confidence
Feelings of self-efficacy (an individual’s belief in his or her ability to successfully complete a task, learning, challenge or change) in the face of stressful elements are said to have an impact on the immune system, according to an experiment conducted by Albert Bandura of Stanford University, among others. In this study, Bandura demonstrated that a low belief in one’s abilities was linked to a strong acceleration of the heart rate, a high activation of cortisol (stress hormone), and a drop in immune defenses. Conversely, an individual with a strong sense of self-efficacy maintained very good immune defenses in the face of stress.
A tried-and-tested exercise is to visualize or write down your successes. Think back one by one to situations in which you felt pride. Try to re-experience the emotions you felt at the time (joy, pride, relief…). Then try to think about why. Why was this moment a success for you? Is it pride in teamwork? The fact of having helped someone? Did you step out of your comfort zone and surpass yourself? Find out the ins and outs of what motivates and enriches you, so that you can look for this type of situation more often, and thus anchor a feeling of effectiveness.
Develop your immune system with cardiac coherence
The concept of cardiac coherence stems from medical research in neuroscience and neurocardiology. Cardiac coherence is a breathing method for controlling and attenuating the effects of stress. Its effectiveness is based on a regular breathing rhythm that regulates the heartbeat and the autonomic nervous system (part of the nervous system that regulates certain automatic bodily functions: digestion, breathing, heartbeat, etc.). In this way, the intensity of the effects of stress is reduced, and our immune defenses increase.
To achieve effective cardiac coherence, inhale slowly and deeply for 5 seconds, then exhale for 5 seconds. Do this for 5 minutes, 3 times a day. The effects on your body are immediate.
We can’t possibly give you these tips without giving you actionable steps you can take immediately. That’s why we’re giving you free access to our Better Self application, where a personalized program tailored to your needs awaits you. First, fill in this questionnaire about your current professional needs, then discover your profile and download our app where exercises based on your answers to the questionnaire await you.
Enjoy your discovery!
Author: Anaïs Roux
