More Answers... (06/09/26 Newsletter): Tapping Into Our Senses and Sensibilities

Hi Everyone, 

Here are More Answers... to help you head into the work week. Remember, you can see previous newsletters at askchrista.com/MoreAnswers.

Today’s topic: Tapping Into Our Senses and Sensibilities (to manage our day-to-day blucks...)

Yes, fine, GUILTY: I'm a Jane Austen fan and have been since the mid-80s, so it's not because of all those movies and mini-series of late. It's because of how she wrote about the human condition in such a way as to offer multiple perspectives through each character, and I happen to love that kind of writing.

For example, she wrote in doubles all the time, and not just with her titles: couples abounded, opposites attracted (mostly), duels prevailed, amidst many siblings it was a two-sister or two-brother or two-friend scene that took over the narrative (frequently), and dialogue was typically dyadic. Truly, even in a scene where multiple people convened, it was the exchanged between just two people that advanced the plot, created the tension, or resolved an issue.

And so, when I title a post that includes Sense and Sensibility, I realize I set myself up for some side-eye and eye-rolls. It's OK, I can take it...

(but I *DID* want it to be catchy...)

Tapping Into Our Senses

This is just what it sounds like-- or READS like, and when we're having a case of the "blucks" where we just don't feel up to it, can't seem to get out of our own way, know we have to just get that first step moving, and any other experience that tampers with our ability to feel motivated, it's time to put our brains and absurd thinking that we can "drive" ourselves to be "driven" and rely more on our senses.

In fact, doing this is such an easy and highly accessible thing to do that it seems silly we typically don't do this first: engage our brains with our senses as a way to break ourselves out of a rut.

Touch, taste, smell, sound, and sight are the foundational senses, and when we need a boost-or-break from the day to day (because, well, we just do these days), we have a great technique available to us instantly: tapping into our senses.

What Our Senses Do For Our Brain

I have a Tuscan Blood Orange perfume at my desk that I tap into when I need a pick-me-up. I also use Green Noise and a few other "color noises" to give my brain something else to do while I write, script, record, work, or prepare to present to clients. I have plants in my office and from May - November, I have various flowers outside, but I also have a few regular 'ol paintings and a few incredible photographs friends have provided to me throughout the years: just SEEING them often helps reset my brain.

There are other things I surround myself with also because I learned the value of tapping into my senses a long time ago: it breaks up our days, but also breaks up a few patterns we might be struggling with in our energy and our brains that make day-to-day motivation harder than it needs to be (especially if you do a lot of solo work and/or work remotely-- not work from home, where you might have some options to go into an office, but I mean remotely: like... *no one* from your office is anywhere near you).

My guess is a lot of you do at least some of this, especially after Bed, Bath, and Beyond offered home-based relaxation and spa items for such a long time (I think my Tuscan Blood Orange perfume came from there once upon a time!), and with the fads of squishies and other tactical / sensory items to help with stress and strain became more mainstream.

But what about the deeper, common-sense things we can add to our days to get out of a rut?

Tapping Into Our Sensibilities

Here is what I think we need to do more of: be sensible about what we're able to give, how, to whom, and when. Yes, of course, we often have no control over this in our workplaces-- or do we? We usually have more control over the moments in our workdays, and we can often plan ahead: not always, but "tapping into our sensibilities" is about using common sense to help ourselves out when we get mentally stuck at work and are faced with motivation issues ("in a rut").

Researchers studying self-regulation have long observed that human beings perform better when they align their efforts with available mental and emotional resources rather than attempting to override them through sheer force of will (Baumeister & Vohs, 2016), and I liken this to what we try to do when we aim to "push through" feeling unmotivated.

The truth is there are moments when we need to "push through," but that rarely helps us with the issues of motivation. Many times we can tap into the common sense aspects of getting ourselves going when we feel least wanting of it.

(Literally, Here's a List...)

Here are some ways we can tap into our sensibilities to reset our energy, get the best out of ourselves for that day (whatever "best" might be), and feel less depleted:

Ask ourselves: what's the best use of my energy today? Is it EXACTLY as I had planned or envisioned it? Or are there some adjustments I can make? Can I be flexible with how I use my energy?

Instead of forcing ourselves to do the work exactly as we thought we had to, are there ways to do the work in a more accommodating way to our energy?
(ok, ok-- for those in highly regulated industries, remember that my entire career has been in highly regulated industries, and I know for sure there are SOPs that offer the skeletal requirement for compliance, along with margins for variations, so dig a bit deeper here...)

Can you:

• Move the more challenging or difficult tasks to a different time of the day? (for example,. I'm at my peak for brain-focus work at night when all the noise, questions, and decision-requirements have literally gone home...)
• Can a non-essential or non-critical task be deferred to another date when you're feeling less bluck and more up?
• Can you get a work buddy or friend to take the first few steps of a de-motivating workload with you? 

Most times when we're in a rut, when we feel unmotivated, and when we feel "bluck," it's not always about motivation. It's usually more about whether we have the energy or mental stamina or focus to give what WE want to give at the level (or timeframe) we expect ourselves to give it.

Sometimes the best question we can ask is, "OK, practically speaking, what makes sense for me to do today?"

The "Touch Grass" Thing is Actually a Thing...

The energy mismatch I describe above is one root of feeling "bluck" and demotivated, but so too is how depleted we are from an attention perspective. Here is another "make sense" bit that we rarely consider: is my attention rightfully low after spending so much attention and energy in the last X hours or X days? (or weeks... months...)

There is research on attention restoration (like... 30 year old published research, which means 35+ year old actual research...), and it supports what we talk a lot about now: even brief exposure to natural environments such as greenery, natural light, and restorative settings like those can help replenish mental resources that become depleted through sustained concentration and cognitive effort (Kaplan, 1995). Just ten minutes can make a difference. 

For me, I've always gone for a drive, even when office-bound. I'd say I was taking a break, and I'd take it: 20 minutes out of the office made the difference. I was AWAY. My brain was AWAY. And I was driving, so: not walking while reading email, not sitting at a bench with a nagging sense that I shouldn't be out of the office. I was driving, my brain was consumed with other things, and I was AWAY.

This isn't just a Christa-thing. If we look at recovery literature, it highlights that recovery isn't about the absence of work: it's about detachment from work and giving our brains something else to focus on. It's about breaking habits, patterns, things that are not in service to us (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015). That "something different" might be gardening, walking, cooking, reading, listening to music, spending time with people we enjoy, or engaging in a hobby that requires a completely different set of mental muscles. Or maybe a drive mid-way through a workday, or a walk where you are forced to focus on non-work items.

(and the cool part about this suggestion? You're getting some Senses work AND some Sensibilities work in!!)

Senses and Sensibilities...

Common sense is UNcommon when we are mentally depleted.

When we're at our best, we feel "flow" and naturally adjust. We pace ourselves. We prioritize. We simplify. We give ourselves permission to be human. We feel we're on top of things, and we also feel confident about having the authority over how we are spending our time and using our energy.

When we're stuck, however, we often do the opposite: we clench up. We lose ourselves to the tasks, then furiously spend MORE energy trying to regain motivation. We put pressure on ourselves to FEEL better about the work, which only depletes us further. 

But these are precisely the times when using our senses to break those patterns AND using our sensibilities to fall back on common sense knowledge. Pushing for the sake of getting something done is how we get into the ruts to begin with, right?

Booster for the Week!

In my search for a Booster this week, I found an incredibly insightful article from Gretchen Rubin called, "How to Increase Focus and Productivity Using the Five Senses" from 2023. I have to (sheepishly?) admit I had never heard of her before, nor her work, but I'm a fan now!

Her list of using each of our senses as a way to achieve better focus and productivity-- the two antidotes for feeling "bluck" and demotivated in the workplace!-- is a labor of love. She put a lot into it, and you will get a lot out of it, and it's my Booster for the week to fortify this post and (hopefully!) offer additional tools and insights for you!

With kindness,

Christa

(Helpful? Interesting? Please feel free to forward and invite others to subscribe at askchrista.com/newsletter.)

References

Baumeister, R. F., & Vohs, K. D. (2016). Strength model of self-regulation as limited resource: Assessment, controversies, update. In J. M. Olson & M. P. Zanna (Eds.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 54, pp. 67–127). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.aesp.2016.04.001

Kaplan, S. (1995). The restorative benefits of nature: Toward an integrative framework. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 15(3), 169–182. https://doi.org/10.1016/0272-4944(95)90001-2

Sonnentag, S., & Fritz, C. (2015). Recovery from job stress: The stressor-detachment model as an integrative framework. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 36(S1), S72–S103. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.1924

(remember: most public libraries in the USA offer access to academic papers; however, if yours does not, then Google these papers or chapters to see where they are listed, how you can learn more about them, and how you can find similar papers to learn more about this topic)