Leadership, Kindness, and Wellness: The Five-Minute Favor

One of my leadership mentors gave me some great advice that I try to incorporate into my professional and personal life. Coined by Wharton University Professor Adam Grant in his bestselling book Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success, the “five-minute favor” is a simple practice of being in the mindset of carving out just five minutes of your day to do something that will benefit the lives of others in your network – without expecting anything in return 

I’ve strived to incorporate this great advice into my routines, and it has also prompted me to build a virtual toolbox filled with quick ways I can refresh, recalibrate, and focus in five-minute increments. Here is my top list of suggestions:

Take a vacation without leaving your desk

Recently featured in Travel and Leisure Magazine, Window Swap is a website that lets you gaze out of other people’s windows all over the world. Today it first opened for me on a beautiful landscape in Kazan, Tatarstan, and the next image was a farm scene from Helensville, New Zealand.

Just breathe

I was surprised to read that “Zoom Apnea” is a now a real phenomenon, Dr. Susan Pollack blogs that over a decade ago, researchers noticed that a majority of people (possibly eighty percent) unconsciously hold their breath, or breathe shallowly, when texting or emailing. She called it “screen apnea.” Dr. Pollack believes that “Zoom apnea is the newest manifestation of screen apnea” and offers guidance on how to make sure you are breathing in web meetings. Consider the following:

• The “5-4-3-2-1” tool: A mindfulness tool that helps you ground in the present
• Three breathing exercises from Dr. Andrew Weil
• Or, if you only have one minute, try the triangle breathing exercise by Erin Klassen

Take a quick stretch break

Here are some recommendations:

• Seated Qi Gong Break (3 minutes)
• or if you have a little more time, consider supporting your local yoga studio or take an online class, like an Accessible Yoga Practice That You Can Do In A Chair with Jivana Heyman (17 minutes)

Prevent eye fatigue

Are your eyeballs tired with all of the screen time? Prevent eye fatigue with six exercises for tired eyes.

Mix up your routines

Break out of ruts and get out of the same routine and don’t let “Groundhog Syndrome” drag you down.

So, to combat Groundhog Day Syndrome, you need to break out of ruts, get out of the same routine (although we have to realize that there is some comfort in routines), and focus on the moment – make new, and lasting memories. Although routines may be familiar and comforting, they also lead to a perception that time is passing more quickly, and the world is passing us by.

Have a glass-half-full perspectives

I regularly visit Reasons to be Cheerful, a non-profit editorial project that is tonic for tumultuous times. Founded by artist and musician David Byrne, through stories of hope, rooted in evidence, Reasons to be Cheerful aims to inspire us all to be curious about how the world can be better, and to ask ourselves how we can be part of that change.

Incorporate this toolbox into your work-life

And finally, consider how you may use some of these tools in your work life. Harvard Business Review recently outlined some strategies such as stepping back when you get caught in unproductive thought patterns, in “Why Leaders Need Meditation Now, More Than Ever.”

Margot Lyon is Atla’s Director of Business Development. When she’s not working, parenting, cooking, or managing overall life in a pandemic, she practices mindfulness and yoga. Margot recently earned a certificate in Accessible Yoga Teacher Training, and she looks forward to serving students of all abilities and backgrounds.