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Does your to-do list feel endless? Try this short, guided practice to help you reflect, reconnect, and release the pressure to do it all perfectly.
How To Do This Practice:
- Find a Comfortable Posture: Sit or stand tall with a sense of dignity, grounded, yet relaxed.
- Take Three Cleansing Breaths: Inhale twice through the nose, then exhale slowly through the mouth. Repeat this three times to settle into the moment.
- Scan Your Body from Head to Toe: Gently bring your attention to each part of your body, noticing sensations and letting go of any tension as you move downward.
- Visualize Your To-Do List as Floating Bubbles: Imagine each task as a bubble above you. Observe them without judgment, simply noticing their presence.
- Ask Reflective Questions: Is it the number of tasks that’s overwhelming, or is it fear of forgetting, failing, or letting someone down? What’s truly fueling your stress?
- Recenter with Gratitude and Self-Compassion: Acknowledge that being needed is a form of purpose. Remind yourself that even if not everything gets done, you are still enough and already whole.
Explore more talks, workshops, and resources at ggsc.berkeley.edu/speaking.
Today’s Happiness Break Guide:
KIA AFCARI is the director of Greater Good Workplaces at GGSC. Kia grounds his work in the science of well-being, prosociality, and contemplative practices and uses creative methods like “instant dance parties” and Boal-informed theater techniques to achieve results.
Watch Kia’s TED Talk on reshaping diversity, equity, and inclusion here: https://tinyurl.com/483tdjp5
Related Happiness Break episodes:
Making Space For You: https://tinyurl.com/yk6nfnfv
Make Uncertainty Part of the Process: https://tinyurl.com/234u5ds7
Who Takes Care of You: https://tinyurl.com/5xmfkf73
Related Science of Happiness episodes:
Are You Following Your Inner Compass: https://tinyurl.com/y2bh8vvj
How Holding Yourself Can Reduce Stress: https://tinyurl.com/2hvhkwe6
How To Show Up For Yourself: https://tinyurl.com/56ktb9xc
Follow us on Instagram: @ScienceOfHappinessPod
We’d love to hear about your experience with this practice! Share your thoughts at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.
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Transcription:
DACHER KELTNER: I’m Dacher Keltner, welcome to Happiness Break, where we take a minute to reconnect with ourselves and the world around us. Many of us feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of tasks, meetings, messages, and expectations at work. But research tells us that it’s not always the workload itself that leads to overwhelm, it’s how we relate to it. When we feel we have no control or space to pause, our stress response ramps up, reducing our clarity and creativity.
So today, we’re reflecting on happiness in the workplace with Kia Afcari, the Director of Greater Good Workplaces here at UC Berkeley. He begins with a simple but powerful question: Is there anything inherently overwhelming about having too much to do? Here’s Kia.
KIA AFCARI: Hi, I’m Kia Afcari, when you’re ready, take a moment to make yourself comfortable in your chair sitting in a way that is tall and with a sense of dignity. If you’re standing, stand tall.
Let's take three deep breaths together, starting with two short inhales and one long exhale.
Breathing in, breathing in again, then the long exhale. Breathing in, breathing in again, and another long exhale. Let’s take another deep and long breath, perhaps the deepest breath you’ve taken today. Breathing in once again and another long exhale.
Let's take a moment to think about all the things that you are supposed to do. Imagine all those things, each of them have their own bubble floating in the sky above you. Each of these things is something that you are supposed to do. Let's think about each of these things for just a moment. Is there anything inherently stressful about having lots of these bubbles above your head?
Where then does the stress and overwhelm come from? Is it actually about having too much to do? Or is it actually about performance anxiety? Wondering if we'll be able to perform well? Or is it the concern of letting someone down? Is it about the concern of forgetting something? About letting one of these balls drop or one of these spinning plates fall and shatter to the ground? What is it exactly that is causing a sense of stress and overwhelm? Is it the sheer number of items or is it some other worry?
Let's take a deep breath, breathing in, in again, and a long exhale.
Ask yourself these two questions: What if everything doesn't get done? Will the world still be okay? Will I be ok?
And secondly: can we find a bit of gratitude in the fact that we are needed for these things to get done?
What about those that feel aimless because they don’t have a sense of purpose and don’t have a lot of things to do?
Is there something that you are grateful for in all those bubbles of things that you must do?
How can you let go and know that ultimately, in this exact moment, you are here and you are whole?
As you imagine those bubbles drifting gently above you, know that it's okay to release the pressure to juggle them all perfectly. Some may pop, some may float away and still, you are enough. Still, you are here.
Notice that, in general, you tend to get things done and the world continues. Notice the quiet beneath the business. The stillness inside the swirl.
Let yourself rest in that space. Even just for a moment. Knowing that wholeness isn’t found in getting everything done.
It’s found in being present, in breathing, in remembering that you are already whole, just as you are.
You can return to this moment anytime. Thank you for taking a moment to ground yourself.
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