Improve Your Mood With T5

One of the things I've done over the years that consistently improves my mood over many days is what I've come to call "T5." It stands for "take the time to think." I have never read anything about it. No books seem to exist on the subject. The practice has grown out of the writing exercises from Undemoralize Yourself.

To T5, all you have to do is sit still without doing anything. How often do you do that? For me, I always have lots to do, and if I'm not doing something, I'm watching a movie or listening to music. My mind is almost continually engaged.

When I sit still, after about fifteen minutes, my mind seems to go into a defrag mode. Unresolved issues bubble up and get resolved. My mind seems to naturally sort itself out. It feels almost as if I had things I needed to think about that were pushed to the back of my mind, waiting for an opportunity.

I always have a paper and pen handy when I T5 because I always get solutions to problems or things I want to remember to do later, and it interferes with the process to try to remember something. So I write it down. Then I can take my mind off it.

After a half hour or an hour, I feel so much better, and I feel better for days afterwards. But every time I do it, I always have to make myself do it. I always do it reluctantly. I don't like to sit still. I don't want to think. But I do it anyway because the rewards are so great. And I've gotten into the habit of setting a timer, usually for an hour, sometimes for less, and I stay put until the timer goes off. Then I am not waffling about how much longer I should sit there. My mind can settle in and do its thing.

You can also T5 while walking if you have a place to walk where you won't run into people you know.

If you want a clear, peaceful mind, if you want to raise your mood, try T5. I think you'll be surprised at how well it works.

Adam Khan is the author of Principles For Personal Growth, Slotralogy, Antivirus For Your Mind, and co-author with Klassy Evans of How to Change the Way You Look at Things (in Plain English). Follow his podcast, The Adam Bomb.