Bring attention to what you consume

“The first step to feng shui-ing your subconscious is to bring intention to what you consume,” says Griffiths. “While it would be unreasonable and unrealistic to filter everything you encounter, it is helpful to know that what you engage in has a direct correlation to the ideas and solutions you might later come up with. Knowing this is enough to reboot your hard drive in order to recalibrate your mood and creativity.”

Pay attention to just how much informational overload is being piled onto your mind, at work and outside of it. Are you often multi-tasking? Second screening? Endlessly scrolling without really pausing to take anything in? All those habits will contribute to overwhelm.

Take regular breaks

We can’t be on full power and full speed 24/7. That’s a recipe for burnout. Make time and space within the working day to stop what you’re doing, step away and breathe for a bit. Doing this regularly will mean that when the working day is done, you’re not suddenly swamped by all the stuff you’d been putting off.

Give yourself space to daydream

Griffiths and Medlicott are huge proponents of the power of daydreaming, a powerful skill that will help you clear out your subconscious and give it room to breathe. “Many of us know that our subconscious is responsible for the dreams we have at night, but it’s also in operation when we daydream,” Medlicott says. “A landmark study by the University of British Columbia showed that – contrary to scientists’ expectations – the brain is very active when we daydream. While we consciously power off and let our thoughts wander away, our subconscious is at work sifting through our recent experiences and seeing what can be put to use.”

Griffiths adds: “You can engage the daydreaming state by doing something rhythmic and repetitive that leaves your mind free to wander (you may already know your typical daydream triggers, such as getting out for a walk or even just staring out the window). It’s important to timebox these sessions so that they don’t run on too long, but doing this regularly is a great way to reboot your subconscious hard drive and reap the cognitive benefits as a result. What’s more, these regular breaks help to prevent the neurological accumulation of stress in the brain so that you can better manage your time and learn to truly switch off when closing your laptop at the end of the day.

“In a world where burnout rates are continuing to climb, daydreaming provides the perfect way to not only enhance your creativity, mood and success but also wade through the swamp of our oversaturated subconscious to find new, energetic ideas. It’s also a restorative practice that can help build cognitive resilience and protect us from burnout so that we can be more effective at work, and truly switch off when we’re at home.”

Chris Griffiths and Caragh Medlicott are the authors of The Focus Fix: Finding Clarity, Creativity And Resilience In An Overwhelming World.

How practising ‘subconscious feng shui’ can help you create healthy work boundaries