The Messy Middle — Arjun Desai

When I come home from work, I usually flop on the couch. Time to rot! But… my brain hasn’t fully turned off from work. And I tend to pick up my phone and look at email or Slack.

So even if my body is trying to decompress, my brain isn’t. And I realize this is the worst of both worlds — I’m not doing quality work nor am I resting. The messy middle.

I was reflecting this week that I need to be more mindful of my mental state. It’s time to try doing one thing at a time. Some of the places I’m experimenting:

Exercise: Focus only on my music & lifting. Try not to check anything else — including texts, Instagram, or asking AI a question.

TV: When watching a show, focus on finishing the whole episode. Truly enjoy it instead of multitasking.

Meals: When eating alone, try to enjoy one meal without watching YouTube or multitasking. Savor each bite!

Hopefully, this can alleviate some of the anxiety in between. How do you approach this?