Uplifting: What Improved Headspace Really Means in Daily Life
Cut through wellbeing buzzwords and find real headspace. Simple reflections and tips on balance, delegation, reset, recharge, sleep and purpose.
If wellbeing language is everywhere but you still feel drained, this will help you turn buzzwords into something you can actually use.
What Fog of Mind is
Fog of Mind is a place for conversation, reflection, and perspective. No perfect routines, no performance. Just practical ways to find headspace and make life, and work, feel a little lighter.
In this article we will focus on
Technology plays a big role in health and fitness. Trackers, apps, notifications, dashboards, streaks. Useful, but they do not do the basics for you. They cannot create time. They cannot set boundaries. They cannot decide what “better” looks like in your actual life.
That is the point of headspace. Not a trend, not a badge, not a buzzword. It is whatever helps you think clearly, breathe properly, and feel like you are back in the driver’s seat.
Buzzwords are everywhere in wellbeing, and we often repeat them without really understanding what they mean for us. So let’s take a few common ones, strip away the gloss, and put something usable in their place.
Jump to my case study on Meditation or check out Wellbing Buzzword Bingo. Does that resonate?
Work-life balance
I have been lucky enough to have had a decent work-life balance at times, but plenty of people are not so lucky. Work-life balance often comes down to two things:
- Your ability to say “no” without guilt.
- A leader’s willingness to support policy with real behaviour.
France has a “right to disconnect” approach, where companies above a certain size are expected to negotiate rules around out-of-hours contact. (assets.eurofound.europa.eu) The UK has discussed similar ideas, but there is still no explicit legal right to disconnect, with proposals often framed around a code of practice instead. (Lewis Silkin)
A few years ago I had the fortune of a seven-month handover. My predecessor was preparing for retirement. One day he mentioned being contacted while on holiday in Crete. I told him I would not be answering the phone on holiday. He said I would. I stood my ground. I did not take any calls, and I never have. The world kept turning.
Top tip: Before you go on leave, agree boundaries with your line manager. What counts as urgent, who covers what, and what “switching off” looks like in practice.
Delegation
Delegation is a wellbeing tool that no app can replace.
Not the sort that dumps tasks downhill, but the sort that builds trust and removes pressure from one person’s shoulders.
Try this: Write down three tasks you are clinging to. Ask: “Am I doing this because I am the only one who can, or because I am the only one who has?” Then hand one of them over properly, with context, not just instructions.
Reset
“Reset” sounds clean and powerful. In reality, a reset usually needs a change in behaviour, environment, or expectations.
If nothing changes, it is not a reset. It is a pause with the same problems waiting.
Try this: Choose one small, concrete change that signals a reset. A different start time. A different commute. A new boundary. One decision you can point to.
Recharge
Recharge is hard to measure. You can take a week off and still feel drained if the return is chaotic, or if the break is spent recovering rather than resting.
I took a week’s holiday in Spain this year and knew, even as I arrived, that it would not be enough time away from the office. Everyone is different.
Years ago I was constantly tired on a Monday morning. The problem was simple. I was young and spent too much time with my drinking buddies.
Top tip: If you feel jaded after a weekend, audit it. Sleep, alcohol, scrolling, late nights, stress carry-over. Your Monday mood often starts on Friday evening.
Meditation
Meditation is something I have struggled with for years. It has a stereotyped image: sitting cross-legged, uncomfortable, “doing nothing” for five minutes.
That works for some people. It does not work for me.
The Cambridge Dictionary defines meditation as: “the act of giving your attention to only one thing… as a way of becoming calm and relaxed.” (Cambridge Dictionary)
A few weeks ago I went for a lunchtime walk with my Fujifilm X-T50. I wandered around the Barbican, experimenting with a 45mm lens in poor light. For an hour I thought about nothing except what I could see through the viewfinder.
That was meditation for me. Focus, attention, calm. No chant required.
Top tip: Find the thing that holds your attention gently. Photography, cooking, running, drawing, fishing, fixing something, reading, building Lego with your kids. By the way, building Lego is so therapeutic. If it brings you into the moment, it counts.
Sleep hygiene
This is not just about showers and clean sheets. Sleep hygiene is the set of conditions that help your brain and body switch off.
A former colleague told me he could only sleep with the window open and a fan blowing. Fair enough. He found what worked.
I used to live somewhere with constant road noise. It stressed me out. I did something about it. First gel earplugs. Then internal glazing. Eventually, I moved.
That sounds drastic, but the point is simple: you need sleep, and you are allowed to take it seriously. After my depression in 2013, I stopped sleeping as heavily. That is not uncommon, and it is one of the reasons I treat sleep as non-negotiable.
Try this: Change one variable tonight. Temperature, light, sound, caffeine timing, bedtime scrolling, or the time you stop working. One change, then reassess.
Purpose
Purpose keeps us interested. It motivates us. It can pull you forward when your energy is low.
Having purpose makes me feel alive. It is one of the reasons I founded Fog of Mind.
I have spoken to people who feel stuck, bored, or numb because they cannot see what their purpose is anymore. I have walked in those shoes. It is not healthy, and it is not rare.
Top tip: Do a simple two-colour list. Green for what gives you energy, red for what drains it. When I did this on my iPad, almost everything in red was tied to my job description. That was useful information, even if it was uncomfortable.
Wellbeing Buzzword Bingo
Pick the ones you hear most, or the ones you hide behind. Circle what you actually want, not what looks good on LinkedIn.
| Self-care | Work-life balance | Boundary setting | Digital detox | Sleep hygiene |
| Meditation | Journaling | Mindful walking | Reset | Recharge |
| Purpose | Resilience | Headspace | Burnout prevention | Stress management |
| Psychological safety | Connection | Community | Gratitude | Self-compassion |
| Values-led | Emotional regulation | Growth mindset | Nature therapy | Breathwork |
A simple experiment for this week:
Choose three buzzwords from the grid. Write what each one means in plain English, as it applies to you. Then pick one tiny action you can take for seven days.
If you want a weekly nudge like this, subscribe to Fog of Mind. If you lead a team and want to turn “wellbeing” from a poster into a practical culture, get in touch.
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