It’s nice to be busy – playing with friends, learning at school, getting involved in sports, and helping out your parents at home.

However, if we spend the whole day rushing around, we end up very tired and maybe even in a bad mood.  We can also end up with lots of thoughts rushing around in our heads, which can make get us stressed.

Strangely, being really busy can even stop you sleeping.  This is because your body and mind need to calm down before your brain knows that it can switch off!

That’s why it’s good to have a little bit of quiet time each day, to help your brain and body relax so that afterwards, you’re back on top form!

How to enjoy quiet time

There’s lots of ways to help you get that little bit of quiet time to relax.  Here are just a few to get you started:

• Reading is a great quiet time activity because it lets you escape the world around you while your body rests.  It’s good exercise for your mind, but in a peaceful way.
• Puzzles and some quiet board games can keep you entertained while also allowing you to relax.
• Drawing or painting is a nice, relaxing thing to do quietly.  Don’t worry about how good the drawing is, just think of something you like and enjoy yourself.
• Meditating is proven to make you calmer. Sit down and focus on your breathing for five or ten minutes, or use an app like Headspace or Calm to help!
• Listening to a story, either with somebody reading you a story or listening to an audio book, allows you to escape too.  That’s why parents so often read bedtime stories, to help you sleep!

The most important thing to remember is not to do anything that will either stress you out or over-excite you.

Does TV Count?

Unfortunately not!  Even though you may be quiet when you watch television, the programme itself could contain flashing images and lots of noise from everything going on the screen.

Also, your eyes still have to do an awful amount of work staring at that bright screen with constantly changing images.

This is why playing computer games before bed isn’t a good idea either   Switch them off, and it will be much easier to start fresh the next day!