Turn it off

A few weeks ago I heard a news story about how our brains are always "on."  Between tv, video games, e mail, face book, pinterest etc etc we always have something to focus on.  Our smart phones ensure that even that 30 second elevator ride is packed full of Words With Friends or Instagram.  Obviously this is not a good thing. Unfortunately, I don't remember all the details because I was checking my e mail at the same time!
I am guilty of always having something on.  The tv used to always be on.  No one would be watching it, but I liked the noise.  Now that the kids are older, the radio is always on. When the kids are eating breakfast or down for naps, I'm catching up on e mails, FB, blogs, forums and so on.  This has taken its toll on my sanity. Sadly, I didn't put two and two together until very recently.  
I was having very stressful days.  School wouldn't go well, kids would fight, Ellie would scream over everything and it had me tied up in knots.  Jon would come home to me telling him how terrible my day was...everyday.  One night I told him I needed 30 minutes to myself to relax.  No tv, music, phone, computer etc.  Just me and my thoughts.  It. Was. Amazing!  
I'm now making it a point to take at least 15 minutes every day to be alone with my brain.  No Jon, no kids, no distractions. After just a few days, I can see it's already making a world of difference.  I have time to process the kids issues, unwind, breathe and on good days, completely turn my brain off for a bit.  I'm even falling asleep faster. All that stuff I had to think about before I fell asleep has already been taken care of.  The kids still drive me crazy, but I think I'm handling it better.  I guess the real test will be when we start school again next week.  I might have to bump my me time up to 45 minutes!