It is tough to be the CEO of the world’s biggest company and, no matter who you are, you need some time off from work and unwind. While many people resort to mediation or yoga to unwind, Google CEO Sundar Pichai uses a slightly lesser-known practice to unwind. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Pichai revealed that he unwinds using a non-sleep deep rest or NSDR. Now if you are wondering what that is, NSDR is a term coined by Andrew Huberman, who is a professor of neuroscience at Stanford University.
The NSDR is a specific technique to reach “self-directed calm through mental focus”. It comes with a bunch of pros which helps the practitioner of NSDR in learning things better, it helps people relax, reduces stress and helps you fall asleep more easily. “I found these podcasts which are non-sleep deep rest, or NSDRs.So while I find it difficult to meditate, I can go to YouTube, find an NSDR video. They’re available in 10, 20, or 30 minutes, so I do that occasionally,” Pichai said. There are three NSDR protocols including the Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR): Yoga Nidra, Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR): Hypnosis and Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR): Short nap.
Pichai had also shared tips to make Mondays eventful. told the Wall Street Journal, “I really value quiet time in the morning. It’s the only time that I get to step back and reflect. Normally I have a quiet breakfast; reading the news is very important to me. I always read the Journal in the morning. I read other news as well, and get a good sense of what’s happening in the world.” Pichai doesn’t eat fancy breakfast so that he can focus on the other important things.
Pichai said that Monday morning is extremely important to him because that is when he thinks about the important things he wants to get done for the week. He carries a notepad with him and a pen and notes down the three to five things he wants to get done.
Returning to the office after a hiatus of two years can be a herculean task, more so because we imagine a lot of scenarios about dealing with people, about traveling on public transport and the thing that haunts us the most is getting out of our comfort zone all over again. Working from home has challenges, but it is Covid’s best gift to the working professionals. It also gave a new perspective to companies on how work can be done and that physical presence is not required to do work. But all good things come to an end and so has our WFH system. With Covid cases going down across the globe, most offices have started calling employees back in office. The Covid-19 related restrictions have also eased in most places, including offices and public transport.
Google called its employees back in the office on April 4. The Google employees in several US locations have been asked to report back to office. “It’s been a long and challenging two years since the vast majority of our people started working from home. But the advances in prevention and treatment, the steady decline in cases that we continue to see, and the improved safety measures we have implemented across our Bay Area sites now mean we can officially begin the transition to the hybrid work week,” John Casey, Google’s vice president of global benefits said in an email to employees. The email was obtained by CNBC.
