Every action we take has a consequence. The same is also true of our inaction and the things we don’t allow ourselves to see.
Life can move fast especially in a front line role. It is important to take the slow moments and use them to give yourselves that opportunity to see when you need it the most.
To calm your mind, find focus and get stuff done you need to be able to manage what is underneath the surface, if you don’t it will eventually overwhelm you in some way. We know there are times when we hide for seemingly good reasons but there are also times we hide out of habit. The less we check in the more this happens and the more big stress we have the more this impacts our ability to manage every day stress.
Meeting with yourself can be about taking time to breathe but it can also be about decluttering the mind with everything that triggers us.
Try meeting with yourself once a week with a view to decluttering the mind.
Find a quiet spot on your own and create a relaxed space. Have a small pad and pen and the write everything out. This is all lingering thoughts, here without judgement write down one thought per page. This might be things to do, buy, fix, arrange, plan or cancel. You might choose to have separate pads for home and work or you might be happy just to get it all out.
When you finish your mind is clearer (for that moment anyway!) but you might be looking at amount of things you have written out and feel a little overwhelmed.
From here get a little methodical, go through each thought and consider what action is needed to reduce the volume when you meet with yourself next week.
When you finish use the remaining time to take a few breaths. There are lots of breath techniques of course so for this exercise just remember the following:
1. Breathe in and out from the belly
2. Breathe in and out (if you can) through your nose
3. Breathe out a little more than you breathe in.
Next week we will sharing some of the practical elements in the YFL toolkit for managing stress.