At the moment there is so much to think about with the potential of schools and businesses returning in some form in the near future. I am sure that you will be completely overwhelmed by the amount of things that you need to be thinking about. This blog is about how to clear your mind and move forward in your thinking.
There’s a lot to be said for reflection and learning from our mistakes… I know this has proven time and time again to be a useful strategy for many. In fact, our brain is programmed to do this in order to keep us safe (it’s rare we would put our hand on an open flame for a second time!)
There are times however where this strategy can backfire. It can keep us in an unhappy, unresourceful, unhelpful state. So when do you know when enough is enough, when to turn things around, when this reflection is causing you harm? And what should we be doing about it?
I’m a big believer in acknowledging your emotions rather than ignoring them, equally I’m a big believer in putting a time limit on that. To give you an example, when I am experiencing a period of time where I just feel low, or stressed, or anxious or any other perceived ‘negative’ emotion I will literally dedicate some time to sitting down and exploring it – usually with a pen and paper. I’ve even been known to diarise this (too far??!!) I set a timer and effectively brain dump whatever comes to mind.
When that timer goes off however, unless I have unearthed something that is completely unexpected and I know it needs tackling differently…I consider it done. I look at my ‘brain dump’, note down lessons I need to take on board and then ask myself what shall I do now to move forward. What next.
The reality is we cannot change the past, and staying stuck in it uses a lot of energy and can generate a lot of negative emotion with no real outlet. When you practice acceptance of that and add in a lesson – your brain generally will help you move forward.
There are two ways to look ahead, to implement forward thinking:
- Start with the end in mind – and work backwards (reverse engineer it)
What I mean by this is whatever situation you’re are dealing with, whether it’s a health fitness journey, wanting a new house, promotion, work deadline etc… Flesh out what the end result looks like – being as specific as possible (be aware this can change and that’s ok)… with a deadline. Then work back from that deadline to set lots of mini-deadlines (ie if you know you have to run a 10K race in 6 months, in 5 months you should be able to run 8K and should be running at least 3 times a week, then at 4 months maybe 7K etc etc)
- Start with the end in mind – and take baby steps
So again – look at the desired end result and flesh it out in detail – then make sure to do something every day, however small, that works towards it.
Depending on the situation there is room for both tactics. By focusing forward you are always moving, learning and growing – which reduces feelings of frustration and overwhelm – it also helps stop you dwelling on the past, on things you cannot change. Helping to maintain your mental health and wellbeing.
If you are struggling and feeling overwhelmed our stress less, smile more course may help, take a look for more information. You may also benefit from our things to think about for returning schools and returning businesses blogs. Don’t forget throughout all of this we are here to help and if you need supportive services for your organisation such as occupational health, counselling or CBT we can still provide these remotely for you. We also have SAMconnect, our communications app for you to share information with your employees including wellbeing tips, which is completely free until September. If you are interested in this, please get in touch on 01924 907319.
We wish you all the best of luck, a great bank holiday and most of all for you to all stay safe.
This blog was written by Nicky Lloyd Greame, founder of The Stress Specialist at https://www.thestressspecialist.com
