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Are your work habits sustainable?

I’ve been talking a lot about burnout over the last 12 months, and with good reason.

It is in times of change and uncertainty that stress increases and insecurity can sometimes drives us to do more in an effort to adjust quickly and avoid failure.

If you also add in the changes to the way we work and subsequent blurring of work/home life boundaries, then what we have right now is a situation that is ripe for burnout.

So, I ask you: What do you know about burnout and especially burnout prevention?
Because it is preventable, regardless of the situation.

However we do need to be informed and to understand what to look for and what to do now in order to avoid ending up there.
This is important for your own wellbeing as well as that of your team or family.

I have created a FREE webinar Burnout: What you should know for yourself and your team, to help inform you about what burnout is, what causes it and how to prevent it. You can register here.

For the moment though, you can start by asking yourself:
Are your current work habits sustainable?
Answer it honestly. If they are not sustainable, then you should assess if the situation you find yourself in is temporary or not. We all have crazy days and weeks of flurried activity, but they should subside and calm down.

If you suspect that slowing down won’t happen over the next few weeks, then you need to start thinking about implementing practices that will ensure the sustainability of your health.
Ask yourself:
What boundaries do you currently have between you work and leisure time?What selfcare practices do you do regularly? (Selfcare practices restore your energy and help you rejuvenate)

The great thing about our current situation is the amount of opportunity for all of us.

As individuals we can learn to value our wellbeing as much as our work
and find strategies to prioritise both. 

I invite you to join my FREE webinar on Tuesday 23rd March at 7pm to better understand what you can do ensure that no matter what the situation this year, your work practices are sustainable.

It’s a good feeling to be confident that at the end of the year, you will have your goals achieved without sacrificing your own wellbeing.

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3 things influencing your thinking right now

  • 3 things that are influencing your thinking right now.

If there is one thing that this pandemic world has taught us, it is the value of our mental health. For many of us it is the first time that we are experiencing a sense of uncertainty, disruption and confusion on such a large scale and across multiple facets of our lives. With such disruption we are all more vulnerable to experiencing stress and mental health challenges. Today I’d like to share with you the 3 things that are influencing your thinking right now.

The act of creating awareness of what is influencing your thoughts right now is so important. The thoughts we keep thinking are creating our emotions and our experience of the current circumstances.
This is not about thinking positive thoughts and ignoring the bad things happening. 

This is about creating awareness that in turn creates space for choice.

You can choose what you feed your mind and what you focus on. You can make changes when you’re aware of what isn’t helping you.

Let’s get started!

Likely the biggest influence on your thinking at the moment is the media. News about the pandemic, social media and all those statistical updates are beating down the door all day long. We are particularly vulnerable at the moment because we are hoping for a breakthrough and also fearing the worst. This means we check the news more often because we hope to hear good news and we hope we don’t hear worse news. We’re in flight or flight mode and our survival instincts are kicking in.

The impact: Media exacerbates fear and uncertainty. If we are hoping for a positive change, we feel the disappointment each time the news does not deliver it. You can also feel overwhelmed with the scale of influence of this pandemic in conjunction with other world events.

What to do: Limit your intake of news from all sources (including social media) to a set time each day. Perhaps 10 minutes in the morning and night. The key here is to create boundaries. It’s easy to keep checking all day for updates but doing that is incredibly unhelpful and often damaging to our mental health. 

The next big influence on your thinking right now is physical detachment. Many of us are working from home or are in different work circumstances. Our normal hobbies may be interrupted and certainly travel has been restricted. The number of people you see and interact with in-person on a daily basis is significantly reduced. The networks we all felt a part of at work and in our after work activities have dissolved or are disrupted.

The impact: Many of us are feeling isolated and some of us are experiencing loneliness. Our support networks are disrupted which increases these feelings of isolation. If you live with your partner/family, they have assumed the role of friend, colleague, partner, confidant. If you live alone you may feel increased feelings of isolation and a sense of having to face it all on your own.

What to do: As many of our interactions have fallen away due to isolation, you need to have a plan to create interactions. It doesn’t have to be complex at all. Set yourself a minimum social contact goal to chat to at least 2 friends or family members each week. Make one of those interactions via video or phone as this will generate more feelings of connection. Who can you safely meet in person? Schedule a walk/ coffee chat/ brunch with a friend while being mindful of social distancing. 

The third influence on your thinking right now is what I like to call change fallout. Change – even small change- has a big impact on us as human beings. Therefore large scale change has a huge impact. Even if you’re not feeling it on the surface and you are able to generally manage your days, you are still being affected (so be mindful). 

The impact: Change is tiring, perhaps exhausting at times. You can feel emotions ranging from a little nervousness and anxiety through to feeling completely lost. You may not feel like yourself. You might feel like something is wrong. And because of this your thinking can spiral into some negative self talk such as “I should be managing it better” or “what’s wrong with me?”

What to do: When your physical and/or mental energy is reduced, do less. Simplify, simplify, simplify. When you have energy then you can resume your to-do list. This may fluctuate as the weeks roll on and that’s okay. Have a self-care plan. You must be doing at least 2-3 activities each week that will bring you rest, calm/peace of mind. This is different for everyone but some examples include: exercise, relaxing with a book/Netflix, creating special rituals that help you stay grounded, meditation, time with nature/pets. Implement self care practices for the long term, not just for the times when you feel that you need it.

Did you find this post interesting? Subscribe to my weekly Coaching Email here.

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5 tips for managing change better

So much change in so little time. Surely this is the tagline for 2020? By now we’ve all been weather beaten into submission with all the constantly moving parts. No longer fighting against the tide of change (at least I hope you’re still not doing that) we’re now in some form of acceptance that things will continue to change and be a little crazy for at least the rest of the  year and likely next.

And herein lies the challenge: more change ahead. So how do we even navigate the next 6 months (which will feel like 8 months)? We need to learn to manage change. Whether change is something you are choosing for yourself or something that has been unceremoniously thrust upon you, you need to pro-actively manage it.

Change is hard and it doesn’t come natural to any of us. Our brains are wired to resist it. Without proactive management frequent change on a large scale can create much stress, anxiety and feelings of being out of control.

So let me share with you 5 ways that you can better manage change over the coming months:

  1. Accept it’s a challenging time

We are currently experiencing change and disruption to our routines and way of life on a huge scale. It’s a difficult time for everyone. When it’s a difficult time, things feel harder. It’s tiring. You may feel stressed. You may oscilate between feeling engaged and then wanting to retreat from the world. That is to be expected because it’s a challenging time. Change requires adjustment and takes time. Accept it is difficult and believe that you are navigating it as best you can.

  1. Simplify

This is one of the best techniques to apply, with immediate results. When COVID-19 hit I did exactly this and it helped a lot! Look at everything that you have on your to-do list including your goals and general responsibilities (personal admin, housework etc.). Decide which things you can delay (push your deadline back), delegate or delete altogether. Trying do it all while navigating the change process will only exacerbate the stress and overwhelm. Simplify by reducing your responsibilities in your work and personal life.

  1. Allow more time for the adjustment to occur

Most of us would prefer that we have a certain established amount of time and at the end of that time, the change process is complete, such as having an end date for this pandemic. We all want it to be nice, neat and predictable. Mostly we just want it to take as little as time as possible. But there is no way to speed this process up unfortunately. When you focus on the end result you want and resist your present circumstances it causes you stress.  You are resisting what is and wanting it to be different(you are“arguing with reality” as Byron Katie says). Ask yourself: Can you accept that it will take a long time? How can you shift your focus to the present moment?

  1. Expect it to be messy

Change is not a straight line from one way of being to another. If you graphed it it’d probably be a zigzag. You may cope and adjust to a new situation well for a while, but then you seem to“regress” back to the old way of thinking and being. This is a normal part of the process. But often this is when we all feel like we’ve failed or that something is wrong with us. I assure you that it is normal to be feeling up and down as you adjust to change.

  1. Have your own back. 

Moving through change will require more time and energy from you. It can be unsettling, frustrating and tiring. It’s important to therefore have your own back. Work with yourself and not against yourself. You can do this in a number of ways: 1. By becoming aware of any negative thoughts about your situation. Remind yourself that this is a process and will take time. 2. Support yourself as you would support a good friend in their time of need. Cut yourself some slack, reassure yourself that you are doing your best. 3. Engage in self care activities. Give yourself the things you need to rejuvenate your energy (exercise, sleep, yoga, good food, water, a day trip etc).