You’ve probably read a number of self-help articles and quotes over the years, but in our quest to wear a busy badge of honour, we end up putting ourselves at the bottom of a very long queue or task list and often the great advice shared does not get applied.
Burnout is more prevalent than ever, with research conducted by Westfield Health showing almost half (46%) of the UK workers are close to burnout. So with the school holidays upon us, there is never a more important time to Master your Mental Wellbeing and put some credit back into your emotional bank account to prevent burnout.
Samantha Lancashire, a Productivity and Mindset Coach is on a mission to use her additional expertise as a Mental Health First Aider to normalise saying no to things and people that cause burn out – both in and outside of work. Sam experienced burnout as a result of her own hectic work schedule, holding global responsibilities in her role and experiencing the breakdown of her marriage outside of work. She sought out help in the form of mindset coaching and practical strategies to enable her to overcome her anxiety, stress and exhaustion. Since then, Sam has been able to live life to the full by practising work-life harmony, intentional time-blocking and positive psychology and is now helping others do the same. Here she shares her top 5 tips to help you master your mental wellbeing and give yourself permission to #pushthepausebutton this Summer:
– 60 second check-in. Each morning take 60 seconds to close your eyes, pause and ask yourself “On a scale of 1-10, how am I feeling today?” If you’re feeling a low score, then ask yourself “What one thing can I do to get me from 4 to 5?”
If you’re feeling a high score, ask yourself “What one thing can I do that will keep me in a good mood / feeling great?” Then DO THE ONE THING! Resist the urge to focus on all the things as that is when it can feel overwhelming and out of reach.
Doing this daily not only becomes a good habit but more importantly it starts to retrain your mindset that you can improve the way you’re feeling and can impact it for the better, even on the trickiest of days.
– Gratitude phone log… You’ve no doubt read that practising gratitude and positive psychology has multiple benefits. In fact, gratitude has been proven* to calm the nervous system, deepen resilience and boost our immunity. But what if you don’t have time to write stuff down, or you’re just not into journaling. Do gratitude a different way! You have your phone in your hand many times each day. Before you tackle your to-do list, or reply to that email, look for a photo on your phone or your socials of someone or something you are grateful for. It could be a person, scenery, the weather, your pet. Make a folder in your phone called “Gratitude” or “Thankful for” and add the pic to this folder. If a meme, quote or funny post hits home, add that too. You’ll start to build a very visual gratitude log, full of moments, people and memories that you are grateful for and it will serve to remind you of what you have and what really matters; rather than having a focus on what is missing.
– It’s all about harmonising – So, ditch the concept of work-life balance!
Wait… what? “Work/life balance” is not really a thing? By striving for it, are we setting ourselves up for failure? We are not “half a person” and we don’t send half a person to work and have half to look after the other stuff – so pushing to balance or split our time will often end up in us feeling like a failure by not achieving the silver-bullet that is “work-life balance”.
Instead try to seek “work-life harmony” – by crafting a life that enables us to include all activities, such as home/family and work, hobbies & interests, development and training so we are not battling against ourselves to see which bits are winning, but instead embrace an intentional, 360 degree approach to our days and weeks, rather than a linear focus where one has to come out on top. Time blocking is key in getting this to work for you and helping you press pause on task overwhelm – start with 2 days per week you want to focus on first, then build out the rest of your week from there.
– Reclaim your commute. More of us are working from home, or have a hybrid work arrangement where you’re not in an office or travelling to in-person meetings daily. According to a study by the TUC, the average time spent travelling to and from work in the UK is 59 minutes per day so reclaiming your commute is one way of finding time to invest back into yourself. How to do this – spend your commute time on your mental wellbeing. This could be to get that walk in, go to the gym, read a chapter of a book, or catch up on a podcast. It all helps with that integrated approach to work-life harmony! Be sure to time-block in your calendar or schedule so nobody else can steal the important time you’ve put aside to recharge or re-energise. Those 2 days a week you’re no longer in the office can now mean 8-10 hours benefit for you and your family each month.
– C-I-A it. We’ve all heard the phrase “You can’t control what happens to you, but you can control how you react towards it” but often we don’t get any advice on the “HOW do I react differently?” So when the proverbial hits the fan, what’s a good way of dealing with it?
A really easy framework is to CIA it: Control-Influence-Accept.
What can I control about this? How can I influence this? What do I have to accept as there is nothing more I can do about it?
If you accept that you can’t change the current situation as it’s not in your control, but you can influence what happens next by changing your thoughts & actions, it enables you to acknowledge what is happening and master what happens next, rather than allowing it to master you.
Building your resilience is key to your mental wellness and overall happiness.
Small Habits formed daily can really make a Big Difference! Start with implementing one habit this Summer, master it and then increase it. See how you can change your routine by the end of the year!
