Is it multi-tasking or multi-failing? Kim, a Wrexham counsellor, discusses working tips to cut your stress.

I have been working with a lot of work related stress issues lately.  It seems to me that this stress stems from pushing oneself harder to achieve more, and yet this striving isn’t reaping the expected outcomes.  Despite pushing yourself harder and faster the success just isn’t coming and so the temptation is push even more.  Among others, our minds are wired to problem-solve, judge, criticise and plan and it is this logical thinking part which comes into play when we have many demands placed upon us.  However, the mind is often fickle, and doesn’t rest in one place for long and in reality answers we seek are not always seen as black or white…there are more than 50 shades of grey!  In this complex world, our over thinking often creates more uncertainty which contributes to growing stress.

But don’t panic!  This thinking part of us is useful we just need to discriminate between our thoughts, look at them rather than being caught up in the drama of them and choose our responses.  Thankfully a daily meditation practice can help us in this as we gain awareness over our thoughts and feelings.  And for those of us who don’t meditate, doing one task at a time, and with bunching of similar tasks (e.g. managing emails in one go, phone calls in one go etc)  narrows our focus and attention which reduces stress rather than doing many tasks at once. Doing one task before moving on to the next is how are brains are best wired to perform-think about your computer, if you have lots of windows open it is much slower and more likely to crash than when one window is open.  Taking regular breaks helps to reduce stress levels which increases productivity.  We need to switched off and rebooted regularly just like our computers!  Kim can help you with other ways to reduce stress and increase performance, just get in contact for a no obligation discussion of your needs.