Are you held prisoner by your to-do list? Kim a Wrexham counsellor explores busyness

busyAre you the sort of person who can’t leave work until you have answered all your emails?  Do you check your smartphone or tablet for work related messages on the weekends? Are you to responding to requests from work while on holiday?

Technology has enabled us to be more available than ever before, and this may bring the very strong temptation with it to be working outside of our traditional/contracted work hours too-to clear the desk, empty our in-box and to be “on top of it” ready for the next day.

Is this possible? Is this desirable?

Looking busy and being busy are often claimed as badges of honour and in my work as a counsellor and mindfulness teacher I hear a lot about how important it is to feel we are productive and achieving.  However, there is great deal of difference between being busy and productive and being so busy that we feel overwhelmed by it all (and are not so productive, more standing still).

Overwhelm?

When have so much to do that we feel overwhelmed can make us feel out of control and stressed-our decision-making is impaired, we find our sleep being disturbed by thoughts and this tiredness leads to procrastination and more time-pressures.  We drop activities we enjoy as we are too tired, busy or stressed to do them and life loses its colour and vibrancy.  Our body is flooded with stress hormones and we may feel our heart rate increasing, sweaty palms or other bodily sensations.  Overwhelm is a step above stressed.

What can you do to reduce the feelings of overwhelm and stress? 

In mindfulness we talk about “doing” and “being”.  The “being” things often reduce our sensations of stress and help to calm the mind.  Regular breaks will enable you to return to work refreshed and taking breaks outside in nature or connecting with others face-to-face is very useful to in topping your body up with hormones which reduce the stress ones and make you feel happy and calm.  Setting boundaries around home and work allow a stepping away from work when at home-a welcome break for your problem-solving mind!  Are you doing things you don’t really need to do?  Recent research has suggested that children are doing 4 or 5 extra-curricular activities a week-that’s a lot of stress (getting them there, juggling food and other responsibilities). Doing one activity outside of school will reduce your stress and teach your child a valuable lesson in how to keep themselves occupied.

Of course Kim can help too and she is happy to discuss the options available-counselling, coaching and mindfulness.  Email, text or call today for a no obligation chat.

 

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