Last year I was my third year as a school counselor at a middle school. My job included a laundry list of different tasks each day. No matter how much I organized at work, made to-do lists, or changed routines there was no way to change the atmosphere around me. My job and what was required of me was something I couldn't change. There would always be calls from the office, a teacher in need, a student in need, a meeting to attend, or a parent phone call to take. Every minute of my day was consumed, even eating lunch was usually happening while talking with a student because I wanted to help as much as I could with the time in a given school day. By the time Christmas break came I was absolutely spent. I loved my job, but the constant pull during my workday and mental exhaustion that I left everyday feeling had taken a toll on my life outside of work and the quality of work I was putting in during the day. I found I no longer had energy when I got home regardless of how healthy I ate, how active I was, or how early I went to bed. It felt like I was in a loop of exhaustion and mental fatigue. I would unknowingly be counting the hours I had left before I went to bed and woke up to do it all again. I hated this feeling because I did truly enjoy my job, and my family, and my life. It had just started to feel like even the enjoyable parts of my days had become a thing on a to-do list. When I analyzed my day and where I could possibly do something different the only space that seemed to be available was in the morning. I am a counselor and a health coach so I knew all the options for things to try to relieve this stress and anxiety. I also know enough about habit change to know you have to put some serious effort into making a lasting change.
I decided to try variety of different things at once. I started meal prepping my breakfasts and lunches the night before, I started waking up a 5 am, doing 10 minutes of yoga and 10 minutes of journaling in the morning, making a to-do list the night before for the one task I wanted to complete in the morning before going to work, and leaving for work 20 minutes earlier than I usually would. I also wouldn't look at my phone until I was about to leave for work (only to check and make sure I wasn't walking into a crisis situation at school). I started all of these new habits when I went back to work after Christmas break. I felt like this was a good time to start these new habits because I felt pretty refreshed after having 2 weeks off. I knew as soon as work started again I wouldn't have the same amount of time or mental relaxation that I felt on break.
I won't lie.. this was hard. Just to make this clear, I am NOT a morning person. Just seeing 5AM on my alarm clock makes my brain think "Yes! One more hour!" To help with this transition I invested in a new alarm clock that starts to turn on a light 10 minutes prior to the alarm going off. This simulates the sun coming up and triggers your natural sleep - wake cycle to make waking up easier. Honestly, I felt like it helped dramatically. I'm not sure if it actually helped my cycle, but having light in the room made it much harder to fall back asleep, and having the alarm clock across the room so I had to physically get up to turn it off helped as well. I would start with grabbing my notebook that I had written my morning to-do list on and head to the kitchen. I would pour my coffee and put it on the counter to let it cool while I did yoga. I would pull up a random 10 minute morning yoga routines on YouTube, you don't need to invest in an expensive yoga app or anything . I never did anything too intense, I just wanted to do something easy that would get my body moving and awake. Once I finished my yoga I would grab my coffee and my journal and sit at my desk for 10 minutes. I used journal prompts to help guide what I wrote about in the morning. My prompts were usually something like "What is something you are looking forward to today?" "What is something you are hoping to accomplish today?" "What is something you are anxious about, and how will you overcome it?" I would make sure all of my prompts allowed me to write in a positive direction. The way you set your thoughts up in the morning will generally carry into the rest of your day. After I finished journaling, I would look at what task I decided to accomplish that morning. Sometimes it was a house task like getting the dishes caught up on or doing a load of laundry. Other times it was something work oriented that I wanted to get done before I went in and had people asking other things of me. I tried to make that task whatever was weighing on my mind the most, or an incomplete task that had been sitting around for too long. Something that would feel really nice to get off the to-do list. The hard part was when I started this task I usually only had about 20 minutes before I needed to start actually getting ready for work, so sometimes this task might be broken up into multiple days.
My Takeaway: No, not all of these habits stuck, but that was the point. I started a variety of things at once because I wanted to find something that would make me feel better. What I found was that getting up earlier absolutely helped my mind set. I no longer felt rushed in the morning, I felt the uneasy feeling of panic at night lessen because I knew I would have time in the morning to get my mindset right and accomplish something. No my anxiety, overwhelm, and stress did not disappear completely, but it improved dramatically. We are human and we are meant to feel these emotions (within normal levels).
The things I actually continued doing through the end of the school year was prepping my food the night before, waking up between 5:00AM-5:30AM, and accomplishing one task before leaving for work each day. I think these were the things that stuck because they are what I felt created the greatest sense of relief in my mind. I noticed that while I was doing yoga or journaling my thoughts would drift to my to do list. Getting things done is what created the greatest feeling of stress relief for me. This will be different for everyone. Some people might find that moving their body in the morning helps set their day in the right direction, others might feel that getting their thoughts on paper helps them feel mentally organized enough to take on the day.
Your Takeaway: Give yourself the time and space to figure out how to manage your stress, overwhelm, and anxiety. It absolutely will take trial and error, and it won't be easy. What you might find shocking is that you can create major changes in your life stemming from a small habit change. Small changes like getting up 20 minutes earlier, not eating after 8:00PM, laying out your clothes the night before, making a rule to give yourself a true lunch break. The bottom line is that you have to take the time to evaluate and examine your day to day and take steps towards habit change. Do NOT beat yourself up if you slip up, that might just mean that isn't what works for you. If you aren't sure what to try, check out my list below of possible habit changes.
Don’t hit the snooze button
Don’t look at your phone until you have done something for your mind or your body
Figure out tasks that you have been pushing to the back of your mind, and get them written out on paper (ex. clean out that junk closet)
Yoga or Meditation when you wake up
Body Brushing
Drinking a certain amount of water a day
Cutting out sweets
Stop eating a few hours before going to bed
Cutting out processed food
Spending at least 30 minutes a day in the sun
Walking at least 30 minutes a day
Stretch for 5 minutes a day
Earthing
Practice deep breathing
Daily journaling
Cutting down on salt intake
Join something that makes you feel like part of a community (ex. pickleball group, book club, community gym)
Take time away from electronics
Waking up earlier
Going to bed earlier
Start reading a little each day
Start a yoga routine
Start a workout regiment
Get out of your comfort zone
Set aside time for eating lunch or dinner in a calm setting
Try a new healthy recipe once a week
Call someone once a week that you haven't talked to in a while
Make a vision board
Make a plan for how to accomplish something on your vision board
Message me and tell me about a habit change that truly changed your life!
HolisticHealthMC@gmail.com
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