Ep 3. 7 Ways to Stop Yourself from Crashing at the End of a Workday
Episode Transcript
Your schedule is packed and you're up to big things, but, your health is often not on top of the priority list.
You’re so busy and you might not be realizing that there are small moments during your day that you can use to reduce stress and find recovery.
That’s why I want to give you some quick and easy tools that you can use to reduce stress continuously during the day, to lower those levels of cortisol in your body, and signal to yourself that no lion is chasing you.
It might sound silly, but that’s exactly what your body believes when you are stressed — that you are under a big threat.
This episode is all about finding the opportunities in your daily life, to reduce stress and calm yourself down so you can focus on the things that matter. And have energy left at the end of the day.
Find the show notes at sofiavoncelsing.com/podcast
Hi ladies,
You know, stress is a natural human response that prompts us to address challenges and threats in our lives. It’s a physical & mental reaction. Everyone experiences stress to some degree and stress in itself is not dangerous but chronic stress without recovery is.
Our brain has not changed much since we were cavemen and cavewomen, so it’s no wonder it confuses your overflowing inbox and back-to back-meetings with being attacked by lions.
The stress responses in your body can be great for short-term survival, but not for long-term health and success.
When you are stressed, the survival part of the brain gets activated. The blood moves from the brain to your large muscles to get you ready to run.
The levels of adrenaline & cortisol go up and you breathe quicker and shallower. This shrinks your thinking and problem-solving abilities – something that you really need in your job and life.
7 Quick Easy Ways to Quickly Lower Stress in Your Busy Professional life
1. Give yourself a soft start
A two-hour morning routine with meditation, yoga and ice baths would be lovely, but most of us can’t fit it in. If you have an early day at the office or need to drop of kids you might think you don’t have time for anything, but I can assure you that you do have two minutes.
Taking two minutes of conscious breathing at some point in the morning will make a difference for the rest of the day. If you can’t do it at home, make a block in your calendar to just close your eyes and breathe, or listen to a guided meditation, before you open the laptop or you have your first meeting.
Your focus will increase and your brain will thank you. Several of my clients have introduced these calendar blocks and reports that it makes a big difference.
2. Notice your breathing
When you are stressed, you unconsciously breathe more shallowly or even hold your breath altogether. This means less oxygen to the brain, and impaired thinking, and increased muscle tension. By paying attention to your breathing continuously during the day, and aiming to extend the inhalation and exhalation, you support your body with more oxygen and lower those stress hormones. This you can do in a meeting, at your desk etc.
Here’s a hack to remind yourself to breathe in a conscious way; draw a black dot on your hand. Every time you see it, take a couple of nice deep breaths. I wrote a LinkedIn post about this that went viral. I will pop a link to it in the show notes.
3. Use your senses to calm yourself down
Your senses are a great anchor to the present moment, and therefore also, a great tool for stress reduction. Pay attention to what you hear, smell, taste, feel and see. How does the coffee smell? Taste? What color of eyes does your colleague have? When sitting at your desk, pay attention to what you can hear in the far distance.
4. Use your body as an anchor
Your body is another superb anchor. Notice how it feels to sit on your chair in a meeting with your boss. Is it soft or hard? Warm or cold? Pay attention to your feet during the presentation for your team or when you walk home from work. How does your shoes feel? By focusing on bodily sensations in the present moment, you actually give your brain a break from all those thoughts about the past and the future, which is the source of your stress.
5: Become aware of your thoughts and how they affect you
Notice your thoughts about the things you have on your to-do-list. Are they positive and empowering or negative and draining? Working with your thoughts will reduce stress instantly, as they trigger reactions in your body.
Listen to episode 1 & 2 on how our thoughts create feelings, and how you can work with them. I will drop links in the show notes for them too.
6. Give yourself micro-breaks
Something that I introduced with one of my high-achieving women clients was toilet meditation ;) We all go to the toilet several times a day, so this is a golden opportunity for micro-break.
Take an extra minute to just sit on the toilet and breathe consciously and notice your feet on the ground, instead of checking your emails. Yes, I know you probably do that, and we all do so you’re in good company.
Micro-breaks are so important and underestimated.
You can also stare out of the window, take 5 mins to listen to calming music on the bus to work etc. Use the transition between activities as a chance to de-stress and get collected.
7. Go for a walk
Even if you only have 5 minutes, put your shoes on and get outside. Fresh air and movement will do wonders and it will help you to clear your head and calm down your system. Practice paying attention to your feet at the same time and activate your senses.
Introducing smart habits like these is something I do daily with my clients, and they report that it helps them so much. If you can also add some sitting meditation, it’s even better, but starting with these small hacks can make a big difference.
Take care of yourself and go be a badass!
