When my head is full, when life is getting on top of me, when I feel as if the pressure cooker is going to explode, I take myself for a walk. Walking in open space and in the fresh air has the magical effect of slowing things down, I can feel my shoulders drop as I walk. Walking anywhere works but if you can get into nature then that’s the best medicine of all and I cannot return from a walk in a bad mood. By going out, you take yourself away from the usual distractions like the people and situations which often cause the stress you might be feeling. I would urge you to turn your phone off so you’re not disturbed and give this time to you. It’s an investment and one you will reap the benefits from especially if you start to do it regularly. One of my favourite places to walk is Epping Forest which is close to where I live and where I can walk for miles if I choose. You could do a few circuits of a lake though, walk along a canal or river or in a park. You don’t have to walk all the time either, you can choose to sit. Try to let go of everything that’s filling your mind. Look around you, breathe in and feel the relaxation enter your body. On breathing out, imagine all that stress and tension leaving you. Visualise your troubles being carried off in the wind and out of reach. Shake your body out and again imagine that you are letting all the negative thoughts go. There is always something to seen wherever you walk. Nature changes from season to season and you may just become tempted to see the year through on your walks. Who would want to miss the buds unfurling; baby ducks or swans on the lake; fungi in the Fall and those glorious colours as the year draws to a close. If you aren’t in reflective mode and rather feel frustration and annoyance, then you may just want to pound those feelings into the path as you walk. It may become part of a march for a while but there are no rules, so do your own thing, whatever works for you. I find spending some time in mindful walking useful, you can do this by bringing all senses to play and looking, listening, feeling, tasting and hearing but I find it’s even better to focus on one sense at a time. So you might spend 10 minutes just focusing on what you can hear for example. The more you do it, the better you get at it. I find that I have become expert at spotting fungi from afar!! If you’re interested in exploring this further, visit http://womenwalkingwomentalking.com/7-days-of-mindful-walking/ and download my FREE 7 days of Mindful walking When walking mindfully, you are so in the moment and when you are in that place you cannot think about anything else. This is a huge bonus. Walking can become the prevention to stress too, especially long term stress. By getting into the habit of bringing this everyday activity into your life, it becomes a tool which stops stress building. I burnt out about 5 years ago, stress was high and walking was one of the mainstays in my recovery. I no longer have that long term stress, sure I get the immediate stuff that everyone gets, but nothing like it used to be. In fact I feel very strongly that walking saved my life. I’m in the middle of writing a book about that and if you’d like to express your interest in a copy, then just email me at heather@womenwalkingwomentalking.com and I’ll let you know when it’s complete.
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You don’t want to admit it. To your clients and your boss and the stakeholders you report to, you are ALWAYS on your game. You are ALWAYS in the flow. But if we were honest with ourselves and others, we’re not. In trying to be always on, always available, always producing, we have created an unsustainable stress state in our minds and bodies. Midlife crisis? Bankruptcy? Heart attack? There is a fear underlying all of your activities that keep you pushing all day long: Fear of failure Fear of being ‘found out’ Fear of losing it all Fear of never being able to recreate what you built Fear of losing the ‘big’ client Fear of dropping the ball Fear of (fill in your truth) Let’s Go to the Beach Nature gives us many good examples to base our own behaviour. The ocean waves ebb and flow on a daily basis (multiple times per day) and there are seasons of higher tides and even unique events when the water rises or lowers substantially. Can you imagine if the waves were only ever ‘coming in’? There would be no ebb, no rest for the wave to gather strength and move forward. The weather across the globe is expressed in seasons. In some places four distinct seasons of dormancy, rebirth, growth and clearing/decay, while in others there are two a rainy (flow) and a dry (ebb). Can you imagine if the dry season did not follow the wet? There would be no sunshine. If winter did not preceed spring? There would be no rest to prepare for the explosion of growth. So, what, I have a report due. You are probably thinking I have gone a little hippie chick on you, I’ll take it :-) But truthfully, you have bills to pay, budgets to meet, reports to produce, widgets to create and distribute and right now, how do you get it done? Stop pushing and take a break. When we are in a stress state having over-extended our flow state and moved into overwhelmed, then we no longer think clearly and creatively. We no longer have space for new ideas, we no longer see all sides of the problem being solved. I recently read that people who have fewer than six hours of sleep in a night, are three times more likely to get into a car accident. With less than six hours of sleep our bodies and minds do not fully reset and clear the ‘gunk’ from the previous day. Acknowledge the ebb and flow. Not only do you experience this daily but weekly, monthly, seasonally and even across years. Instead of fighting against it, allow yourself to see the ebb as a time to reset, gain resources, learn, rest, step outside of the box and gain strength to flow again. Plan for and accept time in your day, week, etc to pause. One Momentum Program member, an accountant, recently said this, “My revenue is in target to match or be slightly better than last year, but I'm working less and less stressed!! I'm maintaining the same game plan today. Keep producing, take lots of breaks and something fun at the end of the day.” You can hear that he is working hard and ‘pushing’ and then also taking breaks to reset and work with his natural rhythm. Clear the clutter. The physical act of removing the stuff from your space that is old, outdated, broken has a cleansing effect on your spirit and your brain. The results are similar to clearing a clogged pipe. You will find as you complete the clearing process, ideas begin to flow, you mood will lift and your energy level will increase. What can you let go of today to make space (mental and physical) for where you are going? If you are stuck in the process, let me know. I would love to have a conversation with you about how to move forward. Monthly Organizing Classes are available on the 3rd Thursday of the month via Zoom. Register Here.
Organizing is not about how much stuff you can get rid of. Truly, there were always be more to part with. There will be one more piece of paper, one more article of clothing, one more book. If you always focus on parting with your stuff, you will never feel a sense of accomplishment or that they job is ‘done. We focus on decluttering because it is the first step in the organizing process. But, organizing is not only a matter of decluttering. The organizing process has three steps: 1 - Let go of the excess 2 - Group like items together 3 - Assign a home And while you may begin at step 1, you may find yourself doing a dance: 1, 2, 3, 1, 1, 2, 3, 1…. And so on. You may also get ‘stuck’ anywhere in the process. But, let’s say you have already achieved step 1, “Let go of the excess.” Now what? It is time to move on to group items together and assigning a home. It’s that ‘Assigning a home’ part that most people think of when they think of ‘organization’. This is the step where you can pull out your Container Store Catalog and find the baskets that match your decor. Where should your stuff live? Here are my favorite ways to keep things in order: 1 - Keep items close to where they are used, even if this means that you have multiples of the same item. It is ok, you want your things at your fingertips when you need them. 2 - Keep the items you use the most within arms reach. These ‘arms reach’ items should be used daily, otherwise, you need to put them away completely (that’s the next rule). 3 - Keep items you use sometimes (weekly/monthly) in closets, drawers, shelves, etc. It may take you two minutes to retrieve the item but it is worth having it out of the way so that you can live your life. 4 - Keep the items you rarely or never use in storage closets, the attic, garage overhead storage or off site. It may take a trip to retrieve the items but it is ok, you are reclaiming space for your daily activities. 5 - Use bins that match your decor, fit the item and also work with how you think. Those wicker baskets may be pretty but if they don’t fit the items you are trying to store, you don’t like the feel of them and they hide the stuff inside (and you are a visual person) then they are not going to work. There is no one size fits all for organizing products. 6 - Splurge a little, not a lot, on organizing products that will last. Splurge a little because having a broken box or shelf is just a pain and will make you feel like you are not making progress. But don’t over do it, your organizing needs change regularly as you focus on different areas of your life. 7 - Focus on the outcome you are creating. Determine first what your goal is in this organizing process. For instance, if your goal is to create a sense of calm in your space, then use this as your guide to each step. You can ask, “Will this item help me feel calm in my space?” “Will storing this item here, help me feel calm?” “Will using these storage containers help me feel calm?” (Insert your focus word in place of ‘calm’) Remember it is a process not a one time activity never to be repeated. The process goes in cycles where sometimes you are focusing on letting go and sometimes you are assigning a home. Your goal is to create a feeling not to let go of your stuff. If you are stuck in the process, let me know. I would love to have a conversation with you about how to move forward. Monthly Organizing Classes are available on the 3rd Thursday of the month via Zoom. Register Here.
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AuthorBeing an entrepreneur and business owner is hard! Once you have your business up and running it's not uncommon to hit a few snags: scalability, staff retention, launching growth projects, getting enough sleep! Archives
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