Discardia_ More Life, Less Stuff - Dinah Sanders [61]
Sometimes things slip a bit out of control, which can feel like you've lost all the ground you'd gained, but don't panic! Just get back to basics. Suppose you’re at home and sick for the third workday in a row. The pessimist in you is moaning about how you’re “wasting” your paid time off and the email is piling up at the office and you'll have to overdo it to get things under any kind of control again and this cold won't go away and blah blah blah.
To still that voice, get yourself back to a level of normality. Re-establish your baseline, starting from the spots where you recharge (e.g., bedroom or comfy chair). Breathe deeply. Take 10 long breaths and let them out slowly. Take a shower and shave, or at least wash your face, hands and the back of your neck. Brush and floss your teeth and splash a little mouthwash around in there. Make sure you're up to date on your medicines and water consumption. Put on some comfortable clothes. Collect the trash and recyclables and put them by the door. Make a cup of tea. Open the curtains and let in some light. Decide on one—just one—thing that you need to do and do that thing without being pulled off in other distractions. When that's done, decide one thing you'd really like to do (e.g., read a fun book, watch a movie, play a game, call a friend, whatever) and do that. Don't panic. It's all going to come out fine.
A bedtime tip: When bad things are happening about which you can do nothing, give yourself something else to think about before settling down to sleep. I find CuteOverload.com can often assist.
Burnout isn’t worth it
One last note about extremes: If you're routinely burning yourself out at work and coming home stressed but don't see a way to get your boss to balance the load better, STOP. Stop before it stops you. Chronically bad resource management is often the problem of your employer, not you.
This is not a nice, allegorical idea I invented from idle thoughts. One weekend, my father, whose work had been especially demanding of late, felt tension in his chest that was unlike heartburn. He had radiating pain out to his arm. His dad had died of heart failure; thus my father—wise fellow—went to the emergency room right away. They kept him over the weekend for observation. On Monday, they did an angiogram and found his arteries to be over 85% blocked.
The doctor said, “Tomorrow or the day after, we will give you a quadruple bypass.”
On Wednesday he had surgery; on Thursday, after having the front of his body opened up and the arteries into his heart altered, he was recovering very nicely. His life hit the reset button. He decided then that things were going to change and his employer would have to work it out. In fact, they did just that without much trouble at all.
Don't wait for your body to force this decision on you. If a situation is killing you, don't let it get away with murder.
Symptom #24: Rushing
Solution #24: Cash That Sanity Check
I’ve been working on bringing more balance to my life. To do this, I’ve had to learn to unplug and recharge. To trade multi-tasking for uni-tasking and—occasionally—no-tasking. It’s left me healthier, happier, and more able to try to make a difference in the world. My eyes have been opened to the value of regularly closing them.
—Arianna Huffington, author and political columnist
Discardia isn't only about things
You can also build up too much unneeded intangible stuff. Make your well-being a priority today. Go for a walk to somewhere you can sit and think for a bit. No need to think big thoughts, unless you feel like it; just