Wave goodbye to procrastination and disorganisation and say ‘hello’ to balance and calm

I was chatting with someone the other day about being organized – my friend remarked on how I seem to have a lot going on, but always seemed to keep on top of it.  She is right, I do have a lot going on, but at the same time I don’t really allow it overwhelm me – it’s not to say that I’m not pushed to my limit sometimes, but I do have strategies and techniques that I use on a daily basis to help me feel in balance so I am able to cope with the stressful times.

My friend said she often feels disorganized, which makes her feel stressed and anxious.  This then leads to her to procrastinate when she can’t find any motivation for getting on top of things.

Reflecting on this later, I realised I hadn’t always been organized and I remember feeling just as overwhelmed with life too.  So I thought it might be useful to share with you some of the techniques and strategies I use every day – you could always cherry pick the ones which resonate with you.

 

Get grounded – it is hard to get organized if your brain is on a pendulum which constantly swings back and forth to past and future events. The part of the brain which does this is called the default mode network.  But this can quickly be calmed by taking a moment to ground into your body and there are various ways you could do this.  One way is to simply press your feet onto the ground – bringing awareness to your feet in this way, or noticing the surface you are siting on is a great way to temporarily stop the pendulum swing.  Or notice the action of your body as you are walking – this can be particularly grounding when you are in nature, noticing the earth beneath your feet.

In constant thinking mode, energy is stuck.  Where attention goes, energy flows, so focusing further down the body can allow the energy to become much more balanced.

 

Sooth your nervous system with some conscious breaths– if you are feeling overwhelmed about being disorganized it will be highly likely your body will be stuck in a stressed response. This is where your nervous system is braced in the sympathetic nervous system response which can impact your digestive, respiratory, cardiovascular, musculature and immune systems.   By simply taking some conscious breaths, your body can more easily switch into the soothing parasympathetic nervous system.  This will unlock the digestive and muscular system, and slow down your breath, heart and blood flow.  This will reduce the effect of cortisol in your body so you are more able to listen to your immune system.  In other words, your body can feel safe and you will have a ‘relaxation response’.

Meditation can be great for this, but also moving types of breath work can be great too, such as Tai Chi, Qigong, Yoga, Pilates, Martial Arts, etc.

 

Release stuck feelings – when you are overwhelmed your emotions can be heightened, and even stick, which can result in feeling trapped in chaos. Spending a moment, or two, to acknowledge each feeling before releasing, will be a way to show your body and mind respect.   So honour your feelings, take a moment to lean in – then take a breathe in, and as you breathe them out imagine they are leaving your body.

Research has shown that this technique can be hugely beneficial and it will allow space for positive feelings to come through.  So name the emotion, to tame it!

 

Tell yourself you can do it – this actually works! Your mind doesn’t know the difference between fake and reality, so this is where affirmations can be used to great effect.  You could say ‘I am safe, all is well’, , or ‘I have all the time in the world’, or ‘I am where I am meant to be’, or ‘I am Peace’, or make your own up.  The more you say it, the more it will trick your brain into believing this is your reality.  In addition to this, when used as a mantra (i.e. repetition of the affirmation), it will allow your brain waves to calm too – which is great for anxiety.

 

How you treat yourself counts – if you are hard on yourself, or judge yourself harshly, you will create a full stop – almost like an energetic mountain to climb. Treating yourself with compassion will encourage flow as well as promoting lots of health and well-being benefits.   A way to bring compassion could by practicing Loving Kindness towards yourself.  This is a meditation in which you recite simple wishes for yourself, and then what you’ve wished for yourself, you wish for others too.  You could use phrases such as, ‘May I be happy’ or ‘May I be healthy’, or ‘May I feel strength’, or May I feel at Peace, or something else.

 

So these are all simple techniques which can be practiced daily as way of preventing the overwhelm, and to give you more focus clarity of how to move yourself forward.  The more you practice them, the more you will benefit.

In addition to these, I thought I would share some further concepts

 

KISS – don’t worry, I’m not suggesting that you go around kissing everyone! This is an acronym for ‘Keep it Simple, Stupid’, although I like to call it ‘Keep it Simple, Sarah’.  It is a design principle which states that designs or systems should be as simple as possible.  It is great for bringing into our consciousness for everyday life if our minds are creating complex scenarios.

What can you do to simplify the moment that you are in?

 

Take the list out of your head – when I was in the corporate world, I was sent on a course which showed me how to plan my time effectively. The strategy I learnt almost 30 years ago I still use to this day.  On a Sunday, I write a list of everything I need to do during the week.  In other words, I mind dump!  I then go through the list and allocate each item to a day of the week.  I then look at each day and give each item a number (i.e. 1 would indicate that it is something which needs urgent attention, whilst a 5 might be something that could be dropped to another day if needed).    So on a Monday, I am only focused on Monday jobs, not overwhelmed by the whole list.

 

Investing in a Pukka Pad of Things to Do, can be most helpful, and hugely satisfying when you tick and cross off the things you have done!

 

If you would like more support in this area, you could always join my next Foundation 1 Mindfulness Meditation 5 week course starting on Monday 22^nd July at 6.45pm.  You can join either in-person or online.

Or if you would like to build on your meditation foundations, you can learn how to deepen your experience and knowledge with me at my next Foundation 2 Mindfulness Meditation 5 week course starting on Monday 22^nd July at 8pm (again, online or in-person).

Don’t have time to join the course, you could always get tips from my book, ‘Making Friends with Yourself’.  This can be purchased directly from me, or from Amazon.