It’s my impression that EVERYONE is busy. In fact people are so busy I’m noticing they rarely stop anymore for road signs that say STOP. It would be great if we could all just stay chilled out, but I’ve come to believe that’s not real life. It’s not practical for most people. Still there are ways to manage stress in the moment. There are ways to lower anxiety over what feels out of control. And there are ways to stay present to the day and moment at hand.
My mission is to continue learning and sharing practical, every day strategies for letting go and making the best out of a busy life. With a conscious effort, here are some easy habits I’ve begun incorporating into my life which seem to work:
Meditate: This starts my day. Generally I can get in 20 minutes, sometimes more. If not, I get in whatever I can. In the early evening, I go for one more round even if it’s only for five minutes.
Sensory Check-in: During the day if I find myself trapped in thinking about the past or becoming anxious about something in the future, I do a quick sensory check-in. For 30 seconds I look around and take note of everything in my view – sometimes I say what I see out loud. For the next 30 seconds I close my eyes and listen to every sound I can hear. Then I finish by taking 30 seconds to check in with my body and just observe where I’m feeling anything. Why? Because it pushes me into the present which is where I need to live.
Car Meditation: After starting the car but before putting it into gear, I follow a 3-step process. First, with my eyes closed, hands on my thighs and feet on the floor, I take in a slow, deep breath that starts in my belly and goes up through my chest and into my shoulders. On my exhale (which is often loud with my mouth open) I push my shoulders back and drop them as far away from my ears as they’ll go. On my next breath in and out I focus on the weight of my hands on my legs and relax my arms like heavy weights. I use my third inhale to put a slight smile on the corners of my lips. This relaxes the 43 muscles in my face. That’s it. I put the car into gear and head out much more slowly than I would have if I’d just jumped in and drove away. P.S. This also works sitting down in a bus, train, or subway car.
Timed Activity: I often feel overwhelmed when I think about all the ‘to do’s’ on my list – work, home, pets, family, friends, volunteer commitments, etc. When my thoughts go into overdrive, I have taught myself to quickly stop, set the timer for 10 minutes, take a deep breath and focus on the next thing. This keeps me from jumping all over the place and, generally speaking, when the timer goes off, I’ve come back into a sense of focus.
Gratitudes and Recaps: In setting up my plan for the day, I include on the sheet of paper the answers to: What am I grateful for? and What would make today great? At the end of the day I add a response to the question: What amazing thing happened today? That forces me during the day to keep an eye out for amazing things – even if it’s just an unexpected smile coming my way.
How about you? What do you, busy person, do to experience and appreciate your daily life? Please share your helpful hints as it might help someone else. And that’s a great outcome.