The other day I was asked, in a Facebook comment, how to avoid disturbed sleep when caused by overload. At first I was going to answer – “by looking over your sleeping habits” – but no, that is starting in the wrong end. That is treating a symptom but the “disease” is still there.
You have to start by looking at what is bugging you, what is stressing you out, right!? And to do that you need to look at the big picture.
Do you remember what metaphor I use for looking at your whole situation? I suggest you take a virtual helicopter ride over your life. You can fly around yourself and you can go down and hoover over specific areas where you see specific challenges. It can give you a good picture of the whole situation. This is what I do with all my private clients and it is just as thought-provoking every time. What will show up? Often issues that the client did not predict.
This is of course usually not a quick fix. But it is easier if you make a plan for whatever you want and need to change. Take a good look at where you are today, where you want to be tomorrow and from there find how to cross the gap. This is the real tough part, some of the changes needed might even affect others in your life. So you need to find your way out – not do what others have done, not do what other people tell you to but to find out what your heart wants. Sometimes just knowing what the issues are your life are is enough to de-stress, at least for the moment.
Taking care of your life and doing changes takes energy. I bet you have felt overtired after having had a hard conversation with someone in your life. You feel completely drained of all energy. I think this is one reason why so many people don’t act and do changes they believe they should do to get a better life. They don’t have the energy to start when in a stressed out situation. They don’t know where to start.
This is where the lesson about sleep comes in. And a lesson about physical activity and food intake. If you feel you don’t have energy – you can generate it!!! Our bodies want regularity around these three issues – and they all bring us energy – if we perform.
Food is energy – that is obvious to most people. Regular food intake makes sense for continuous energy, right!? BUT it is also very important what we eat, to kick the right systems, to give nutrients and not just empty calories. Vegetables, fruits, berries, fish and white meat are good basic foods. Read some more thought about healthy eating.
Physical activity is also energy, yes it takes energy to do it but it also generates energy in large amounts, mental energy. It can be as simple as daily walks to start with. If you only can walk 5 minutes – that is better than nothing – and you can add on as your physical ability grows. Read more about physical activity.
And sleep is maybe the most important of them all. Because during sleep the body repairs or disposes of damaged cells, and the brain is refreshed. While we sleep, our body takes inventory and does its housecleaning, so to speak. Start with an inventory of your sleeping habits by doing a Sleep Diary. Here is an old blog post on sleep.
Where do you want to begin? What changes would give you the fastest results? What would be easiest for you? You decide!
If you want these tips in one place you can start with my book “Take Stress from Chaos to Calm” – you find it here on Amazon.
What are your best de-stress tips? Please share your comment below.
To your Success and Keep Smiling!
