After taking the Thriving Mind course, I began implementing new rituals at work that help me focus and destress. For example, I challenge every assumption I make about how someone perceives me during work. My natural inclination is to tell myself a story about how someone perceives me because I am a hardcore ruminator and a recovering people pleaser, and it makes me feel awful. But now, I challenge those thoughts as soon as I notice them, which is so helpful!
I also started blocking my calendar and declining meetings without agendas to avoid burnout. I used to spend so much time in meetings wondering why I was there. I would get to the end of a workday full of meetings and have to work three more hours to get my work done, which created so much stress. So, for the last four years, I adopted a strict no agenda, no attendance policy — if someone cannot tell me my purpose at a meeting, my time is better spent doing other work. Time is our most valuable asset and to be our best selves we need to prioritize where we spend our time.
I used to always feel like I’d get to the end of the day and have no idea where the time went. I wasn’t organized or focused going into my workday so it was easy for me to get pulled in a million different directions and, at the end of the day, I’d had no “me” time. To fix this, I started practicing Microsteps that have been so beneficial to how I live my days. For example, I created a new morning ritual where I get up 30 minutes earlier than I used to, which requires me to go to bed 30 minutes earlier. Then I head upstairs and write three pages in a journal every single morning.
Now, I get all of the chaos out of my head and onto a page, which means I can sit down, focus, and plan my day before it starts. It is amazing how much time I have found in my days and I am much nicer to my partner because I carve out time for myself. I also take advantage of my joy trigger, spending time with my two chihuahuas, Otto and Finn! Even just looking at their sweet smiling faces calms me down. They are an instant RESET!