Dealing with all of the stuff

I’m stressed.

Last weekend we went to look at a house and I want it. 

We were supposed to be browsing and getting a feel for the general area. Oops.

Ergo a Sunday full of prepping our London home for sale and frantically calculating whether the house is a possibility. 

After making the decision to make an offer, I slept badly. All of the worst case scenarios (I’m great at thinking of those) running through my mind.

• What if we don’t have enough money for other stuff
• What if we freak out in the suburbs and miss London
• What if this isn’t the best house and we later spot a better one

The list goes on and on and on...

Even if you’re not selling/ buying a house, I expect you’ve got some outside of work stress going on right now.

• Dealing with a property extension
• Navigating family politics
• Looking after sick kids
• Booking accommodation for a group of friends for a wedding
• Running out of wine...

All manner of things could be distracting you from work. That's real life, right? But you still need to perform in your role.

The easiest way to deal with these distractions and worries is:

1) Notice that you mind is telling you something. Your mind thinks it’s useful to keep reminding you. It will be incessant and ever increasing in volume if you ignore it. Write it down - it sends a ‘I've got it covered, now back off’ signal to your mind.

2) Work on them one at a time. No one multi tasks, our brains just flit from one activity to the next quickly, giving the appearance of multi-tasking. You must have noticed that you have moments of peak performance - when you feel 'on fire', like a machine nailing the task at hand. This comes with focus. Pick one thing and work it through.

3) Schedule time to relax - whatever that means for you. When your brain is on fire and rushing between thoughts and tasks it needs periods of time to recover. Like an athlete, you need rest periods to recharge and get ready to go again.

4) Get support. Offload your worries to partners, friends, family - whoever your go to person is to help you de-stress or to get advice. And delegate in the office - not everything needs your oversight. You don't have to go it alone.

You're not going to get rid of worry and fear, but you can learn to manage it better. Whilst the house buying/ selling situation is stressful, I'm choosing to be serene (for the moment!) and work through these points.

What's your biggest out of work stressor and what are you doing to manage it? Happy to talk it through with you.

Wishing you all the best

Kat


P.S. The short version is you aren't going to get rid of stress, and you still need to be your best at work. So look at these strategies to keep you in a good place.