My Teeny, Tiny Resets (Or How I Handle Overwhelm)

This morning was a tricky one.

I hadn’t slept well but couldn’t get back to sleep. The day before had been full of vet visits and health stress. And then I woke to a barrage of social media posts about terrible things happening in the world.

I’d only been up for an hour, but already I wanted to crawl back into bed, pull the covers over my head, and hide. It wasn’t even light out yet. And I couldn’t imagine how I was going to get myself together enough to write a case study–my work task for the morning.

What I needed was to start the day over.

And I thought maybe I could trick my brain into doing just that.

So I closed my computer and re-set my day. I got myself some tea and bread. I took a hot shower and re-dressed. I basically re-did my morning routine.

Then when I sat down at the computer, I kept my email and news sources closed and dove straight into the case study.

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It sounds kind of silly when I put it all down like that, but for some reason, it works. Going back through the morning motions again pushes some sort of reset button in my mind. Walking away and coming back helps me course correct.

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It’s actually something I’ve been doing for years.

I do it on days when I’ve got too much on my plate. After lunch, I get myself a coffee, maybe take a shower or re-curl my hair or touch up my makeup. And when I sit back down, something is different. Something inside my mind has clicked and reset.

It’s not that I’m no longer angry about the state of the world (oh, I am). It’s not that client issues or sleepless nights are magically fixed by taking another shower. But something about the action makes it possible to get over that first hurdle and start working. Something about closing the computer and starting again gives me permission to push all the thoughts jostling for my attention aside and focus on the task at hand.

In case it might work for you too, I wanted to share.

Because I think sometimes we forget, or perhaps we were never taught, that our bodies and minds are inextricably linked. When you take up physical space, your confidence rises. When you’re mentally stressed, your physical health declines. And when we physically re-set our days, maybe something mentally makes that leap with us.

If you’re struggling, give it a try.