My intention is to post a Thoughtful Thursday column each week and share some of the insights I have learned in the past week. Here are some of the things I’ve learned this week:
Ted Health- How to Manage Your Stress Like an ER Doctor
When people ask how others have been, “crazy busy” is a common answer. “Crazy busy” mode means you are less capable of handling the busy. The truth is, you can be as busy as an emergency department without being crazy busy. Instead of “crazy busy,” ready mode means you are ready for whatever comes at you, and you are capable of handling it.
Just as ER doctors do, we need to relentlessly triage. Crazy busy involves reacting to every challenge with the same response. Ready mode involves triaging and prioritizing by degrees of urgency. Individuals who react to everything with the same response have double the level of stress hormones.
Triage:
Red- immediately life-threatening
Yellow- serious, but not immediately life-threatening
Green- minor
Black- for patients for whom there is nothing ER doctors can do. We must move on.
We each have our own black tasks in our lives – items that we must take off of our lists. If you try to do everything, you have no hope of saving your “reds.”
Part of the problem in crazy busy mode is that you are reacting to everything as if it is red. Start by triaging. Know your “reds.”
To avoid burnout, design your life to make tasks easier to do. Find ways to reduce daily decisions, such as meal planning and prepping for the week during the weekend. Automate any recurring bills. Habit stack (ex: listen to a podcast while getting ready for work, clean or do dishes while your food is in the oven, etc.) Time block for single tasks and eliminate distractions.
Own the busy, but stop calling it crazy.
Self Improvement Daily- Setting the Tone for the Day
“When you snooze and delay starting the day, you’re giving yourself permission to allow your emotions to affect your decision making. This often causes you to start the day running behind, which then is an energy that affects how you show up to everything else.”
Self Improvement Daily Podcast
Pre-determine 5 minutes of activity that begins the second your alarm goes off, don’t check your phone, and avoid social media right away in the morning. Instead, stick to a pre-planned routine to set your intentions for the day. I have also heard in a different podcast that sitting up and drinking a glass of water while in bed right when your alarms goes off aids in waking you up quickly.
I have been snoozing the alarm regularly lately, and I will be trying these tips soon!
Protein should be first priority! Choose lean meats.
Replace more complex carbs with fibrous veggies.
Do cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.
Hydrate adequately. Getting enough water is essential to obtaining your fat loss results. Water should be 90% of the liquid you drink each day.
On Purpose Podcast with Jay Shetty- 6 Scientifically Proven Ways to Improve Work-Life Balance
Build skills and learn more to create more meaning from work. Are you realizing your potential at work? Skills result in increased productivity and effectiveness and therefore decrease stress.
Flexibility and autonomy generate satisfaction with work-life balance. Look for roles that offer flexibility and autonomy.
Take time to do things that are refreshing. Do something for yourself each day. Get outside in nature during the day, and if you can’t, go to a window and look outside often.
Switch away from to-do lists and toward time blocking to focus on individual tasks without distractions.
Focus on the relationships at work as much as the work itself.
Runner’s World Magazine article- Run 26.2 Miles on a Glacier by Elizabeth L. Silver
I learned about the 7 Continents Marathon Club, which currently consists of 407 members! From the website (icemarathon.com): “The Club is unique, reserved for athletes who have run a marathon within the Antarctic Circle on the Antarctica continent, as well as on the other six continents.” The Antarctic marathon costs $21,500 alone + some travel expenses, so many runners are sponsored by athletic apparel companies.
I also came across this YouTube video in which marathoners run 7 marathons in 7 continents in 7 days, starting with Antarctica!
I have never run a marathon, but I found this inspiring and fascinating.
I look forward to reading, learning, and sharing more with you soon!
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