With many of us altering our work environments with fewer remote—and more in-person—conversations, meetings and engagements, such freedom can feel like a reprieve from being isolated, at times, and at other times can seem like a resurgence of everything intrusive, all at once, without a chance to steady oneself.
When a change we have craved occurs, even though it has been anticipated and desired, it is still a change. It is, after all, different. What has become familiar is somehow being missed and it can be confusing emotionally and energetically.
What to do?
Know that you are experiencing something personal and allow yourself time to process through the effort of advancing forward in a few ways, including:
Embrace the idea that there are four key aspects to our well-being: rest, nutrition, movement and mindset.
Each morning, check in with yourself to assess how strong you feel. This is not to see how good you feel or how ready you are for getting out of bed. This is about strength—personal readiness of your overall being. Use a five-point scale—1, you have up to 20% of your full strength; 2, you have up to 40% of your full strength; 3, up to 60% of your full strength; 4, up to 80% of your full strength; 5, you have more than 80% of your full strength.
When you know where you are, determine where, and how, you can enhance your strength. If you did not sleep well, resist caffeinating to overcome, think about nutrition, movement and mindset instead. If your nutrition was off the day before, remember it is a new day and you can start over. If it is movement, then allow yourself the time to dance, walk, run, ride or whatever else you can do for your body. If it is mindset, give yourself a chance to focus on you, versus the distractions.
Create habits that feed positivity, not because life doesn’t have negativity, and certainly not to be a “fake it ’til you make it” person, but rather to be someone who has a foundation you can rely on. Under stress, or discomfort, we don’t do what is “right,” we do what we know so it is imperative that we create a habit of doing what is best for us, now, to have that to rely on during days of less than 5s. A few ways to inject purposeful positivity are:
A personal pep talk of what I call “Want, will, because, am,” which is to state a result you want to achieve for the day, an action you will take and the reason, or motivation.
A mini-meditation such as two breaths with your intention, or plan, and breathe out the expectation, or action. I often breathe in focus and breathe out productivity.
A gratitude journal of 1-5 things to be thankful for, to center the day.
A mini meditation to calm is to breathe in what you accept and breathe our what you reject. An example is at night, before sleep, breathe in the acceptance of calm while breathing out the rejection of distractions.
So, bring on that change. Let yourself be aware of wanting it, and being uncomfortable with it all at the same time, and let that be all right. After all, you have the ability to know, feel and experience it all when you process through it with your own approach to this personal journey moving forward to what uncertainty is certainly ahead.
Debbie Lundberg is the founder and CEO of the Florida-based firm, Presenting Powerfully. As an 11-time published author, certified virtual presenter, certified life coach, certified leadership coach and certified image consultant, she is a performance coach who co-hosts the Business of Life Master Class Podcast. Her latest book, Remote Work Rockstar, has become the guidebook for working and leading virtually.
