I have noticed that many people are overworking themself. Interestingly, some people, when they start working from home, they do not know how and when to stop. And their colleagues are the same, so very quickly it becomes an overwhelming snowball of meetings, emails, tasks, and on top of all this is the guilt of not dedicating enough time to your family.
To help yourself to deal with the stress and overwhelming feelings, you need to restore. Take some time to think about what can help you to switch off even for 15 minutes. It should be something that you like, and that stops you from thinking about anything and brings you into the state of "here and now".
For instance, if you like music, it could be listening to classical, electronic music, or something without lyrics. The key is to force yourself into a state of not thinking. If you are listening to music and but the thoughts are still crawling back, try to stop them, or maybe music is not your thing.
If you enjoy sports, can you switch entirely off your mind when you do physical activity? For example, if you are doing cardio, you might still be thinking, but when you do yoga or weights, you are focused on the execution of the exercise.
Reading a book also helps, but it can't be a non-fiction book, self-education or a work-related article. Reading this book, you should get lost in time and space and only think about the characters of the book. The same about watching a film, you need to switch off your present life completely for 90 minutes.
If you only have 15 minutes and can't afford yourself spending significant time to switch off, there is a special technique that can help you.
You need to go outside or come to the window and silently narrate everything you see while you are walking or looking out of the window. You are not allowed to think of anything else, but what is happening outside. For example, "I see a tree, it's blooming. A person walking her dog, a dog is small and friendly. I see a beautiful garden, building, etc." If your mind is wandering away to something important to you, bring it back and carry on narrating. If you do that properly for just 15 minutes, you can see how you feel more rested and productive.
I have to mention that it might not work for the first time. Think of it as meditation, and you need to train your mind to stop thinking. With this technique, you are forcing your brain into the "here and now". That works as if you are rebooting yourself. Also, when you master this technique, you can use it anywhere and anytime. For instance, you are stuck at work trying to find a solution to some problem; you have tried everything possible, nothing works. Switch off for 15 minutes, and you might look at it from a different angle.
Take care of your precious self!
