What If You Prepared for Stress Instead of Worrying About It?
Really think about it…do you prepare for stress or worry about it?
I had to check in with myself this morning, as I have a stressful few weeks ahead.
Maybe you can relate; after all, it’s not like we can tune out at our jobs to save energy for the rest of our lives. Conversely, we can’t just ignore our personal lives to give every ounce of energy to our jobs.
We tell ourselves, “it will be better when________ (fill in the blank).” But unfortunately, saying this doesn’t make us feel better; it just confirms that feeling better is out of reach now.
Hopefully sharing this with you isn’t triggering your worry 🙂
So much of our day-to-day lives is reactionary- we can’t always anticipate what will be happening with our patients. We have to be flexible and deal with things in real time. It makes sense then that we default to this in other stressful situations…like thinking about our stress.
Even though we may not be able to anticipate everything that will happen, we can prepare for the stress itself. And being prepared feels so much better than feeling reactive.
So how do we do this?
The first step is noticing the problem. The situation may be stressful. But the stress response is something we can prepare for, even when we can't control the situation.
As you think about this, you may feel your heart rate rising or the overwhelm turning into tears. Take a few slow, deep breaths. You got this- you do hard things all the time, and this isn’t going to be that hard. So let’s prepare for the stress.
Step 1: Get it out of your head and onto paper.
What are the parts that feel really stressful?
What are the things that you “have to do” that you don’t feel like you have the capacity for?
What are the things that need to be completed in order to feel better?
Step 2: Remove the unnecessary stress.
What are the sneaky things that you are unconsciously piling on to your stress?
When I did this today I realized that somehow I was worrying about when I would get started on Christmas crafts? WHAT?!? It made it to my panic list- and I literally laughed out loud at myself. I can add crafts in if I want to, but it certainly shouldn’t be a generator of stress.
So cross off the ridiculous things and review what you have left. Is there any action you could take that may help streamline the upcoming events? Anything that can be delegated or adjusted?
Step 3: Schedule what restores you.
Schedule your rest/ down time/ something you enjoy FIRST. That’s right- put it on the calendar before anything else. Here’s what my list looked like. Don’t get caught up over the timing or the details, the point is that I am THINKING ABOUT REST, RESTORATIVE ACTIVITIES AND MOVEMENT.
Work nights in bed by 10 at the latest and phone DOWN. I know that I need 7 hours, so this works for me.
Friday: in bed by 11 pm, sleep until 9am (I am usually an early riser- 10 hours sounds amazing) Coffee and journal from 9-10. Doesn’t that sound luxurious?
Saturday: repeat
Walk Tuesday after work with Kristin, Thursday after work with Nicole. (connection and exercise- YAY!)
Make a list of little activities that bring you joy that you can refer to when the desire to scroll becomes intense. Decide to try these things instead of scrolling. Read, dance, phone a friend, go for a walk, clean out a closet, garden, run, paint…whatever your whimsical little heart desires.
Put the obligations you have committed to, and still are opting to do, on your calendar. The visual is important. It helps quiet the runaway brain. Ie: How will I get this all done?
Schedule the things that are important to you. I know I want to do food prep for the week on Sunday so I want to build this into my weekend. Planning reduces cognitive load. Life got ahead of me this past week and I didn’t do this. Let’s just say I am much happier when I do.
Preparing for stress doesn’t mean you won’t feel stressed. It means you don’t have to be blindsided by your own reaction to it.
Step 4: Rehearse how you want to respond.
Just like elite athletes (obviously we have so much in common), we want to visualize ourselves doing great. Imagine the obstacles. Imagine yourself being prepared, well-rested, and ready to do what needs to be done.
When left to our own devices, we mentally rehearse stress, catastrophe, overwhelm, and burnout.
It’s sad but true.
We practice what we're going to experience. So what if we practiced feeling capable instead of practicing panic?
Imagine being calm and having the tools you need.
Imagine asking for help from those you love when you need it.
Imagine taking a deep breath when you feel triggered.
Imagine offering yourself some understanding and compassion when you feel your motivation dropping.
Imagine not needing to wait until next month to feel better. Imagine feeling better now.
You can manage stress AND feel peaceful. You don't have to choose one or the other.
So can I. 🙂
If you're constantly holding everything together but feel like you're running on empty, you don't have to wait until things fall apart to make a change.
1:1 coaching is a space to slow things down, figure out what's actually creating the overwhelm, and build practical strategies that work in your real life—not someone else's version of it.
You don't need another list of things you "should" be doing. Sometimes you just need someone to help you step back, see the bigger picture, and figure out what comes next.
If you're ready for that, I'd love to work with you.
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