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In our 24/7 society there are many distractions, things to do, things to read, things to Google and of course there are all the social media channels to explore and indulge in. And all that coexists with our crazy schedules and responsibilities. No wonder there are so many relaxation techniques…mindfulness is trending as never before and even though ‘work hard, play hard’ sounds very appealing – we don’t have time for it in our, usually, overstuffed minds!
Think about it, we can only excel in what we do if we are relaxed, charged up and ready to take on anything. Only then can you prevail in focus and attention management. No surprise there, but how to do that in combination with our crazy-busy lives?
Personal and business guru Brian Tracy has a very quick analysis when it comes to determining if you are rested enough: whenever you wake up in the morning and the first thing you do is look forward to the moment you go to sleep later that day, you are not rested enough. Ouch, guilty!
And the scary part of that statement is how true it is for most of us Assisting Professionals, correction, all professionals! Most of our drive comes from our passion for the job we do. That’s a great generator to get that inner boost. But it is not enough! Assisting Professionals need to be enabled to wind down consciously. To soak up every precious second of peace and relaxation, induced by things that give them pleasure, fill up their senses and get their engines running on max again tomorrow at the office.
Research shows that it is possible to achieve all that in a short period of time. The ideal short time frame is 20 minutes, the preferred longer relaxation period is three weeks and the minimum supercharge moment can be down-scaled to five minutes at a time. But you need to be skilled, disciplined and go through a certain routine to get those results that fast.
If you want to position yourself and remain in your awesome personal brand as an Indispensable Assistant, here comes a whole list of things that you can do to make sure you train yourself to pay a bit more attention to yourself. Where attention goes, results show! Remember these Rules of the Game: you need to keep up your physical appearance, stamina, mental wellbeing and physical fitness to be able to deal with anything that you may encounter – business or personal.
Here are 10 things you can do to get your state of mind from stressed to impressed, all scientifically proven to work:
- Breathe slowly with your belly when you feel agitated or need a clarity and creativity boost. Breathe in counting to three and out counting to three. This will bring your mind into a state of brisk relaxation. The trick is really in belly breathing, since when you do that your inner organs press sensory nerves against your spine which results in the production of the hormone serotonin. That is the neurotransmitter that stabilizes our mood. Repeat three times and move on. That’s all it takes to bring our blood pressure down, bring our brain waves back into alpha waves and get us back in the zone. On the other hand, chest breathing stimulates flight and fight responses in our system, resulting in the production of hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. And we all know that those are the stress hormones. So, 20 seconds of belly breathing and you’re good to go to win the battle with that Excel file!
- Reserve some time for your positive social life. The positive character is important here. This is a very easy and fast way to snap out of your busy mind! But it’s not always the fastest way to go, as it usually does require some logistics and time investment from your side. A huge side note here: use this tool wisely, because it is a proven fact that other people are the greatest time wasters in your life!
- Laugh more — laughter has been proven to release and decrease stress! And the strange thing is that when you are stressed your sense of humor changes and you laugh more easily. It’s the universe trying to help us!
- Get yourself a ‘feel-good’ savings account! Financial reserves turn out to have a relaxing tendency. So when you are overwhelmed, deposit an extra amount into your savings.
- Look at the color green — that helps you to relax and gets you grounded. Whether it’s nature, a poster, a green wall, a plant or a screensaver… anything works as long as it’s green!
- Look up at something bright when you feel down or get stressed. It’s the motion of looking upwards that counts most. If it happens to be bright then that doubles the positive impact on your mood. This action lowers stress levels instantly by 30%. So a white ceiling with a lamp can become your best remedy!
- Be careful with using too many productivity–assistance tools like apps, websites, groups, blogs etc. Remember, those are merely meant to assist your thinking and organizing processes, not replace them. The shocking truth here is that on their own, all those tools are dead time! You still have to think and do stuff in real time! Find something that you only use as your reminder system.
- Low-light working environments make you depressed. There is a study that says our brains need a shock of light to help curb depression and feeling blue.
- Contrary to the popular belief, don’t have a clean and super-duper organized desk! It’s proven to get you depressed! A few things on your desk are more than welcome and it’s even good to set them up slightly out of order. Also, get things that inspire you right there in front of you and you will feel way better!
- Practice self-compassion. A recent study by two physiologists proved the value of self-compassion over self-criticism. They found that a message of self-compassion helped achieving set goals. Many would think that the message of self-compassion would slow you down, but it actually helps cultivate the willpower to go on and act towards your goals. And I’m not talking about full character and situation analysis. Just a simple ‘Well done!’ to yourself for something small will usually do the trick. So, don’t sell out on yourself. You need to love and like yourself! You’re Personally Awesome by default! That is actually the essence of being impressed… you have to see your own value way above anything else.
I have 5 more boost secrets for you and much more of how to position yourself as an Indispensable Assistant. YOU make this professions the way it is, it’s time to pay much needed attention on this core power behind the Assisting Professionals – the core of Personally Awesome YOU!
