It's mid-July...

Yikes! Where did the months go?

Well, I might have taken a break here, but I haven't taken a break fully! Although I have to admit, getting my head in the game, getting back to my motivated self took some time. Took some practice. Took a look of getting real and getting it together.

Pandemic Exhaustion. Who else feels this way? I know that I feel utterly and completely depleted by the end of my day. I know that my mind wakes at random hours in the night and if I'm lucky I get a chance to fall back to sleep. But thinking about how I'm going to keep my family safe every minute of the day is exhausting.

Re-opening Anxiety. Right? This is also a major factor in my overall stress. How do we do this? Is it ok to go back to normal? All very much concerns that weigh heavily on me right now. Thinking about what school is going to even look like in the fall. There are so many things.

It's now, after letting all of those things into my head that I have to really pull it back. I have to go through the self-coaching process and get my head back in the game. If I stay in Pandemic Exhaustion or Re-opening Anxiety then I'd still be on my couch and my kids would need to fend for themselves. My clients wouldn't have anyone to help them through. So I focus, I get right back to the basics - the things I know that help me out, have helped me out and will continue to help me out.

1. Plan. I plan out my day. Get my task list ready so that I know what I'm doing and what I can control that day and for that moment I'm thinking of what needs to be done. What do I personally need to do for me - shower, shave, nails, doctor - what is it that needs to be done. For my family - groceries, bathing suit, laundry, etc. Work - what are the task list items that need to be done for that, I write them all down in a checklist format. I love Bullet Journals and I often use one sheet that I draw a vertical line down the middle of the page and horizontal line across the middle of the page making four squares "+" . Each quadrant then gets labeled with Personal, Family, Work, then I put Other in the fourth quadrant - at times there are things that don't fit anywhere else. I also like to put a mini-square in front of each line item so that I can check it off in the "box" as I do it. I feel so much more accomplished if I can check it off. There are so many productivity apps, which do you like using the best?

2. Gratitude. I think about the previous few hours or the day before and pull out beautiful memories that I don't want to forget. I write them down so that my heart opens up to less stress and more happiness - I'm grateful for my parents dropping by with strawberries and a HUGE cookie, it put a smile on my face and my parents were so happy to hug us again!

3. Journal. I love to get my thoughts out on paper. Often this is the most important part of my day. Just get them out. At times I do this after I've meditated and come up with really interesting ideas to add to my work in a creative way. If I'm dealing with a stressful situation, I give my situation some thought and come up with some of the emotions and feelings I'm having about it. Just getting it out on paper is actually quite therapeutic. Then I do some self-coaching. I unpack the values that I have associated with the situation so that I can truly take a look at where the disparities lie. Then I think about how I react, what is my behavioural reaction when my values and my feelings aren't in alignment? Once I've thought of my emotions, feelings, values and behaviours - then I think of ways in which I can try changing the way I react in the future. I come up with several different options and write them down. When all my ideas are out there on paper my thoughts throughout the day are "am I back in alignment with the way I planned to react to this today?" If not, I take a breath and try again. Self-compassion is the most imperative part of changing the way in which you react to a difficult situation.

4. Visualization. I have begun to really love visualizations. I've recorded one just to help out with reducing Pandemic Exhaustion and Re-Opening Anxiety - check it out here. Let me know how you liked it in the comments below. Send me an email, I'd love to hear from you!

Get your calm on, this life thing isn't a race it's a journey with lot's of winding roads. All of what we have been through is another test of our collective and individual strengths. You've go this. You are going to do great things in this world. You already are. Stick to what you know, stick to moments that you can control and leave the other stuff behind you. Simplify where you can because that will really help to support you staying present and in the moment. As a client of mine pointed out yesterday, we are living in a historical moment. My question to you is, how are you choosing to LIVE in it?

Heather xo