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If you want to work well, you need to take time for play, rest and relaxation. So if the daily grind is getting you down I can recommend an excellent medication-free treatment… a good pampering!
If you are constantly doing something, thinking about what you are going to do next or, worst of all, worrying about what you are not doing, then perhaps you are trying to do too much.
Struggling to meet unreasonable commitments and expectations is exhausting and demoralising. Yet frequently these demands are self-imposed: it might seem like your todo list driven by the needs of others but, if you review it honestly, you will see that the long list is borne of your own expectations and feelings of obligation.
Last week I detailed step one in my process for ‘cutting back’ my commitments: Capture all your commitments on paper.
Now for step 2 and 3…
Many of us are trying to squeeze too much into each day. We overload ourselves with responsibilities, commitments and expectations which we frantically try to meet.
At any given time we don’t have a clear idea of what all this stuff is, nor do we know if we have enough time to actually do it all. But we just keep going in the hope that somehow we will reach an ‘end’. But we won’t. Our efforts, and our failure to reach this illusive ‘end’, will only exhaust, frustrate and depress.
This all sounds pretty grim, but we can do something about it! And the answer is not work harder or longer - the answer is to cut back on your commitments.
Common sense tells us that sleep (and also non-sleeping rest time) is important to our health, particularly for those with chronic illnesses.
IBD is an inflammatory disease and when we are flaring (and sometimes even when we are not) our digestive system is inflamed and/or ulcerated. This places our entire system under stress, as our body works hard to heal itself. In addition to whatever medications or treatments we may be receiving, we also need to give our bodies the best chance of healing by supplying it with good fuel (diet) and by focusing our available energy on the priority of getting well (by sleeping, resting and reducing external stress). So here are some tips on sleeping your way to better health… Read the rest of this entry »
Last week I talked about creating the right frame of mind to start a new behaviour or change an old one. Hopefully you’ve moved past the first hurdle, getting started. But now you need to overcome those day-to-day resistances in order to turn your new behaviour into a habit. Read the rest of this entry »
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