The past few months have been challenging for many of my clients, with workforce transformations, organisational changes, redundancies, and a growing sense of uncertainty and busyness. Life challenges add another layer of complexity: caring for children, supporting elderly parents, moving house, or navigating health conditions.
When both work and life demand more than we feel we can give, it becomes difficult to keep our nervous system in check, maintain mental clarity, plan confidently for the future, and follow through on our intentions.
If this resonates with you, this blog offers a few strategies to help you regain emotional and mental strength.
- Start with your body.
When your mind feels overwhelmed and resistant to reality, the best place to begin is with your body. Unfortunately, many of us fall into the trap of doing more (sending one more email, checking one more job posting) and end up deprioritising sleep, exercise, nutrition, and self-care.
The result? We spiral further into stress and despair.
During challenging times, it is essential to regulate cortisol levels so we are not operating in a fight/flight/freeze state. This enables us to engage the prefrontal cortex – the decision-making and rational part of our brain. Which physical activities help you de-stress? Most of us already know our best answer.
Some proven techniques include walking, running, swimming, yoga, stretching, breathwork, quality sleep, progressive muscle relaxation, box breathing, deep breathing, or even cold showers.
- Work on your mind
Mindset is everything. Once you have calmed your nervous system, it’s time to observe your thoughts. In chaotic times, your mind can feel like a four-lane motorway at full speed; racing through worst-case scenarios that often sound like scenes from a drama or horror movie.
This kind of catastrophising pulls you right back into a stress loop. Here are some techniques to ground your thoughts. I highly recommend writing your answers down or talking them through with someone you trust.
- Free-flow journaling for a set period, then review your writing. Are you portraying the situation as it is? Is everything factual?
- Questions to take power away from the situation: On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely is it that these negative scenarios will come true? If the risk is low, is it worth investing so much mental energy? Will this issue still matter in 2, 5, or 10 years?
- Plan for what is in your control: If the risk is high, what is within your power? How can you prepare, and what support can you access?
- Structure and prioritise: Map out your week (or beyond), make clear to-do lists, delegate where possible, and block time in your calendar. Then focus on daily execution. Having full clarity, closing things off, and progressing can give you a sense of control.
- Reframe the challenge: What if this is an opportunity in disguise? What doors could it open? What lessons can I learn from this? What strengths can I build?
- Write your next chapter: Play with narrative. What would you like your work and life to look like when this storm passes?
- Don’t forget your soul
Don’t let the chaos you are in at the moment define you. Spending 10 -15 minutes a day on something that boosts your endorphins can lift your mood and carry you through the day with greater resilience. What are your activities that feed your soul, make you happy and help you show up as the best version of yourself? Cooking, singing, dancing, reading, playing an instrument, gardening, talking to a friend, having a laugh?
You will find more ideas on endorphin-boosting activities here.
To summarize, the more you feel trapped in a ‘chaos mode’, the more important it becomes to actively and intentionally manage yourself. While self-regulation might feel like one more task on your already full list, it doesn’t have to take a long time and can fuel you for all other activities you need to accomplish. It is more about managing your energy and focus, and less about managing tasks and time. If you were to build one or two habits to support yourself through this period, what would they be?
If you need any support in managing chaos and uncertainty in your work life, please reach out to me (HERE) and let’s discuss how coaching can support you.