Ctrl Shift Worry (Pandemic Edition)

8 Tips to Overcome Worry and Rumination during a Crisis. 

Our world is in a Public Health Crisis. Our minds are running with some many thoughts, it can be hard to begin to name them and its stressing you out.  On top of that it can be difficult to recognize and express helpful ways of thinking about your current stressors.  Your thoughts may try to tell you that you are helping yourself by worrying & rumination but, on some level we know that it is not helpful. Often we become stuck because we are not sure what to do next.  Your worrying magnifies your stressor by bring up more negative possibilities.  Negative thoughts lead to another negative thought and then you start to feel stressed.   To take it a step further, rumination is a persistent and repetitive worry that is often associated with increase depression and anxiety over time.  Please note that if you are ruminating when you are down, you may begin to feel worse.  It is important now than ever to gain some type of understanding of thoughts and move them in a new direction.  Below are some tools to move you in the direction of recognizing your worry and rumination and started moving towards more helpful thoughts during this time.

1.  The purpose of WORRY is to PLAN. Begin by asking yourself, how helpful is the worry.  Are you actually finding solutions when you worry or finding concrete plan to implement?  Are seeing solutions in a new light or after thinking about the problem you feel, worst.  If you are unable to find new solutions and new perspective and actually feeling worst, then your worrying is considered unhelpful and it is time to focus on somethings else.

2.  Practice thought Stopping.    As soon as you notice yourself worrying or ruminating, begin to visualize a big red STOP sign.  Yell STOP aloud in your and even raise your hand to signal you to STOP.  Or visualize a detour sign, directing you unto a new mental track. 

3. Create a WORRY Corner.   Designate a place in your home or work.  Identify which chair/space will be your worry corner. Give yourself 5 to 10 minutes 2-3 times a day.  Write down the worry in the area.  Leave them there.  Soon your brain will learn to associate your worry corner with worries and all other activities will be associate with the absent of worry.  This activity allow you worry about the pandemic, finance, work, family, health during a control, timed limited way. 

4. Picture it.  Picture your worries as bubbles popping in the air, as leaves floating down the stream or a car driving away into the sunset getting smaller.  This mindfulness technique that can give you distance from your worries.

5. Find an alternative thought.  Focus on a funny image every time you start worrying.  Find a funny image like a Green Horse driving a car.  As soon as start to worry or ruminate, think of your green horse drinking in spotted car.   

6. Playback.  Imagine hearing your worries in an annoying voice of not so favorite character.  I would be highly annoyed hearing my stressors called out by Yosemite Sam from Hannah Barbera Cartoons. 

7. Look for patterns.  For one week, notice and record triggers that make you worry or ruminate (such as talking to anxious person, lying awake in bed, or watching certain TV shows).  Now,  develop alternative positive things to do and way to avoid those triggers.  Avoid the person who response negatively to your problems. If you start to feel negative while lying in bed, get up in 15 minutes and get active versus watching TV. 

8. Interrupt the worry cycle.  This can be done walking around or mindfully checking in with what is happening in your body.  If you notice areas of tension, send some breathe in the area.  Then also label that tension such as “fear,” “anger,” “sadness.”  This can overcome that avoidance with being “in your head” about the pandemic.   

I understand that there are somethings that we don’t have control over at this time.  Watching the media, talking to friends, fears about employment or your business, the state of your families health can naturally increase your worry.  Understand the anxious thoughts about it may around for weeks or months to come, but by increase our awareness and implement of tools we can improve our mental wellness during this public health crisis. 

Be Balanced and Well,

Shayla Peterson

Ctrl Shift Lies

You're Lying to Yourself: Don't Believe Everything You Think.

Have you become a master at fooling yourself. Your brain knows what to tell you so you can justify to yourself taking the comfortable path through life. Your capacity to deceive yourself is almost unlimited. Unfortunately, these lies come home to roost eventually. There's a price to be paid for believing a lie. You've been paying it for years.

FREE yourself from the lies you tell yourself. Check out the top 8 lies that you may be telling yourself on a regular basis.

1. I must wait for the perfect moment to act. This is just an excuse to procrastinate. When this lie runs through your head, ask yourself what you're afraid of. You can be certain you're avoiding something. It may be the fear of failure or the fear of hard work. Ask yourself what you're avoiding and why.

2. I don't feel like it. This one might be the truth, but it's irrelevant. If it needs to be done, it needs to be done. If you only do things when you feel like doing them, many things will never be completed properly. If you wait until the eventual time crunch forces you to act, your results will be poorer than if you had acted sooner.

3. I lack the right personality to do what I want to do. Perhaps your dream is to be a standup comedian but you feel you're too introverted. There are successful people in every possible field you can imagine with completely different personalities. You can be an extroverted librarian or an introverted politician. It's easy to find successful people with the "wrong" personality for their field.

4. I'll do it tomorrow. How many times have you told yourself that one? How many times were you wrong? In most cases, you're putting it off because the thought of doing it now makes you uncomfortable. That's unlikely to change tomorrow. Have the courage to tackle it right now and get it off your back. Think about how much better you'll feel after it's done.

5. I must follow the rules. There's a difference between laws and rules. Breaking a law can land you in jail. Breaking a rule might make someone upset. The most successful people have managed to break the rules in a positive way. When everyone follows the rules, nothing changes.

6. People that care about me should agree with me. Do you always agree with them? You should be able to expect the people that care about you to support you. There's no reason why they should always agree with you. Be confident in your decisions.

7. Being busy means I'm getting things done. We've all lived days full of activity where little was accomplished. Accomplishing a lot requires spending time and effort on the right activities. It's easy to spin your wheels and wear yourself out with little to show for it.

8. I should always be able to enjoy my life. This might be possible in theory, but most of us aren't enlightened enough live this reality today. Bad things happen and must be managed. Enjoying your life doesn't excuse the need to take care of your business. You'll have days without enough time to enjoy yourself. You might have to give the dog a bath even though you'd rather watch the ball game. Everyone lies to themselves. Fooling yourself is one of the easier things you do each day, but when you deny your own truth, you limit your potential. Recognize the damage done by the lies you tell yourself. They might bring you comfort today, but you'll pay for them tomorrow with your discomfort.

Be Well and Balance,

Shayla Peterson

Ctrl Shift Finding Balance

Can you find balance in your life? Some say you can, while others say there is no such thing if you want to be highly successful.

It’s true that many of the most high-profile successful people have anything but balanced lives. But, many of them develop feelings of anxiousness, intense frustration, sad majority of the day, poor concentration an irritation which can appear mimic symptoms of depression and anxiety.  Finding balance can be possible while attaining a high level of success and enjoy all the aspects of your life that mean the most to you.

Find balance with these strategies:

·       Cut back on the non-essentials. If you’re struggling to find balance in your life, a lack of time is the most common issue. Take a look at how you spend your time each week. What are the activities you can do without?

·       Avoid wasting time. Now, consider all the ways you genuinely waste time. This might include watching TV reruns, surfing the internet, or window shopping. The more time you can find in your life to apply to the things that matter, the more balanced you can make your life.

·       Set your priorities. Know what balance means to you. What are the most important things in your life? If you know your priorities, you can put your time to the best possible use.

·       Focus on your health. Giving your health a high level of priority can help to balance everything else. If your health is important, you’ll find the time and energy to eat properly and to exercise. You’ll get enough sleep. Placing importance on your health can help prevent the rest of your life from getting out of control.

·       Plan your time. Have a plan for your week and each day. Know how you’re going to spend your day before the day arrives. That way, you can make the most of your time. The more you can accomplish with your time, the more your life can be in balance.

·       Focus on the most important tasks. There are a lot of things you could work on each day, but there are only a few that will make a big difference. These tasks usually aren’t the most fun, but they’ll save you the most time. You can’t major in the minor things if you want to be successful and have a balanced life.

·       Review consistently. Life is dynamic, so even if you’re able to create a balanced life, it won’t stay that way forever. Keep your finger on the pulse of your life. Look for ways to improve. Notice when things are starting to get out of control again.

·       Have reasonable expectations. There’s only so much you can do. If you’re trying to create a multi-billion-dollar company and train for marathons, you’re not going to have much family time. On the other hand, if you want to spend every minute with your children and spouse, other areas of your life may suffer.

A balanced life is sometimes hard to master. When you’re an adult with a family, it’s hard to find time for everything. When you’re older and your children have moved out, it can be a challenge to find meaning in your life. Life is always a challenge to balance properly, but with identifying what is in your control and shifting your perspective it is possible.

You must decide for yourself what it means to have a balanced life and what works for you.  Honestly, it is not always easy and it may require more planning.  Ctrl Shift Balance Mental Wellness can assist in your creating your balance.

Wishing you Balance & Wellness,

Shayla Peterson, LCSW, LISW-CP

Ctrl Shift Anxiety

There are many ways to approach anxiety. The simplest medos are also the known to be the best methods. I will explore those with in this blog in hope that you start to experience relief you need with minimal efforts.

Check out these strategies to worry less:

1. Ask yourself what you can do about it. There are many worries that are beyond your ability to influences. If you can do something about your concerns, by all means, do it. However, we know that many of the situations of worry can not be solved. Such as health issues of family member, weather for next Saturday, weather or not you get that promotion or even Politics.

2. Get more rest. A lack of sleep leads to increased anxiety. An extra hour of sleep each night can make a big difference.

3. Find somethings else to do. If worrying and anxiety are getting the best of you, try distracting yourself. You might think, “that’s not going to solve anything.” True, but neither will worrying. You might as well enjoy yourself as much as possible in the meantime.

4. Adopt Powerful Body Language. Strong Powerful Body Language can change your mood and attitude Try standing like a powerful that has control over her life. Lift your head up, sit up straight, chest out, smile, take up space, give a strong handshake, relax yourself and make good eye contact. For a bonus, watch movies with powerful, confidence characters and notice how they move and stand.

5. Laugh. You have a couple of memories or stories that always make you laugh when you think about them and share them Have these memories ready to go a moment’s notice.

Try out these tips to shift your perspective on managing your worries and anxiety. Next week, I will shared tip 6 through 10. Let me know how the first 5 have worked for you by emailing at shayla@ctrlshiftbalance.com.

Be Balanced & Well,

Shayla