As the trees shed their leaves, and everything is laid a little bare, can we take something from their example and let go of our ‘busyness’ too?
Are you always ‘busy’? Do you find it hard to relax? Do you worry about letting people and yourself down if you’re not on top of everything?
Dr Meg Arroll, author of Tiny Traumas (Thorsons), identifies these as symptoms of high-functioning anxiety or ‘busy-itis’ in which we keep constantly busy, often to distract ourselves from anxious thoughts. Judith Kleinman, Alexander Technique teacher and author of Finding Quiet Strength (Quickthorn) says that this can be especially true for women when we have had to juggle so many responsibilities and “find it hard to let go of these mental burdens as though everything might fall apart if we don’t worry about it all the time.”
Letting go
Overcome the urge to multi-task and create chunks of time where you can concentrate on just one thing in order to prevent mental fatigue and brain fog.
“Finding a balance of work, rest and play is so important and easy to forget when we are conscientious, helpful people,” says Kleinman. “However, if we can shift our motivational goals to include enjoying simple things like sleeping enough, drinking plenty of water, eating well and being with friends and family, research shows that we will be more effective in our work life balance.”
Doing some physical exercise can also help to manage feelings of stress. If you’ve got a stressful event that day, do something that makes your heart pump for around 20 minutes and the calming effect will last for hours.
These ideas for being less busy are from our wellbeing feature ‘Letting Go’ in our October issue by Rebecca Frank, which is full of wise advice on ways to let go of whatever is holding you back.
Buy this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe
