Clowns to the left of me…by Caryn Douglas

Does work sometimes make you feel like you’re performing in your own circus?

At work we often find ourselves juggling different roles, dealing with competing demands, all of which are important. Or we walk a tightrope, trying to keep our composure, or we swing back and forth between important tasks while trying to make connections with others while continually on the move. Never mind the clowns trying to trip you up. To manage all this, we sometimes end up wearing masks to cope with the day to day stresses. A mask can protect us, but it can also become a barrier or a way of hiding what is really going on.

This week is Stress Awareness week, so it felt like a good moment to think about how we manage the circus of our daily existence. New stresses are always finding their way into our ‘stress bucket’, filling it up. Before long, it can overflow and we end up tripping up over our feet which are suddenly enormous, getting soaking wet and feeling like a clown.

If the stress bucket doesn’t have a release valve, there is no way to stop it overflowing eventually. Finding that valve is a critical part of managing our wellbeing, as is remembering to use it. Stress is our response to challenging situations, so taking a wider perspective on wellbeing is also important, and perhaps we might find we don’t even need to use the valve so often. There are a whole range of practical things we can do to tackle stress from knowing our triggers to getting better at saying ‘no’. But there a few key lifestyle factors that can have a big impact:

Sleep
Most people need between seven or eight hours of sleep a night. There are a few notable individuals who can survive on fewer, but most of us need a good night’s sleep to function at our best. Have a regular bedtime and follow the good advice about avoiding screens before trying to sleep.

Moving
Now prescribed by the National Health Service, taking exercise is a proven way of managing both physical and mental wellbeing. Sitting for long periods is no good for bodies or minds and even regular short walks can make a huge difference.

Mindfulness
Use a brand of mindfulness that works for you. Whether that is deep breathing, gardening, or following guided meditations, find something that fully absorbs your mind and body.

Connect
Stay connected with others. Make time for conversations with friends and family, and practice deep listening as well as doing the talking.

Using a range of different techniques to maintain wellbeing can help us better cope with stress in the first place, or if it gets too much, we can take the pressure off by releasing the valve.  In doing this, we take on the role of the ring master of the circus, while knowing that we still need to ‘perform’. We will have better resilience to be able to keep our balance on the tightrope, keep the clowns in line, juggle a scary number of balls, put masks on and take them off appropriately, or even jump through a ring of fire occasionally!

 

Photo by BROTE studio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-man-with-face-paint-2970501/