Does this sound familiar? You’re sitting on the train on the way home from work and a million thoughts are running through your head.
Work stresses, finances, relationship issues, family commitments, upcoming events that need planning, personal health issues and any number of other strains and challenges can be bubbling through your mind at a million miles an hour.
How do you help make sense of all this and take some pressure and workload off your heart and mind?
Home time is ideally a time to take your foot off the accelerator and be more settled because being calmer and more content around family and friends when you’re “off the clock” should help you have more energy for work and other commitments.
Mindfulness (which is a misleading name, as I will discuss in an upcoming article) is one way (more details on that whole strategy to come).
But what about taking these issues literally out of your mind before you put your key in the front door?
Just imagine how much better your evening would be if you arrived at home feeling more relaxed, settled and centered?
This could be a handy tool for you to use.
I have created this Daily Wellness Report (which you are free to print, use and share) and I would suggest filling it in at the end of each workday (so have a few in your bag or briefcase and a pen or pencil of course!).
With this tool, you get to quickly colour in the circles showing exactly where you are on pretty much all the important aspects of your life.
Think about each circle as being like the fuel tank in your car…do you drive around with the fuel warning light on? Probably not.
Just imagine what it would be like not being able to see how much fuel you have in your car’s fuel tank.
So, if your satisfaction level on the work front is only at 10% you will be able to see that in reality.
This will help program your brain to realize that work could be the main area that is causing you distress.
Maybe this will help you work out ways of refilling this tank? Perhaps it is a sign that you might need some new strategies or to have an honest chat with your boss about why you’re this dissatisfied?
The reason this document can be so helpful is that it is literally taking the thoughts from floating in your head and making them a real and tangible thing.
Just as importantly, it is showing your brain (especially the large percentage of us who are visual learners) where you are at and this might help you focus on the areas that need improving.
Oh, and don’t discount the fact that it could be a circuit breaker from the flow of a million thoughts and feelings as it is an activity that uses another part of your brain!
Keep the completed documents and you can track whether you’re contentment scales are rising or falling.
If you believe in many of the concepts of some Asian philosophies, particularly Taoism, you will be looking to see if you have balance in these areas (more on that to come in an upcoming article).
The most important thing, whichever way you look at it, is literally to look at it!
If you use this document and find that it does help you, please let me know.