STAYING POSITIVE WHEN ALL AROUND IS THE OPPOSITE

Today I'm going to talk about something we will rarely admit - the fact that external or personal events can totally disrupt and affect the day for anyone who runs their own business or anyone in a professional role.

I can think of numerous times over my 36 year career where things have caused my productivity to nose dive or even stop.

There are times when this is completely understandable and we have to simply accept that life has stopped us in our tracks. For me these have included:

*the sudden passing of my dad and my brother in law.

*the very serious illness of my husband which led to an emergency life-saving operation.

*maternity leave.

*discovering I had to help clear my aunt's house after her death as the landlord wanted it back in a week.

*being ill and having to simply go to bed, sleep or go to A&E or the GP.

Sadly we will all have a list like that.

However sometimes there are seismic events which happen which will lead to a number of things occuring - and the election of the next American President was one last week. It was similar to the landslide victory when Labour came to power in the UK.

Our response to that will very much dictate what we may feel and that response will then have a knock on effect on how we get on with our day. For me in one case it was a feeling of hope and in the other it was a feeling of utter despair. Even though with the latter, it technically has nothing to do with me and I (we) have zero influence.

Regardless of how these events made you feel, here are a few tips to keep on track with your day and the subsequent days.

*Try to avoid getting into arguments with people, particularly on social media, who will never agree with you, no matter how reasonable you are. I chose to use a few quotations rather than say nothing at all yet I did struggle with this and got into two arguments until I realised it was pointless.

*You may wish to privately reach out and check in on people who are directly affected right now. I did this with someone who was utterly devastated and offered my support from a distance. For this person this was deeply personal.

*If you feel upset, overwhelmed or full of anger - simply turn off the news and get in your lane (and I don't say that lightly). As a newshound who loves and wants to be 'switched on' these are occasions where it becomes such a distraction that you get nothing done at all and it simply makes your negative mood worse. Don't underestimate the power of that. I love social media, I love the news but it can have a dramatic effect.

*Focus on the positives if you feel negative. What are you doing that day anyway that you can throw yourself into with gusto? Often even the tiniest positive thing can lift you.

*Curate your social media feed after about 24 hours - are you allowing people to be connected to you who are simply not your tribe? or who are simply vile in their online behaviour? It's okay to block or remove them. Just move on. Most won't even care or notice and if they are close friends or contacts, you may need to re-evaluate who is in your circle.

*If your workload feels heavy or you can't concentrate or the chatter in the office is driving you mad - take a moment. Go for a walk if you can, step out and into a quiet space for a while.

*If you run your own show, get out of the office even if it's working somewhere else where life goes on. Or read a book. Do something different to create a 'pattern interrupt'.

*Look for the helpers - in every situation, however awful, however inexplicable, there will be good people doing things. Look for grace, dignity and look to that. It does make a difference.

*Keep on keeping on - we have to accept, whatever our views, that our immediate influence is limited and we have to choose to get on with things, stop crystal ball gazing and face each day as it comes.

As a PR there was one thing I really noticed after the American election - there were hardly any journalist requests put out from the UK on the day or in the next 24 hours for people to share their views. This is highly unusual as even after the UK election the press couldn't get enough.

Of course, it's not our 'story' or they could simply scrape them from social media, which they are totally allowed to do as posters are putting their views into the public domain.

Also I invited clients to send me their views which I could pitch if national journalists in particular were asking for said views. Of my clients and members of my PR academy number around 40 in total - only one person sent their views. I found this interesting and curious. I think many were simply stunned or too scared to share their views and that's an entirely personal decision, there's no right or wrong.

Anyway, regardless of this event - let's all keep on keeping on and staying visible in the best and most positive way we can! Failing that revert to chocolate!