Stress Detox: Taking inventory, slowing down, clearing space.

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been designing how I wanted to spend my time while taking a much-needed break. I decided early on, I was not going to jam my days and weeks with commitments and was definitely not going to pressure myself to be on the go, and constantly “productive”.

To those who know me well, I’m sure you’re not surprised to hear that committing to this unwind mode has been…well, hard. I find myself toggling between taking the rest I need and the guilt of not doing more – which right now, is part of the design.

We are all programmed to accept this unrelenting pace. Seemingly hard wired to account for our accomplishments and strive for the next thing. Myself included. It’s admittedly been difficult to slow down and most afternoons say “ok, that was enough for today”. But everyday, I'm taking stock and remembering that welcoming change and rest is exactly what I need.

Here are a few things I’ve done to set myself up for success and embrace slowing down. While still in a period of what I'm calling stress-detoxing, these small tweaks have enabled me to ramp it down, take inventory and get comfortable with resting & rebooting:

1.?????? Walking more, without my phone – an obvious one, but checking my phone constantly has become an addiction. I was very aware and more active with keeping it away when the kids were really little, but slowly the constant pull of having it out, checking one more thing, quickly responding... had become the norm. Taking a page from my husband’s book, I now walk the dog without my phone. And I’ve been walking the kids to school with my phone tucked away, and it has been amazing. ?

2.?????? Reading – I’ve always been an avid reader, but one of the main things on the menu these days is catching up on reading. Getting lost in a really good book is therapy and some days its all I want to do. Taking any and all book recommendations, as I always like to have a queue.

3.?????? De-cluttering – A major life debt element, was feeling like so many spaces in my home had become overrun. It had/has a real impact on my mental health. Closets, corners, piles – it feels like we accumulate stuff everywhere. I’m staying true to my goal of not overdoing it on any given day, but slowly going through and decluttering spaces has been an absolute antidote to the mental clutter that also piles up.

4.?????? Trello – Part of clearing my mental clutter has been putting new systems in place to stay organized at home and calm my mind. At work, I can organize and structure like nobodies’ business, but at home – lists everywhere! Walking around thinking about all of the things I wanted to clean, read etc. would keep my mind spinning and stress me out. No thank you. So I signed up for Trello to document what I wanted to do during this period, and while it may sound very corporate, it actually has quieted the constantly running to-do list in my brain and allowed me to have one place to jot down my home, family and personal to-dos.

5.?????? Saying yes to sitting down – Contrary to how I have always lived, I am taking this time to saying yes to a max of just 1-2 “big things” per day. I’m saying yes to listening to my body when I feel tired. I’m saying yes to changing my daily plan if it feels like I signed up for too much. And its been really rejuvenating to know that this ethos can be brought with me in everyday living, and into whatever the future may bring.

I know I am so incredibly lucky to have this time, and I also know this won’t last forever. Part of this journey will be to figure out how to incorporate more of these restful elements into my routine forever, but these initial steps and others are fueling me to figure it out. By slowing down, I've also opened up to more creative ideas, and I'm finding the space to daydream and ideate on how I want to spend the next chapter.

For now, I’m grateful for the ability to design my days and say “enough” when I feel I need to take a break.