Well the simple answer to that question is YES. Every one of us is very capable of making our own lives as difficult as possible at times. We can stand in our own way by subconsciously self-sabotaging. We can reactive even though we know it is far better to stop and think first before we do so. After all we are all human and making mistakes is part of who we are.

There are many things we all do in our everyday lives that don’t help and life can seem exhausting at times. Using many forms of distractions and keeping busy doesn’t help our mental and physical health. If we were more honest with ourselves we’d admit that if we made some changes it would be far better for our physical and mental health than what we have been using.

Time To Change The Question.

So then the question becomes what will help make life a little less difficult for us? How can we get out of our own way, even a little, so that life seems less exhausting? One answer is to review what’s going on for us. As I always say awareness is the first step in changing anything.

Where do we spend our time? Distracting ourselves with what exactly? Or what exacting is keeping us busy and exhausted? When we can see the answers to these questions we can take some positive steps towards making our lives less stressed. So that leaves us with another question. What positive steps can we do to change things and make life less stressed?

Simplifying things as much as possible is one solution. Reducing down things we use as forms of distraction will also help. Let us look at some self-help tips that we can use to get started.

4 Self-Help Tips To Gain Back Control.

1 TV and Social Media.

If research is anything to go by TV and social media seem to be one of our main forms of distraction. Every day on average we watch 3 hours of television and spend just under 3 hours on social media. That’s about 42 hours a week between them.

That’s one hell of an addiction and it is addictive. It stimulates the same brain zones as other forms of addiction. It’s why it is so hard to give up completely. It may give us temporary relief from what is happening in our lives. But it isn’t a permanent solution and at some point it will make things worse. It isn’t very good for our mental health leading to very negative thinking and in turn negative behaviours.

Giving it up completely and going cold turkey won’t work. Especially if you have become “one” with your coach each night. But if we reclaimed even a small amount of that time we could do something more productive in terms of reducing our stress, anxiety, etc. We can do things that help our mental and physical health in a positive manner. Plus help ourselves to simplify our lives in the process.

Time blocking might help you with this. Giving yourself specific times to watch TV or interact on social media each week. Blocking notifications for the rest of the time will also help you cut back.

We could spend some of that time with positive friends, family instead of negative comparisons. Or by getting out for a short walk, meditating, etc., we can help our overall health improve.

In general, doing things that we enjoy and that can bring back the pleasure in life instead with the reclaimed time. As I said we probably can’t cut TV and social media from our lives completely but we can reclaim some of our life.

2 Getting Some Organization In Your Life.

Being disorganised and living with clutter can be very mentally and physically draining. But it can also waste a lot of our time. When we cannot find something whether it’s at home or at work it can cost us time and money never mind how we feel. Our life feels more difficult and stressed as a result.

When we become more organized and have less clutter we save money, time, prevent accidents, and feel more in control over our life. To help with this we need to become aware of the problem areas around us. What areas at work and home could do with some decluttering and organization? Once we have that list we can break it down into small tasks of decluttering one area. Then place key reminders for ourselves to help keep it organized.

A planner, whether on your phone, or other device, or on paper, can really help here. It doesn’t matter which we use but we need a plan of action. Time block in some time each day, perhaps 5 minutes to declutter one area. Then set up a reminder in your planner, or on your phone, of the upcoming task. Once an area is cleared make sure to keep it that way by allocating time to keep it clear.

Other ways we can help with organization is by adding in reminders on our phone’s calendar. This isn’t just about birthdays or anniversaries. But also appointments, payment and renewal due dates, business meetings or important task completion dates, etc. That way we know something is coming up and won’t forget about it. This can help reduce an awful lot of mental clutter.

Having all the relevant documentation in one folder will also help. So all birth, marriage, etc., certificates together, current car and home insurance policies, current year tax documents, passports, utility bill provider details, etc., all in one place will save you time.

Setting up a system like this can take some time and that can be off putting. But once it’s completed it will save you a lot of time, effort, stress and you’ll feel more in control. This system helps keep you organized and if you run into a problem you know where things are. That way a crisis isn’t added to and life does seem so difficult to handle right at that moment.

3 Stop Attempting To Multitask.

It can be so tempting to try to multitask when life feels difficult. But our brain is simply not made to do this. Rushing from one task to another or trying to do too much too quickly simply won’t work either. Our focus will not be completely on the task at hand and we will make more mistakes which cost us time, perhaps money and raises our stress levels. The more we make these mistakes the more we will feel unsure of ourselves. Thus also feeling less confident and are more likely to speak negatively to ourselves.

It is far better for us if we stop trying to multitask and take a small break between different types of tasks. This allows our brain to switch between each type of task and be more efficient. Again getting into the habit of time blocking and chunking similar types of tasks together will help with our focus, productivity, reduces our stress and anxiety levels and helps us feel more in control.

4 Stop And Take A Moment.

At times when life feels difficult it is more important than ever to take time out. To allow us some time to reflect on what we want in our life. When things are difficult we need to take the time to review what is happening in our life and review our priorities.

By making a list of what is important to us, what we wish to prioritize, then we can start to eliminate the clutter that is holding us captive. Once we have our list we can delete or minimize contact with the negative people, delegate or eliminate tasks that are not ours, say no where we need to, etc. In this way we simplify our life and creating better routines and managing our time, and our life, more efficiently.

Meditation can help us to slow down the ever increasing thoughts streaming through our minds and causing us to feel stressed. If practiced each day, even for a short period of time, it can help us to recognize when we are sabotaging ourselves. It can also help us to slow down, relax, and appreciate ourselves and those around us more.

Gain Your Confidence Back And Feel More In Control.

Any of the above will help us to gain confidence and feel more in control of our lives. By reducing the distractions and simplifying the clutter we find ourselves more focused on what is important to us. In this way we start to find that we reclaim our self-confidence with these small steps. Remember building back up our self-confidence won’t happen overnight but by being consistent with our efforts above will.

Work With Me.

Remember you are allowed to ask for support. No one is an island. If you need extra support then you can also work with me. We all struggle with stress and overwhelm from time to time. If you find this has become a problem for you and you’d like some support then schedule an appointment with me.