Some periods of life bring us a higher mental load which can be overwhelming. How can we manage it while preserving our health and well-being? This article describes 2 possible solutions to reduce the mental load, hypnosis and other available techniques.
1. An organizational framework
Prioritize
When the to-do list is overflowing, it is essential to sort by importance and not overload the schedule. What is a priority and essential to do today? What can be postponed to a later, less busy or more suitable time?
When we sort, we can go towards what is important and therefore do less but better, while keeping the essential. Also, some tasks can be delegated, and we can learn to find support.
Often writing for yourself or talking about it with someone, a friend or a therapist, allows you to better organize yourself. Indeed, hearing yourself formulate what you are experiencing, the way you talk about it and how you answer the therapist's questions leads you to identify what is important to you.
Simplify
How can I make this task as easy as possible?
When you feel overwhelmed, everything seems complicated! Learning to simplify as much as possible while keeping the essentials is precious. Concentrate on one thing at a time, one step of the day at a time, without thinking about the remaining mountain of tasks to be made during the day or week.
Take breaks
How can I organize breaks?
One good way is to schedule hours to work on the to-do list and find solutions, like "office hours", and to not allow yourself to work on it outside of these times.
2. Moments of recovery and self-care
Techniques to relax and calm the mind
It is important to install moments in the week that will give us energy. However, distraction does not provide a solution to everything. When the mental load is heavy, we are often weighed down by things still to be done while constantly running. And when we take breaks, the mind continues to put pressure on us about what to do afterwards. We are not in the present, and this generates stress. It can even have an impact on sleep and relationships with others. Relaxation techniques allow us to return to the here and now: breathing exercices, mindfulness meditation, hypnosis guided by a hypnotherapist and learning self-hypnosis are very valuable tools for preserving our health and recharging our batteries during recovery times.
Benefits of having a hypnotherapist to support you
First, the strategies and tips will be customized for you, as will the different tools, meditation, breathing exercices and hypnosis.
Working with a professional also allows you to re-establish ways of functioning that suit you, to be careful to protect yourself from possible unhealthy compensation mechanisms that sometimes creep in during these periods (such as smoking or a worsening relationship with food, etc.), and to have strategies to protect yourself from burnout.
In addition, when you set yourself objectives during a session, you make yourself accountable which makes progress more accessible and more solid.
So if you are going through a mentally busy time and are curious about how support and hypnosis could help you, do not hesitate to contact me.
Laura Tchernin
Hypnotherapist based in Geneva