Feeling stressed can reduce clarity
We all want to operate at our best. If you have ever tried to operate under a distracted energy or without getting enough sleep, you know that it can feel like moving in molasses. With a clear mind and good rest, we are ready to focus and this improves our reaction time. Getting enough sleep, at the same time every day is a great way to operate at your best. Besides that here is a tip on handling distracting emotions.
If you are having distracting negative emotions, this can also get in the way of operating from a productive point. We can’t control the feelings we have, but we can facilitate how we process them. Labeling the feeling is a way to reduce our amygdala reaction in the brain. This is where stress and fight or flight comes in. This brings the feeling to a conscious point in the mind.
It might be helpful to identify where the feeling is coming from? What was the trigger for the feeling? This might not be so obvious. Did it come from a thought you had, seeing something that reminded you of history or a story?
Labeling the feeling might help to have understanding to yourself, give yourself compassion over it. If someone you love were having that feeling, you wouldn’t tell them to suck it up. You might offer a hug, acknowledge the feeling, remind them of how it is not true. (They already found evidence for it to be true.)
Oftentimes this comes from a story. Because of a certain event a person may carry on a story the rest of their life that because that event happened it means they are ‘bad’ at something. (or another label) To keep us safe from the negative feeling, our brain might find continued evidence to prove this true. Without ever questioning this, you are missing out on what else could be true.
So, what else could be true? What is the opposite? What is neutral? When you have time you can journal on this or talk to a therapist.
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