In the far-away days when we were able to travel, I used to stay, every now and then, in hotels in London.
In the far-away days when we were able to travel, I used to stay, every now and then, in hotels in London.
In one particular hotel, a giant scrabble board on display in Reception is updated every day with a new thought.
It was Tuesday 10th March, about 10 days before our way of life was to change significantly. I went down breakfast before heading out on my ted Learning Special Assignment for the day.
The thought for the day;
Right now, we are in the midst of a big and turbulent storm and some of the waves are more challenging to ride out than others.
Like many other people I have times when I feel stronger in my mind than others. When my rational brain is talking to me it tells me that we will get through this. Occasionally, the irrational thoughts take over, creating negative scenarios of the future in my mind.
Four years ago, during my darker times, I read Matt Haig’s Reasons To Stay Alive In his book Matt talks about identifying those things that can negatively, and positively, influence his thoughts and mood. He simply created two lists; things that make him feel worse and things that make him feel better.
These are the two lists that I have created for me to help get me through the storm;
Things That Make Me Feel Worse
- Sitting down for too long.
- The snooze button.
- Eating bread at lunchtime.
- Spending all day inside.
- Checking Facebook and other social media.
- Eating too many sugary foods.
- Watching television
- Spending too much time with me.
- Trying to think too far ahead.
- Spending time ruminating about what has happened in the past and worrying about what might be coming in the future.
Our Emotional intelligence course is designed to provide an understanding of how emotion affects work performance, relationships in the workplace and the impact it can have on all employees.
Things That Make Me Feel Better
- Having a cold shower first thing in the morning
- Linking up with a friend or loved one by phone or video call
- A weekly visit to the ‘The Nobody Inn’, a virtual pub on WhatsApp video where we meet friends every friend night, have a drink together and play daft games
- Baking bread
- Riding my bike
- Daffodils
- Doing something that I’m afraid of
- My wife and me in the kitchen, preparing a meal together
- Feeling the warmth of the sun on my face and body
- Dunking a biscuit in a mug of Yorkshire Tea, (just one biscuit!)
- Doing my ‘The 7 Minutes Workout”
- Writing with my fountain pen.
- Saying hello to a stranger, (keeping two metres apart of course).
- Looking up at the night sky and gazing at the Moon.
- Being kind to others.
Take notice of yourself, your mood, your energy levels and your general sense of well-being. Start to identify and make your own list of those things that make you feel worse and on a separate list, what things make you feel better.
Stick on the back of the toilet door, write it down in the front of your notebook, put it on your desktop wallpaper, on your phone, anywhere that reminds you to be kind to yourself.
One day soon, I will back in London on another ted Learning Special Assignment.
Warm wishes from all of us at the ted Team.
Patrick Holtby is our Director of Product & Delivery and specialises in delivering our Mental Wellbeing programmes.
Other useful sources for information:
Coronavirus and your mental health
Coronavirus supporting yourself and your team
Patrick Holtby
Patrick has been part of the ted Learning team since soon after the business was formed. He has worked extensively within transport, manufacturing and pharmaceutical sectors as well as in hospitality.
