Rest creates

‘There are no more moments of rest at work’. So said a team leader in healthcare. Because of less manpower now that market forces have to be realised. But at the same time more patients who each need individual, necessary attention. A similar sound came from a manager working at a housing corporation.

The many demands from the market, government and consumer have become conditions and requirements. Clients are more assertive, sometimes even more aggressive. Alongside a high workload there is therefore also an emotional pressure. If this pressure lasts too long, stress arises.

With persistent stress the body becomes dysregulated, because the alarm bells no longer switch off and the body keeps responding to them. The body then keeps producing stress hormones, including cortisol. The body's processes lose their balance. This can even be fatal.

How do you break this circle? By pausing after all and creating moments of rest. Try the following step by step plan for a month:

1. When you wake up in the morning, consciously begin a new day. Bring to mind what you want to do today and with what intention. There is a big difference between the two mindsets:

a. ‘Ugh, today another endless list of activities. And then on top of that a meeting full of nothing but moaning. Takes too much time! I still have to finish the budget, speak to Eline and Bas and complete the project.’

b. Today I want to focus on employees Eline and Bas. To help them further so that soon they can carry out the project independently of me. The meeting this afternoon is a brief pause amid all the rushing. I will bring the time down to at most an hour.

> Remember what it is you enjoy about your work. Try to name your drivers*. Describe the feelings this evokes in a notebook or booklet that you keep in your bag. For those who would rather do this more quickly: create a Word document and keep track of it there. Or use the notes app or voice recorder on your phone or iPad. Traffic jams and queues offer nice moments to add to this.

2. Try to carry this awareness through the day. For example while getting up, showering, eating, conversations with family and so on. Tune in to your breathing and place your feet firmly on the ground. When sitting: make sure your back rests well against the support.

3. Schedule several short moments of rest. In the end this brings you gains on several fronts: more calm in mind and body, and more productivity. Because if you carry out a certain activity continuously for a long time, you become more tired and therefore slower. You also start checking yourself more often, or you look for something more often but forget what it was.

4. Observe your own communication* and that of the other person. How does the contact go? How do you behave when something does not go your way? How do you attune yourself to the other in the conversation? How do you feel at the close of the conversation; and how do you leave the other person?

5. Choose moments when you can be alone and at rest: ten minutes outside on your own, meditation or a physical exercise such as yoga. Build in a stimulus free zone this way.

6. Choose colleagues with whom you feel comfortable to share the breaks. Suggest a game during the walk in which observation plays a role. ‘I spy’ for example. Come on, dare to play!

7. Start each new activity with a minute of rest: focus purely on your breathing and register any tensions.

8. Closing the working day: write down what you achieved that day. What are you satisfied about? What surprised you? What gains did you make through your effort to relax? What, if anything, is left undone? Apply the quadrant of urgency and non urgency.*

9. Use the journey to empty your head by consciously observing your surroundings.

10. Change your clothes when you get home. That way you also distance yourself from the work role you had during the day.

Valérie Docters van Leeuwen-Verswijveren, 2011©

*Rest creates: by bringing structure into your days and building in moments of rest, room arises for (new) insights. To gain deeper insight and to become aware of your own (limiting) patterns, coaching is very suitable. During the process several exercises and methods are covered in the areas of communication, exploring drivers, stress reduction and career satisfaction. For more information: info@theartofpeople.nl or + 31 6 45 308 813.

Tips for 'on the move':

Meditate wherever you are: Headspace. Free sessions are available.

Literature tip:

‘3 Minute Meditations: 30 simple ways to relax your mind and raise your emotional intelligence’ by David Sharpe

‘Mindfulness at Work: emotions’, CD by Edel Maex