Three Ways To Find Balance Within A Chaotic Work Environment
Dear Tanja, I work in a chaotic, high-energy work environment. I’m OK with it, I prefer to work in a quick-paced setting, but I am bringing chaos into my daily life. Is there something I can do to draw a boundary?
Absolutely! It’s creating a routine that invites balance. You know your work environment is chaotic- this means you spend most of the day with your sympathetic nervous system activated in fight or flight mode. You are ready to put out fires, make spontaneous decisions, and move from meeting to meeting maybe with no breaks. To balance this, you want to implement a morning routine that is calm and slow, activating your parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest).
Here are three ways to activate your parasympathetic nervous system in the mornings:
1- Calming breathwork.
One of my favorites is 4-7-8 breath. Breathe in for a count of 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, and exhale for 8 seconds. The slow exhale activates your parasympathetic nervous system. This will slow your heart rate and strengthen your Vagus Nerve, which will support your ability to manage stress over time. Give it a try for a few rounds- you can even try this in bed before getting up.
2- Meditate.
You might not notice it, but you likely jump out of bed and move through your morning just as quickly as you do through work. The last thing a busy person does is seek stillness (speaking from experience!). In my opinion, meditation is the ultimate form of rebellion against a fast-paced lifestyle. If you are not accustomed to meditating, it can be difficult and even overwhelming at first. You can start small, setting aside two minutes and building up from there. Meditating doesn’t have to be sitting still, you can also take a meditative walk (leave the phone at home or try to not look at it!). You can also pick a prompt and spend time reflecting on it. I have a meditation challenge I put together last year with prompts for a month, feel free to check it out here.
3- Journal.
Journaling might sound simple, but I like to jazz up my space before starting. I light a candle, burn Palo Santo, put some soft music on… and write. A huge benefit to journaling is that you are making the time to check in with yourself. If you haven’t tried journaling, it might feel too vague to know what to write. Use the prompts linked above to start! In no time, you’ll begin to free-write.
For the ultimate slow morning combine all three! A few minutes of calming breath can soothe your mind, enabling a moment of meditation, and then wrap it up with writing about your experience or any thoughts that came into your mind while meditating.
It will take a bit of trial and error, but with a little creativity, you will find the right routine to support you each morning. The most important thing is to lean in, have fun with it, and keep exploring. Just remember, invite slowness to counter your fast-paced work environment.
What would you add? What will you try? Share in the comments. Let’s keep working together to keep the office vibes up!
