Yesterday at work we had the junior doctor’s strike and then the IT system decide it would be a great time to crash, which for some of us meant hours of not much to do after we’d cleaned out draws, filing cabinets, done the filing etc and to top that we had a fire alert, good looking firemen aside, it was all a bit of a wash out. In the midst of madness came a reminder about taking some time for oneself, even 2 minutes, if using technique below gives a huge bonus. I have shared below.

Step 1: Give yourself permission to do the above

Step 2: Turn off your phone for 10 minutes (shock horror! But helps protect your attention)

Step 3: Find a picture of nature that you love

Step 4: While looking at the image, take 4 slow, deep breaths

Clench your left hand fist on each inhale, release your left hand fist on each exhale

Step 5: Now book a 10 minute moment (or less) into your calendar tomorrow. It must go into your calendar now. It will help you to perform and feel a little better. If you need to you can call it something vague only you will know what it means.

Step 6: Tomorrow, at the scheduled time, take 4 breaths, go outside or grab a glass of water and catch up with yourself; a valuable and important thing to do

All done

Looking at an image of nature helps sooth the brain

Clenching your left fist helps engage the logical part of your brain – which we need to calm the emotional driven ‘chimp’ part

Conscious breathing helps stimulate your parasympathetic nervous system – helping release calming hormones