An Underutilized Tactic To Combat Dis-Stress

Dis-Stress is the biggest problem in our workforce today.

The extreme end of Dis-Stress is Burnout, and with 80% of people at that point, it's fair to say that almost everyone is in some state of Dis-Stress.

Now, when you look to understand Stress, you need to know that "Stress" is not inherently bad.

However, too much Stress for too long becomes Dis-Stress.

If you want to combat Dis-Stress, you need to reduce your Stresses to below your "Threshold".

Now, the "technical" name for reducing Stress below that Threshold is known as "Recovery".

We all know about Recovery, and there are probably a number of methods you could call out at the top of your mind.

There's everyone's favorite, Sleep.

You also have things like Meditation.

Some people also utilize things like Workouts to Recover.

However, there is a problem with many of these common Recovery methods.

Time.

Many of them require a decent chunk of time, which people seem to never have time for!

So, how do you Recover if you don't have time?

The answer is Micro-Recoveries.

Most people think you need a half hour or even multiple hours to Recover, but that isn't always necessary!

Micro-Recoveries can be done in less than a minute!

So, what would be some ways to have Micro-Recoveries?

There is the classic 1 deep breath that is always reliable.

The goal is to take at least 10 seconds for 1 breath.

For most people, it would be 4 seconds in and 6 seconds out.

This technique can help reset the Nervous System quickly and is especially powerful in high-intensity moments.

It can also be powerful in conversations - the sudden deep breath and pause can quickly change the direction of the conversation.

If things seem to be going in a bad direction, that pause can help both you and the person(s) you're speaking with to reframe toward a better place.

With Micro-Recoveries, you can also utilize Movement.

Depending on your goal, this can either slow things down or help drive Focus.

If the goal is to slow down, light stretches or even a yoga pose or two could create a perfect Micro-Recovery.

On the other side, if the goal is to Focus you could do a quick couple of squats or pushups.

The goal isn't to "go hard", rather it is to change your body chemistry in a short simple burst.

A third Micro-Recovery is to write everything down that is going through your head as quickly as possible.

Sometimes, the reason that things get so Stressful is that there is too much in our mind that is trying to come out at the same time.

If you keep it in your head, it becomes jumbled as everything fights to get seen.

However, when you throw it all on paper, none of those things need to fight to get seen anymore.

They all have a place now.

This allows your mind to slow down and stop juggling everything internally.

Now, this isn't a full list of Micro-Recoveries that exist by any stretch of the imagination.

What is important though is that these Micro-Recoveries are tools that we don't utilize enough.

So often, we Struggle too much and don't Recover enough.

From a Productivity perspective, this is detrimental as this will lock us out of Flow States where we do our best work and feel our best.

Micro-Recoveries however can help short-circuit the Struggle, and in doing so, set you up to Release into Flow States.

This actually helps lessen Dis-Stress in two ways.

The obvious way that this Micro-Recovery can reduce your Struggle to a manageable point below your Threshold.

However, Flow States directly reduce Dis-Stress.

In Flow States, a number of Neurochemicals are released which make us feel better, while at the same time, certain parts of our brain begin to shut down which typically cause Dis-Stress.

So, this becomes a win-win situation.

Now, at some point, you WILL need deeper and longer Recoveries, especially Sleep.

But between those long Recoveries, utilizing as many Micro-Recoveries as you can could really change your day's trajectory quickly!