"Pick one small thing that you can do everyday, if you can do 1% you will start to feel better and take some control back."
- Lesley Heath, A Matter of Choice
In a matter of months our lives have undergone a significant change due to COVID-19 - on a global scale. Each of us is experiencing a different situation that is unique to our individual circumstances. During these uncertain times, looking after our mental health and wellbeing is absolutely crucial.
At the end of April, Women in Transport members benefited from an excellent online session with Lesley Heath and Karen Powell from A Matter of Choice, designed to provide us with positive strategies and techniques to support our mental health and wellbeing as we navigate through these uncharted waters.
The session kicked off with a series of polls to get an idea of how our members were feeling in the present moment. The majority of participants felt confident, useful and that they were dealing with problems well but 83% did not feel relaxed. There is a real risk of burn out and feelings of being overwhelmed by conflicting demands, worry about family/loved ones and trying to balance work/homeschooling and other demands.
The poll revealed a clear disparity between optimism looking ahead 12 months with many of us feeling optimistic about our own lives but with significant ambivalence in relation to work - a reflection of the uncertainty and unpredictability of our work environments during the pandemic. Many of us expressed concerns around financial security, family health and feeling burnt out as time progresses. The good news is that we can control our own decisions (to some extent) so, hopefully, this indicates confidence in our own personal resilience in the longer term regardless of what happens to our current businesses.
The discussion in the media and business often refers to ‘the new normal' but we are actually dealing with a constantly changing new reality. In every environment, everything that we knew as ‘normal’ or we accepted is changing. This is starting to create mistrust in the world as we are concerned about the lack of predictability and certainty in our environment. The idea of moral injury is emerging where we are concerned that our businesses are making decisions based on profit, rather than people. This in turn impacts on our feelings and sense of trust, identity and purpose - all of that anxiety impacts mental toughness and therefore our mental well-being. We are actually experiencing trauma. For each of us, we are experiencing that trauma on different levels and at different times and we need to find a way to talk and deal with trauma in a pro-active and positive way.
Karen and Lesley offered a number of tools to help our members assess how they are feeling right now and to find ways to navigate our feelings positively and pro-actively (see images below):
Process of transition: Use the transition curve tool to assess yourself, your team and your business. The issue with COVID-19 is that you can fluctuate at any given moment. There are going to be some really interesting dynamics as lockdown eases. This tool provides a framework to sense check everyday. It's perfectly acceptable to go backwards or to have a bad day.
Panic zone: We all respond to stress differently so you can use this graphic to understand your own stress response. This response can impact on your team so it’s important to identify what your triggers are and understand what your stress response would look like. For many, the current mode is to freeze which is consistent with a trauma response. It's vital to work through this panic zone so you can move forward and deal with the emotions to avoid burn out and emotional overload.
Stress container: This can help you understand how you experience stress and how you can address it. An interactive tool for assessing your stress container and guidance on how to use it can be found on MHFA England here.
Stories and perception: The stories we tell ourselves are really important. We perceive the world according to our framework and our mindset. We are persuaded into validating our own beliefs and become fixated on our version of a story. We have to take responsibility for two things - what are you telling yourself (consider what stories are helpful and which aren't) and what stories are you telling at work. Consider what stories people are telling at work that you may need to re-frame for them.
Circle of control: Use this tool to find positive strategies and set small goals around the things you can control. It's about small steps, how can you move yourself by 1% forward positively. Pick one small thing to do daily - even it is just having a shower and washing your hair.
Feedback from our members:
“I really enjoyed the session, the content was good and the interaction kept the session alive. It provoked thought in me and a clearer understanding of where I am in the Covid crisis and what I can do to try and keep balanced.
All the Women in Transport events that I am able to attend are always of benefit to me in one way or another, I always take something away to think about. Well done Ladies and you distracted me from the small room I am working in these days!”
Our sincere thanks to A Matter of Choice for delivering this fantastic session for our members. It provided a time of pause and reflection on what is happening for us as individuals in this moment and positive strategies to help us navigate the continually changing situation that we are facing.
A Matter of Choice is offering to deliver this session for free to any businesses that wish to take up the offer. Please contact Karen and Lesley at info@amatterofchoice.co.uk if you’re interested.
Watch the video to find out more about A Matter of Choice or visit: www.amatterofchoice.co.uk
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