Emotional resilience to break the stress cycle

How can emotional resilience break the above stress cycle?

Research shows that our level of resilience is affected by our perception of a situation. As resilience skills can be learnt, acknowledging that the above cycle highlights an instance where you are at a low resilience level pinpoints a need to concentrate on developing your emotional resilience to help break this cycle.

What strategies would increase my emotional resilience in this situation?

There are many resilience skills, a few of those to consider if you can relate to the above cycle of events are:

Acceptance – accept the extra task is there, let go of the ‘why’ or ‘who’ as to its occurrence. This will let you move on to the ‘how’ of getting it done. Accept when things can’t be changed.

Emotion Regulation – is the skill of not confusing thoughts with feelings and understanding you have control over your feelings. By learning to express those feelings you can keep them in check which will help you to stop feeling overwhelmed and remember the situation is something you have control over.

Self-talk – criticising yourself for not getting through things quickly enough or feeling overwhelmed will not help this scenario. Be aware of how you are talking to yourself, how would you talk to a friend who was in this situation?

Support network – having a strong network, both professionally and personally, of those we can reach out to and ask for help from is vital. Asking for help in this situation, even just to get a fresh opinion of how you could manage your workload, may not only lead to the task being completed in the most efficient manner but also help you feel calmer and more in control.

Boundaries – set a boundary as to when you will finish work ahead of going to bed. Without a boundary in this cycle you may end up working too late which may add to your poor sleep quality.

Self-care – when we are faced with competing demands and a heavy workload, it is easy to turn a deaf ear to our own needs. Remember that self-care is especially important at times when we think we least have time for it – ensure you include even small steps each day, like ensuring you take a break to eat your lunch away from your desk and following a relaxing ritual before going to bed to help you unwind and sleep better.

You can find further practical examples of the different resilience skills in this post.

Can emotional resilience skills resolve any adverse situation?

Unpleasant and difficult situations are sadly a fact of life. Whilst emotional resilience skills won’t be able to resolve the difficulties you experience, they will help you to cope better during challenging times and help you to think more positively, thereby reducing the negative effects stress can bring and allow you to move on with your life.