Okay, so like, last week I totally hit a wall. Felt like my brain was spinning non-stop about work deadlines and, I dunno, whether I organized the spice rack right? Classic Virgo stuff. Couldn’t sleep, snapping at my cat – poor guy. Decided I had to fix this emotional rollercoaster.
Starting Point: The Meltdown
First thing Monday morning, I grabbed this dusty journal from my drawer. Didn’t overthink it, just scribbled:
“Feelings right now: Chest tight. Annoyed about dishwasher loading. Stressing about email inbox.”
Sounded dumb, but writing it down? Actually took some weight off. Did this every single morning, like dumping mental trash. Took 2 minutes max.
Strategy #1: The “Stop Button” Trick
Caught myself spiraling Tuesday over a typo in an old tweet (ugh). Remembered my first strategy: literally yell “STOP!” in my head. Felt ridiculous, but it jolted me out of the loop. Then I smacked my palm on the desk – the physical shock helped way more than I expected. Kinda reset my brain.
Strategy #2: The Water Break Rule
Wednesday was packed. Got tunnel vision on work until my shoulders were concrete. Set a ghetto phone alarm every 90 minutes. When it beeped?
– Stood up
– Walked to the kitchen
– Drank a FULL glass of water
No multitasking, just stared out the window while drinking. Sounds simple, but dude, coming back to my desk felt like a mini-reboot.
Strategy #3: The “Done List” Flip
Thursday night, started mentally listing all the crap I HADN’T done. Felt awful. Switched tactics: grabbed the journal again. Wrote:
“Today I:
– Fixed that weird sink drip
– Ate actual vegetables
– Sent 3 important emails”
Seeing the real, finished stuff on paper? Total game changer. Felt less like a failure.
Strategy #4: Phone = Friend, Not Frenemy
Friday doom-scrolling before bed wrecked my sleep again. Saturday morning, I deleted Instagram and Twitter off my phone. Cold turkey. Put LinkedIn in a folder labelled “NOPE”. Felt anxious at first – “What if I miss something urgent?” Honestly? Nothing exploded. Read an actual book instead. Slept like a rock.
Strategy #5: The “Good Enough” Sandwich
Spent Sunday morning rewriting a grocery list 4 times. Seriously. Used the sandwich method:
1. Did one small, quick version (the “good enough” bread)
2. Spent 5 minutes max tweaking ONE thing (the filling)
3. Said “DONE” and moved on (the other bread slice)
Felt weird leaving it imperfect. But freeing? Hell yeah.
Strategy #6: Concrete “Unwind” Alarm
Biggest win: Setting an alarm labeled “BRAIN OFF” at 8pm sharp. When it rings:
- Closing work tabs FOR REAL
- Lighting this cheapo vanilla candle
- Playing stupid mobile solitaire
No deep thinking allowed after that alarm. Just existence.
One Week Later…
My cat’s purring again. My shoulders? Not rocks. Still overthink sometimes, but now I got these dumb little tools to smack myself back to reality. Not perfect balance, but better? Damn right. Gotta keep at it though. Baby steps.
