“If you can keep your head when all about you

    Are losing theirs…”

That is the beginning line of the poem If by Rudyard Kipling.

How do you keep your head when all about you are losing theirs?

When the news is all bad and everyone else is starting to panic and lose it how do you keep your head about you?

How do you see clearly to  make decisions under way less than ideal circumstances?

How do you keep a level head and forge ahead when it seems like you are about to head off the edge of the abyss?

How do you keep the emotions from overtaking your psyche when uncertainty abounds, the stakes are high and risk is real?

As I write this it is the first week of April, 2020, the impact of the COVID-19 crisis is still accelerating around the world.  Almost every area of our lives and economy are being impacted. This situation is creating a crisis for many families and businesses.

How do you manage yourself through a crisis?

Step away from the battle occasionally

When stuck at home or working from home during a crisis it is temping and too easy to stay plugged in all the time, day and night. That is a good way to further elevate stress.

It’s natural that worry prompt us to always be checking on things or working or whatever that keeps our minds occupied with work.

Step back. Take some deep breaths and turn off the computer, turn off the TV. Put your phone in the other room. Walk outside. Do 10 pushups.

Purposely focus on other areas of your life or family. Go vacuum the floor. Or as Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos do – wash the dishes. Anything. Do something that lets your mind idle for a while.  Just redirect your cognitive focus to something non-stressful and non crisis.

Keep a routine

Its easy where everything is uncertain and changing all the time to abandon your normal habits.

I recommend you don’t.

Keep getting up and going to bed at roughly the same time if possible.

Keep your personal hygiene in tact. Continue to provide your self care as if you had to go the office. Shower, brush your teeth, skin care and whatever else is part of your self care regimen. Ok so I stopped shaving but hey thats saving money right?

A steady routine helps keep you anchored and continues habits that help keep you healthy and grounded.

Get Sleep

Shawn Stevenson literally wrote the book on sleep. He sums a lot of the sleep advice here in this blog post. He has a great podcast too by the way.

But to summarize a few of the key points.

• Get out in the sun shine.
• Keep a consistent bed time.
• Turn off the screens.
• Keep your bedroom cool, dark and quiet.

Sleep has so many mental and physical benefits and from my own experience can help you be more emotionally resilient.

In spite of stressful times of a crisis do everything you can to get sleep.

Bottom Line

Some crisis have a short duration and others are around for a long time.

You have to manage yourself so that you can maintain your strength and mental vigor to keep the fight going.

Hope for a sprint but plan for a marathon.

In the next post in this series we will look at more ways to improve self management.