If you catch yourself in a negative thought pattern or feeling particularly stressed, turn your focus to the rising and falling of your breath. These Microsteps and habit-stacks can help: Small moments of recharging throughout the day can help you build resilience, so you’ll be better able to handle whatever comes your way. And this takes practice, especially for those overwhelmed by life right now, such as parents working from home while helping children with remote learning or essential workers who also care for older family members. “We need to constantly remind ourselves that having a well-cared-for body and mind makes one feel good and contributes to healthy relationships and an increase in general well-being,” Bellizzi says. And that battery needs to be recharged so we can be our best selves, personally and professionally. Neuroscience tells us that our brain is like a battery. If something takes less than two minutes, do it immediately.įinishing a quick task is often simpler than reviewing it, putting it in your calendar, and returning to it later. Try this Microstep to boost your sense of productivity and accomplishment: “This not only makes you feel good, but also motivates you to continue checking off items on that list,” Bellizzi says.Īnd while multitasking might seem to be a shortcut to productivity, Bellizzi says to avoid it, since research suggests a 40% decrease in productivity when we multitask. He recommends creating a daily to-do list of small, achievable goals and checking them off one by one.Ĭhecking off tasks releases dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain that is tied to pleasure as well as striving and focus. Give yourself creditīellizzi says it’s common to feel unfocused and unproductive during times of stress. This guide includes Microsteps and habit-stacks you can put into action immediately that will be particularly helpful right now. You can also use what neuroscientists call habit-stacking: attaching a new healthy habit to an existing habit to make it sustainable. Microsteps are small, science-backed actions you can start taking right away to build habits that will strengthen your resilience. “Your track record for getting through tough times is likely better than you think,” says Keith Bellizzi, a professor of human development and family sciences at the University of Connecticut.īellizzi says we can set ourselves up for success in tough times by reframing obstacles to see potential positive aspects and setting small, achievable goals. We can meet challenges with a mindset of helplessness-or we can choose to meet them with a mindset of growth.Īnd while we may be daunted by the scale of the challenges we’re facing now it helps to remember that we’ve persevered before. Resilience research shows that how we respond to adversity makes all the difference. 
Read on to learn about small steps you can take each day to help be healthier and feel more accomplished, which can help you be more positive and resilient. When so much feels out of our control, we can take back some control through the habits we build. And the pandemic has accelerated a mental health crisis that already existed-with some populations especially vulnerable. According to a recent Thrive Global survey, more than 82% of individuals feel that the current environmental, health, and sociopolitical climate and state of affairs have had a bigger negative impact on their rates of stress than any other time in their lives. Our “surge capacity” is depleted and we are facing unique levels of burnout due to the ongoing stress and uncertainty we’re experiencing.
On top of it all, we face the stress of either returning to work before we feel ready, or the boundaryless “permawork” while working from home, while maybe also balancing our children’s schooling.Īll of this has taken a toll.
Meanwhile, there’s increasing frustration with racial injustice, and the non-stop political wrangling in an election year. All of us are grappling with the reality that there is no going back to everyday life as we knew it. Some have lost loved ones or faced financial setbacks. Strengthen your resilience in uncertain timesĮveryone is going through something right now.
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