Life with a booming business, new house, and newborn is certainly busy, hectic, and yes, crazy sometimes. And though no one handles stress perfectly all the time, I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve for staying grounded from years of practice.

Maybe you have years of practice too, or maybe you are still wading through figuring out what works for you. But since I’ve had so much experience honing my staying-grounded skillset, I thought it would be appreciated to share with my readers.

So, here we go, my 6 tips for keeping your feet under you, even when life tries to knock you off them.

 

Own Your Time

 

Yes, times are crazy. Yes, you might have very little free time. Yes, it’s easy to say you do not have any control over your responsibilities – but this isn’t the case.

The first piece of advice I always give to my friends, family, or team at work when they are feeling overwhelmed, is that we have to own our time, and own the fact that we are choosing how we spend it.

Now, this doesn’t mean “you aren’t allowed to feel frazzled because you’re choosing this level of busyness” but it does mean you have power and control over your time, and that’s something a lot of people need to hear.

Your time is yours, and you are the master of it.

 

Own Your Choices

 

This coincides with my first tip, but it is a little different.

You not only own your time, but you own the fact that you are the one deciding where to spend it – and therefore you are placing value in those areas of your life.

Take a look at where you spend your time, what choices you make, and see if those areas are where you want to be placing value.

Time at work? Time with family? Time engaging in self-care? These might be areas you are comfortable investing in.

Time worrying? Time wasted by indecision? Travel time between events you aren’t utilizing in a better way? These are areas you might want to acknowledge, think over, and try to lessen.

 

Own Your Emotions

 

Finally, once you have owned your choices and time, comes the big one – owning how you are feeling.

Really look at it, dive into it, and see if you are holding more stress than you need to or worrying about areas or situations you don’t have to worry about. Sometimes simply meta-cognition (thinking about your thinking) and mindfulness can change your whole outlook and change a ‘crazy day’ into an ‘exciting day’.

After all, as a great man once said – worrying means you suffer twice – and there’s no point in that at all.

 

Help Others

 

If you think you are starting to get swept away with work, responsibilities, and chaos, consider switching your thought process from me-focused or ‘I need to-focused’ to other-focused.

Helping others, getting out of your own head, and taking the time (yes, giving up some of your time) for a good reason can ground you, calm you, and uplift you (as well as those around you).

It truly is a win-win.

 

Know Your Goals

 

Are you running towards a goal, maybe a big deadline or project, maybe a hectic time with family, moving, or social obligations? Or are you just running up that hill with no end in sight and no rest at the top?

Many people can go through bursts of hectic or stressed seasons without it negatively affecting them, but if that same situation was their normal, it would wear them down.

Which brings us to my final tip – and it’s a serious one.

 

Take Time to Slow Down If You Need It

 

If you need to slow down, even if it’s just for a small break – do it. Recharging now is better than crashing later. And it takes wisdom to know when you need to slow down, and when you can keep pushing through.

Think of it like a smartphone, in particular, and iPhone.

Have you ever run down your battery completely, had your phone go black in your hands, and then plugged it in and stared at it, waiting for it to turn back on? Takes forever, doesn’t it?

But if you would have plugged that draining phone in before it shut off, before it got to 0, then you could have saved a lot of time.

You are the iPhone in this example. Recharge yourself before you shut down.

 

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