Even if you work from home and don’t have to struggle with a commute, your day makes demands on you. You have deadlines, meetings, kids to transport, food to prepare, and all the rest of the things that keep life rolling along.
Managing all this work feels good doesn’t it?
That’s because your ego loves the feeling of power. It feeds off the adrenaline that comes from all that rushing, doing, and getting stuff done.
It’s also a sneaky little devil that aligns itself with your inner critic.
Ego says “You’re powerful, and I love it! Give me more” You’re inner critic says, “Really? I know better. You want to be truly powerful? Do faster, do better, do more!”
Is it any wonder that you feel like you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place?
But what to do when you have so much to get done every day, and you’ve got those two hard taskmasters whipping you along?
The answer is:
Create your own mini-miracle oasis, and put up the mental “no trespassing” signs! @QuinnEurich (Click to Tweet!)
Here’s how to go about it.
First Things First
Get both your ego and your inner critic to agree that mentally refreshing your mind several times during the day is a good idea.
The way to do that is to convince them that doing so will not only help you get more stuff done but that it will be done better as well.
Since it’s the truth, it’s not a hard argument to sell, but you do have to get them to buy into it. Unless you do they’ll hound you unmercifully whenever you try and take a few minutes for yourself.
Rather than waiting for the weekend to take some time for yourself like someone I know who commutes daily from Connecticut to New York City. Taking brief daily visits to your imaginary oasis will give you more opportunities for keeping your mind refreshed throughout the entire week.
Creating Your Oasis
Whether you have a good imagination or can’t visualize worth a darn, you can mentally create your own oasis.
After all, who says an oasis has to be a picture of anything? Your oasis is whatever you need it to be.
Several years ago, I met up with a psychology student who said she had just gone through the coolest personality exam and wanted to use it on me.
Though I don’t recall all the questions she asked, nor what the meaning of my answers was, I do remember a question about an empty white room.
When I thought about being in that room, I felt peaceful and calm. It’s a memory I still use today to do the same thing.
Then there’s the memory of horseback riding in a warm summer rain, and the peacefulness of a star filled summer’s night in Yellowstone.
Memories are awesome ways of accessing the happy, peaceful, and joyous moments you can use to create your mini-miracle oasis.
I also use royalty-free pictures that I find on websites like Pixabay.com. Search for oasis, and you get everything from a typical desert setting to a pond in a city park, and tea canisters in a tea shop.
Having trouble bringing anything to mind? Not to worry because I’ve got you covered with several easy oasis techniques a bit further down.
Finding Time to Oasis
Take a moment, close your eyes, and say this mantra softly to yourself, “Time to Oasis.”
Did that make you anticipate taking a few minutes for yourself and have you start looking forward to doing it?
If not, don’t worry, but practice saying it every time you’re ready for you mini-mind refresh. It will become the trigger that will have your mind ready to relax as soon as you close your eyes.
The best time to oasis is when you’ve finished with one task or activity and are ready to do the next one. It instantly disconnects you from one task and gets you set for the next.
Before you close your eyes, recall your oasis picture or memory, and say the mantra. Take a deep, slow breath, close your eyes, and let the peaceful, happy feelings wash over you.
Believe it or not, you can do this in ten seconds or less. That way, if you work in a busy office with little or no privacy, you can still find time to oasis.
Of course, the more time you spend with your oasis, the more refreshed your mind will feel, but just doing it for a moment or two still gives your mind a break.
You can also schedule your oasis times throughout your day. Six is a good number to shoot for, and since you can oasis anywhere, think of the options you have.
One person I know says that after a phone call has ended, he still holds the handset or cell phone to his ear and takes a couple of moments then. Another person does so while her tea water is heating up.
Expanding Your Oasis
You know how it is. Some days, your mind just can’t come up with a picture, or a happy thought, and refuses to do so because it’s bored with the ones you’ve been using.
Here are three other ways to oasis:
- Take a sip. Use a cool (not hot) beverage. Say the mantra, “Time to Oasis,” take and release your breath, and then take a sip of what you’re drinking. Hold it in your mouth for a moment. Feel it bubble if it’s soda or champagne, and if it’s water, feel the soft coolness it. Swish it around your mouth and then swallow. If you can close your eyes, great, but if not, let them become softly unfocused. Repeat as you wish.
- Stare at something. Whether it’s a point on the wall, a pen on your desk, or something out the window, stare at it with relaxed eyes. Say the mantra, and take several deep breaths.
- Let your mind go blank. Do the mantra, take a deep breath, close your eyes, and just relax.
Taking time to oasis is also great for changing your mindset.
As a freelance writer, I work on a variety projects, and I may have several going at the same time. After finishing one piece and before beginning the next, I take a minute or so to oasis. Once my mind has calmed and been refreshed, I think about the piece I’m going to work on so that I can get in the right frame of mind.
When I worked in corporate America, I did this before negotiating my portions of multi-million dollar contracts. It really helped to put me in a more responsive and less reactive frame of mind.
Just think of the mini-miracles you can create when you oasis and then use it to change your mind-set.
Last But Not Least
Once you get your ego and inner critic on board with taking these quick refreshing breaks, the only thing you have to do is practice them.
Besides calming and refreshing your mind, they’re also good opportunities to check in with how you’re feeling emotionally and physically. Simply take note of how you feel, accept that you feel the way you do, and then let those feelings flow away.
Now, I’m sure some of you are beginning to suspect that this practice is similar to taking mini-meditation breaks and practicing mindfulness.
Well, you’re right.
But when you think about meditating and becoming more mindful, it conjures up the need to work at something doesn’t it?
Since a rose by any other name still smells as sweet, why not call them Creating a Mini-Miracle Oasis?
Not only is it an enjoyable way of doing the same thing, it’s also one that makes it a lot harder for your ego and inner critic to fight you.
Tell those two tyrants that you’re going to take a brief meditation or work on your mindfulness, and they’ll harass you out of it. That’s because they have their own plans for you.
But taking an oasis automatically brings up thoughts and feelings of refreshment that even those two can enjoy.
More work on the one hand, or a pleasurable mini-miracle oasis on the other?
Not a tough choice.
Simply tell yourself, “Time to Oasis,” and enjoy the benefits!
Quinn Eurich is a freelance writer and storyteller, who takes what she learns about overcoming her challenges with panic and anxiety, and shares them to help other people create the success they want. Her website, OutsmartingPanicAndAnxiety.com, provides methods and techniques to help people deal with these two tyrants. You can pick up your free copy of her 10 Tips to Outsmart Anxiety (Whatever the Situation) here and follow her on Twitter.
Image courtesy of Nuno Obey.
