How can I become more emotionally resilient?

As we approach the flood of holiday breaks, we have time to reflect on how we deal with stress at work and in our personal lives and think about how we can develop our emotional resilience.

Developing a deeper understanding of yourself and taking steps to look after your wellbeing can help reduce the impact of stress and help you deal with pressure.  This ability to adapt, bounce back and become your best self is known as developing emotional resilience. 

Here are our ten quick tips to help you make some lifestyle changes.

• During these holiday periods unplug from your devices, shut off your emails and do the things that you know help you relax.  If this fills you with dread, try building up unplugged time by starting in small doses and building up to a whole day!
• If you have a hobby or activity which you know makes you feel more relaxed, ensure you set aside time each week to do it.
• Try a new hobby or develop a new interest.  Finding something completely different from the things that cause you stress is a great way to get away from everyday pressures.
• Make time for your friends.  If you are on your own a lot, making sure you give yourself time to chat to friends will help you keep things in perspective and feel more positive.
• If you have one section of your life which takes up a lot of your time and saps energy, such as taking care of your family – young or old, work or commuting, try taking some of that energy and redistributing it to the areas in life you enjoy. Five minutes doing what makes you smile can make a huge difference to your reactions and stress levels. 
• Try increasing your physical activity, particularly getting outside.  It is important for reducing stress levels and will help you sleep better. 
• Be kind to yourself!  Most of us put too much pressure on ourselves.  Remember to reward yourself too, even for the small and simple things!
• Remember that acknowledging you feel stressed is not a weakness.  It can be hard at work to worry about opening up to your line manager or colleagues, but your wellbeing is important and responsible employers will take it seriously.
• Resolve conflicts if you can.  Whether your conflict is with someone at work or home, it is far better to try and move beyond the conflict than hang on to it.
• Eat well and healthily.  It is so easy to grab a convenience snack or meal, or eat too much of the wrong sorts of food, or eat too little.  What you eat and when you eat can make a huge difference to how well you feel.

If you are inspired to make a few more changes to your life, explore developing deeper emotional resilience with Dr Geetu Bharwaney’s book, Emotional Resilience.