Shyam Barr

Blog

 

PREFACE

This blog discusses topics that exist between the fields cognitive psychology and leadership, teaching and learning. Although I make connections between research and personal experience (my attempt at bridging the age-old ‘theory-practice’ gap), I write for a general audience. It is as Mihaly Csikszenmihalyi stated in the preface of his book FLOW:

“To take this step is somewhat dangerous, because as soon as one strays from the stylised constraints of academic prose, it is easy to become careless or overly enthusiastic about such a topic” (p. xi)

To avoid carelessness, I will endeavour to include references to journal articles, books and alike (as commonly expected in academic writing), but not at the expense of accessibility and ease of reading. This will be a delicate balance and one I will endeavour to achieve.

To end, I chose the word ‘discusses’ in the first sentence of this preface, to highlight that although the blog articles themselves are very much a dialogue between myself and what I read, I encourage you to share your comments and questions, so that we may start a more authentic discussion. 

 
 

Self-Care In Lockdown: 3 Tips To Protect Your Mindset

How does one protect their mindset and wellbeing in these COVID times?

In the midst of Lockdown, I find myself constantly thinking about self-care, wellbeing, and everything in between. 

Many people I've spoken to are struggling with being stuck within the "four walls" of their house or apartment. There is a level of increased anxiety and fear associated with increasing case numbers, hospitalisations, and the general not knowing when the lockdown may end. Some friends are turning to alcohol as a method to pass the time, others find themselves going stir-crazy as they balance both parenting and work. Yet, scattered among the “struggling”, there are a few enjoying the simplicity of lockdown, the opportunity to spend more time with their children, take their dogs for a walk, or generally spend more time in nature. 

If you find yourself in the former group, struggling with lockdown or quarantine, but want to find some joy amid the challenge like the latter group, then this blog is for you. 

Maintaining a healthy mindset during (and in between) lockdowns is imperative to every aspect of our life, work, and wellbeing.

Here are 3 self-care strategies that I use to help keep me positive through these tough times.

  • Limit news consumption

But wait!! Isn't it important to stay informed about the COVID situation!?! 

YES, it is important to stay informed, but how much news and information is enough? 

You may find yourself constantly watching the news, wanting to ensure you hear about the latest exposure site and can monitor the situation closely. You may even have the news on in the background all day. There are a few things that need to be considered here. 

  • The news is information, and processing it requires attention and cognitive effort (refer information processing theory). 

  • Consuming large amounts of news can increase your cognitive load leaving you feeling overwhelmed. 

  • Additionally, our brains have a negativity bias and are wired to pay attention to negative information (e.g., news about COVID) or perceived threats to our safety. It is this bias that news companies rely on to draw you into their programs. 

The more you watch negative news, the more your negativity bias wants to direct your attention to negative news. It’s a protective mechanism wired into our limbic system, so one has to actively work against this bias. 

One way to do that is to reduce your negative news consumption. For example, I consume news in a few, but limited ways. I listen to the Squiz podcast each day – it is a 10 minute podcast that gives me a good snapshot of the main news items. During lockdown, I might (depending on my work schedule), watch the first 10 minutes of the daily press conference. This gives me the latest news straight from the source. Some days, I might watch The Project to hear some other views, but this is very ad-hoc. That’s it. Typically, no more than 20 minutes a day. 

  • Consider micro-spaces

I recently spoke to one of my students who was in quarantine within a small bedroom in a share house. As a result, he was more or less confined to his bedroom. He was struggling being in the same space day in, day out and sought my advice.

I drew on my knowledge of a self-regulatory strategy known as “environmental restructuring”. The strategy involves an individual recognising that their environment is not serving them well and attempts to change the environment to achieve a more positive outcome. For example, I got my student to think about his bedroom and identify the different sub-spaces or ‘micro-spaces’ within this single space. He mentioned the bed and also his desk = two spaces. I asked him to think of any other spaces that he could pinpoint in his bedroom. Together, we identified an additional space next to his window (transformed by simply placing a cushion from his bed on the floor) and another space on the floor in front of his bedroom door (designated by placing a towel on the floor). I encouraged him to try and schedule his daily activities across the micro-spaces, ensuring that a certain space was held for a certain type of activity to help create some separation and structure within his day.

  • Rest

My wife and I have been working many long hours as we juggle caring responsibilities and work. Indeed, since the lockdown started a few weeks back, I’ve been working most weekday evenings leaving me absolutely depleted by the weekend. A colleague at work recently shared this TEDx talk with me. It was a lovely reminder of the difference between sleep and rest, and that modern society often confuses sleep as the sole method of rest. However, rest can take many forms (e.g., cognitive rest, emotional rest, spiritual rest). I was in desperate need of some cognitive rest, as so many of us are, so I have put together a list of strategies to support that need as we navigate lockdowns:  

  1. Install firm boundaries with your laptop to ensure you’re not working evenings/more than is required and practicing self-care. 

  2. Self-record and rate the quality of your rest on a scale of 1-5, daily. I have been practising this and I am already starting to see the benefits. I’ve spoken about self-recording as a strategy before as it fosters deeper self-awareness that promotes self-regulation. By self-rating my rest daily, I keep “rest” at the forefront of my mind ensuring that it is a priority.

If you have found this information helpful, or know someone who would benefit from reading this, then please share it on, or leave me a comment below.


Shyam Barr