How a planner can help you to better manage anxiety
Keep track of your anxiety by monitoring your mood and sticking with healthy habits. Here we outline how the humble planner can help you to achieve your goals when it comes to anxiety.
How a planner can help you to manage anxiety
By Joyce Chong
Anxiety is part of life. It keeps you safe from danger - think of anxiety as your body’s alarm that is designed to protect you from threats in your environment. At times, your alarm may be overactive. This can be experienced in response to stressful events (job stress, global pandemic, relationship breakdown, cumulation of daily hassles), or reflect a longer-standing anxiety disorder (such as social anxiety disorder, panic disorder; learn more about when anxiety tips into an anxiety disorder here).
We’ve worked with many individuals over the years to build skills to manage anxiety better - skills such as tuning in to triggers and early warning signs for anxiety, learning relaxation and mindfulness skills, shifting thoughts that contribute to anxiety, and gradually facing triggers for anxiety that they have previously avoided.
As with most things, sustaining the skills to manage anxiety in the longer term takes regular practice, and can easily get lost amidst the busyness of everyday life. So how can you ensure those anxiety management skills stay with you for years to come?
Enter the humble planner…rather than just serving as a To Do list, a planner can help with setting anxiety-related goals, keeping anxiety management skills on your radar, and track your levels of anxiety (and related concepts) so you can better understand and manage anxiety. Below we’ll show you how to use a planner to better manage your anxiety - we’ve used our Productive Life Planner which has specific sections for projects (or goals) and managing your wellbeing, but feel free to use any planner that will suit your needs.
TIPS TO BETTER MANAGE ANXIETY USING A PLANNER
Below we outline some tips for using a planner to help you better manage anxiety. These are based on our work over the years with the many individuals we’ve helped to make sustainable changes when it comes to anxiety, where we’ve seen what helps and hinders longer-term shifts in anxiety. These tips are by no means exhaustive, but will give you a good starting point. Let’s see how using a planner can help Heni.
Heni is a new graduate who has been experiencing anxiety for the past year. She has just commenced her first ‘major’ role in a high pressure environment, and is taking on challenges that she has not yet encountered. Heni is acutely aware of the need to look after her anxiety so that she can perform in her role and avoid burnout. She also recognises that she is prone to worrying about negative appraisals, which then feeds into her confidence levels and her anxiety.
1.Set goals for managing anxiety
Think of what goals you’d like to achieve when it comes to better managing your anxiety. Is it that you have an upcoming social function when the idea of making small talk with strangers causes you significant anxiety? Is it that you live in a house that has spiders when you have a spider phobia? Or is it that you want to be able to better manage your panic symptoms?
Whatever your goal is, use your planner to break down the larger, overarching goal, into smaller components that are less anxiety-provoking and move you gradually towards your overarching goal.
Heni has been tasked with the project of giving a conference presentation in April on behalf of her workplace. This is a trigger for increased anxiety for Heni - not only is it the first presentation she is giving on behalf of an organisation with high standards, she also suffers from public speaking anxiety.
To help reduce her anxiety, Heni decides to break this larger and more overwhelming task into smaller and more manageable actions using SMART goal-setting:
First, she reaches out to her colleague Will and buys him lunch to seek advice on designing her presentation. She also sets time frames to ensure she stays on track with this project.
Second, she decides to sign up to do a public speaking anxiety course, and looks at linking in a friend so she can practice her speech before the day.
2. Keep healthy habits on your radar.
There are many healthy habits you can adopt that support your anxiety and wellbeing. For example:
Habits for physical health include getting sufficient sleep, exercise, and nutrition.
Habits for psychological wellbeing include practising relaxation, journalling, and many of the psychological skills learned in therapy (e.g. exposure, controlled breathing, cognitive restructuring, mindfulness).
It’s easy for these habits to fall off your radar, so by using a planner as reminders to engage with the habit, you’re increasing your chances of looking after your anxiety.
Heni believes that there are a few things that are particularly helpful when it comes to managing her anxiety. She finds exercise and sleep to be vital for her to stay calmer. She also knows that journalling and reflecting on events of the day on a regular basis make a difference to her anxiety. Keeping these healthy habits on her radar using a daily planner helps her to stay on track.
3. Track stuff.
We’re talking all sorts of stuff to do with anxiety, including:
Physical and psychological habits that help you manage your anxiety.
Emotions such as anxiety, stress, overwhelm, and any other related concepts (e.g. level of social confidence when it comes to social anxiety, severity of worry in generalised anxiety disorder).
We especially love being able to track anxiety over weeks, months, and even a year, as tracking helps identify what particular triggers and patterns there may be to your anxiety (see the next point!).
Heni finds that tracking a combination of her moods (anxiety, overwhelm) and confidence level, as well as her energy and motivation, help her to see her progress with managing anxiety. She can also take this information in to her sessions with her psychologist and they can dissect the information together and set new goals.
4. Reflect
Once you have tracked emotions and habits related to your anxiety, use this data to help you reflect and learn more about:
What triggers your anxiety (e.g. prolonged weeks of tight deadlines, certain emotional stressors, or even a lack of exercise)
Which habits make a meaningful difference to your anxiety (do more of these!) and which habits may have less of an impact.
What helps you stick to your helpful habits and what reduces your ability to stay on track (e.g. busyness at work, burnout, late nights).
After consistently tracking her anxiety, Heni takes the information in to her session with her psychologist. They reflect on the patterns together, and identify that comparing herself to others and facing social situations more generally are triggers for increased anxiety. Using this information, they incorporate a few additional exercises in this area to help Heni better cope with such situations.
All of the above tips are designed to help you understand your anxiety better, and to help you stay on top of managing your anxiety. Using something as simple as a planner can really make a difference to how you understand and look after your anxiety.
If you’d like more tailored support to help stay on track with your anxiety, why not contact us and book in with one of our psychologists?
Student athletes - Tips for balancing sport with your studies
The life of a student athlete is truly a busy one, so how can you balance sport with studies without burning out?
Student athletes: Tips for balancing sport with your studies
The life of a student athlete ebbs and flows. Study demands vary across the semester depending on assignments, study commitments, and exams. Sporting demands also vary across the semester and year; in addition to regular training throughout the year the intensity of training peaks for major sporting competitions. Balancing school and sport naturally triggers a need for trade-offs, and finding an optimal balance between study and sport is a process of trial and error – there is no one-size fits all approach. It takes time to work out what your responsibilities and expectations are at sport and school (and paid work too if you do that). Understanding how much you can realistically commit to ensures that your wellbeing is not negatively affected.
LEARNING TO JUGGLE THE LOAD (YOUR FUTURE SELF WILL THANK YOU!)
There are so many positives to learning to manage your load as a student athlete, and these are skills that will benefit you not only now, but well into the future. Benefits include:
Increasing your resilience by boosting your ability to bounce back from stressful experiences.
Building your toolkit of coping strategies for maintaining performance whilst not compromising wellbeing.
Developing your identity – more than just as an ‘athlete’ or ‘student’. It is possible to achieve across different areas!
Putting things in perspective - how do schoolwork and sport fit into your bigger picture?
Managing perfectionism to avoiding burnout and poor mental health.
Managing yourself and your time by learning to prioritise and follow through.
With so many benefits from learning to juggle the student and sporting loads, let’s turn now to our top tips on how to achieve this.
TIP 1: WORK OUT YOUR PRIORITIES
What matters most to you? Is it achieving an A in chemistry? Making the top team for gymnastics? Striving to get into a particular university on scholarship? Meeting with friends over the weekend? Rather than scrambling to do too many things, and feeling unable to give enough time or attention to any of them:
Start first by thinking about what your priorities are (from most to least important) - this helps you to stay focused when you start to feel overloaded.
Next, set goals that link to each of your priorities.
Then, break down these goals so that you can measure progress during the term (consider SMART goal setting).
Whether it’s for sport or studies, understanding your priorities can help you to remain laser-focused.
TIP 2: PRACTICE ACCEPTANCE
As we’ve noted earlier, balancing school and sport naturally triggers a need for trade-offs. It is a reality of life that there’s a limited number of hours in a day - by accepting this (rather than struggling to do it all and to do it all perfectly) you can keep stress levels at a manageable level:
Balancing studies with sport can be tricky, particularly when peak season for competition coincides with assignment deadlines and exams. You may feel really under the pump, but know that this time won’t last forever – there will be moments where you can step back and relax (such as holidays). Instead, learn to surf the wave of overwhelm, and tune in to how you can help your body’s response.
Accepting the juggle also means looking at your standards for performance - are they realistic given your commitments, or is unhealthy perfectionism leading you down the path to burnout?
Practising acceptance helps you disengage from feelings of unfairness (compared to other students who may be able to devote more time to their studies) and focus instead on moving forward.
TIP 3: ASSEMBLE YOUR SUPPORT TEAM
It’s a well-ingrained mindset in athletes that achieving peak performance involves the support of a team - from a coach to help you with your technique, a conditioning coach to help with fitness, a dietitian to help with nutrition, a psychologist to help with mindset, as well as your personal support team.
As a student athlete you’re doing more - and so you’ll need additional support to help with the load that you carry. Yet so many students believe that success is determined by how smart one is, rather than skill, practice, and the availability of support. Your inner voice may tell you that you should manage it all yourself, but asking for support is not a reflection of your capabilities. Who can you go to when things start to pile up? Start conversations with your family, coach, support team, psychologist, teacher and tutor about how you can work through your priorities and lower your stress. They can steer you in the right direction so that you stay on track without burning out.
TIP 4: ASSEMBLE YOUR STUDENT-ATHLETE TOOLKIT
Performing as a student-athlete draws on a range of skills, so give some thought as to the skills in your student-athlete toolkit. Consider adding (1) skills that help you to increase your efficiency at sport and school, (2) skills help you to stay balanced and avoid burnout, and (3) skills to manage your busy life. Here are some of our favourite skills for a student-athlete toolkit:
(a) Time management
Time can easily slip away when you’re a student athlete juggling school, training, competitions, studying, a social life, and paid work. To stay on top of things, set aside time each week to plan the week ahead. Diarise times to complete homework tasks or pre-session activities (e.g., 15-minutes to stretch before swimming). You can learn more in our article on how to use your planner to organise student life. Other time management tips that we love include:
Match the task with your energy levels (e.g. packing your lunch when you feel drained right after a late afternoon training session rather than jumping into difficult maths homework).
Start early - chip away on assignments and tasks as you receive them rather than waiting for deadlines Things often crop up when least expected, so rather than waiting for the last moment place yourself under more stress, why not make an earlier start?
Shift your mindset - with your busy schedule it’s helpful to shift your mindset away from waiting for a large chunk of time before you can start a task, and move towards approaching studies and sport in bite-sized chunks. For example, rather than waiting for a two-hour block of time before you start studying, think about doing 15-minute pop quizzes whilst commuting from training to school.
(b) Active self-reflection for managing mood and mindset
Staying on track with studies and training can be tricky following setbacks and an increased workload. Unhelpful (clinical) perfectionism, critical self-talk, unrelenting and unrealistic standards, can easily creep in and result in stress, anxiety, depression, and procrastination. Reflect on:
What unhelpful patterns do you notice? Understanding why you get derailed (for example, when you choose to clean your room because you’re avoiding training or procrastinating on an assignment or heading to training) means you can start to find ways to improve.
What strategies work for you when you’re stressed or overwhelmed? There are many stress management techniques around, so reflect on which ones actually work for you. For some it may be connecting with friends, for others it may be checking in with their psychologist, and some may prefer to disconnect and get into nature.
Consider dedicating 10-minutes towards journaling and recapping at the end of each week. During stressful times it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, get caught up in strong emotions, or become hyper focused on what is happening right in front of you. After the event, take time to step back and reflect – what helped and what could you change if you were to experience this event again? For example, did taking a few deep breaths help you get through the moment? Alternatively, rather than getting swept up in the larger goal, perhaps focusing on one subgoal at a time enabled you to get through your work more effectively?
(c) Effective study skills
Whilst student athletes may recognise that developing the right technique is critical to succeeding in sport, there can often be a mental block when it comes to succeeding in studies. However, just as performing well as an athlete isn’t just about ability and potential – it involves refining technique through a process of trial and error.
Similarly, performing as a student involves refining study skills through a similar process. Indeed, some students believe that they are ‘not smart enough’ when in reality they may not be studying in a way that maximises retention of what they have learned. For example, students may think that time spent on studying is what matters, but what is really helps for performance come exams studies is testing yourself. Similarly, rather than just making notes from lectures and textbooks, understanding how to structure studies and focusing on priorities of the unit are essential particularly when your time is limited as a student athlete.
Techniques that we have found helpful in our work with students include:
Understanding how memory works and using a range of memory tricks to enhance performance.
Taking effective notes. Rather than writing down what is said verbatim, try to paraphrase just the essentials so you can check your understanding of what you’re reading/hearing.
Engaging in meta-learning to remain focused on the essentials of the unit (what you should be studying according to the unit outline) rather than diving into rabbit holes of non-essential facts (what is nice to know if you have spare time to focus on them).
If study skills and time management are where you regularly fall down, check out Nimble Noodle, our online self-paced course to help you to sharpen study skills, prepare for exams, and manage your time and mood better.
(D) Truly decompress during quiet moments
Quiet moments can be few and far between when you’re juggling training with studies. However, when they do come around, it’s all too easy to just hop on social media and zone out for an hour or two. If this sounds familiar, it might help to ask yourself if you truly decompress whilst on social media, or does it trigger FOMO and other insecurities? If being on social media isn’t helpful for your wellbeing, find other ways to decompress – it may be seeing friends in real life, getting out in nature, or even chilling and listening to music.
Make the most of these quiet moments, as taking the time to restore your energy helps set you up for a good week.
Hopefully the above tips help you juggle studies and sport better! If you’d like a more tailored approach you can book in with one of our team.
REFERENCES
1. Folkman, S., & Lazarus, R. S. (1985). If it changes it must be a process: Study of emotion and coping during three stages of a college examination. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48, 150-179. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.48.1.150
2. Debois, N., Ledon, A., & Wylleman, P. (2015). A lifespan perspective on the dual career of elite male athletes. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 21, 15-26. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2014.07.011
3. National Collegiate Athletic Association. (2014). Mind, body and sport: Understanding and supporting student-athlete mental wellness. Indianapolis, US.
4. Kimball, A., & Freysinger, V. J. (2003). Leisure, stress, and coping: The sport participation of collegiate student-athletes. Leisure Sciences, 25, 115-141. doi:10.1080/01490400306569
How to boost your winter wellbeing
How can you counter the winter blues? Check out our tips on how to boost your wellbeing during the colder months.
HOW TO BOOST YOUR WELLBEING IN WINTER
By Joyce Chong
Winter is a time when we often let our wellbeing habits slide. Those lifestyle factors that make for positive wellbeing in summer - exercise, socialising with friends, healthier diets, and a sunnier and more positive outlook – tend to take a back seat come winter. Faced with shorter days (less natural light) and colder temperatures, it’s easy to fall into unhelpful patterns and neglect your wellbeing. Mood can suffer, and the winter blues can sometimes tip into Seasonal Affective Disorder. So, today we’re look at 3 Problems for Wellbeing in Winter and what we can do to boost our wellbeing.
PROBLEM 1: Poorer health during flu season
SOLUTION: Being physically healthy is an important component to overall wellbeing. Think of winter as an endurance race – the goal is to stay well for a 3-month stretch. So, it’s time to double down on the building blocks of health by eating well, exercising, and getting enough sleep (for more general tips on how to stay healthy see this post). And, of course, with cold and flu germs being in plentiful supply during winter, it's good to practice good hygiene.
And should you happen to fall ill, be sure to get proper rest rather than propping yourself up only to run your body down again.
Problem 2: Being less active in winter
SOLUTION: Rethink how you work on your wellbeing. Because there's less light, more rain, and cooler weather, staying active in winter may require a bit more thought and preparation. Try the following:
Get over the psychological barrier in order to get physical. Often the biggest barrier is in your mind, so make it a non-negotiable that you will be more active.
Move your exercise indoors where possible (e.g. Perhaps join a gym for the winter months or use the stairs at work) so that the weather becomes a non-issue.
Choose wellbeing activities that are not just physical in nature. Focus on building positive emotions (do something nice for yourself), get into a state of flow (engagement) where you’re really engrossed in an indoor hobby or activity (for more on engagement check out our post on PERMA: The Ingredients for Resilience and Wellbeing), or nurturing positive relationships.
And, of course, the PERFECT way to boost your wellbeing in winter is with our 14-day Wellbeing Challenge! The wellbeing tips in our challenge don’t rely on a perfect sunny day or a spare hour or two… They’re simply 15-minute activities delivered to your inbox each day, and are mostly based indoors, so get cracking and sign up here (just below), or you can learn more about the challenge here.
(You can read Problem 3 for Wellbeing in Winter by scrolling down.)
PROBLEM 3: Feeling blah, feeling down, or feeling depressed
SOLUTION: Winter can be a real dampener on your mood, with a lack of light proposed to be linked to Seasonal Affective Disorder (see this article for more on SAD), so try the following options to boost your mood:
Try to get some (safe) exposure to the sun, or consider light therapy
Increase your exercise because of its positive effects on wellbeing (see this post on Why Exercise Matters for your Mental Health + Wellbeing)
Increase pleasant activities to give yourself a mood boost
Follow these tips and boost your wellbeing this winter, and feel free to reach out if you’d like to book in with one of our team for a tailored plan.
REFERENCES
Grimaldi, S., Englund, A., Partonen, T., Haukka, J., Pirkola, S., Reunanen, A., Aromaa, A., & Lönnqvist, J. (2009). Experienced poor lighting contributes to the seasonal fluctuations in weight and appetite that relate to the metabolic syndrome. Journal of Environmental and Public Health. Doi:10.1155/2009/165013
How a planner can help you stay on track with your studies
Between studies, assignments, paid work, volunteer work, sporting commitments, social life… is it any wonder things that student life can feel overwhelming? Here’s how to use your a study planner to organise yourself.
3 simple tips to organise your student life using a planner
By Joyce Chong
Student life can be pretty hectic. Sure, studying may be the main focus of student life, however there’s so much more going on including assignments, labs and projects; preparing for tests; volunteering/extra-curricular activities; paid work; family commitments; social commitments; and placements / practicums. When your commitments are that varied it’s also important to look after your physical health and psychological wellbeing so you can make it through the academic year!
With so much on your plate, it’s too easy to drop the ball, forget things, or even feel just overwhelmed. Importantly, this is not a sign of failure to thrive and adapt, just a sign that you might need a system to help you better juggle all of your commitments.
So today, we’re going to lift the lid on three simple tips for using a planner to organise your student life. You can use any planner (you might have a student planner lying around) though we’ve used our Productive Life Planner which has specific sections for projects (or goals) and managing your wellbeing. Let’s deep dive into how a planner can help.
TIPS TO ORGANISE YOUR STUDENT LIFE USING A PLANNER
Below we 3 tips for using a planner to help organise your student life that you can action today. These will give you a good starting point. Let’s see how using a planner can help Ali (whom you may recall from Planet Burnout).
Ali is a conscientious student, who spends every waking moment studying. However, the pressure he places on himself leads him to feel overwhelmed and he procrastinates as a result. Predictably, burnout creeps in at the end of semester and Ali barely has enough fuel in the tank to get through exams. He often feels like a failure.
Tip #1. Set UP A STUDY PLAN, GOOD HABITS, + HELPFUL ROUTINES
Groundwork is everything when it comes to succeeding, and as part of this try setting up a study plan with these questions:
What deadlines do you have for assignments? Work backwards from this point, breaking down all of the steps involved in completing and submitting these assignments. Add these to your planner.
What plan do you have for studying for the final exams? Break down your topics and schedule time to regularly summarise, review, and test yourself throughout the semester (don’t leave it up to cram in the study break just before exams!).
What habits support your studies? We’re talking physical and psychological habits that help you stay focused and on track with studies. It could be exercising, journaling, meditating, catching up with friends. All of these take time, so be sure to include them in your schedule so you can see your commitments over the days/weeks/months.
Once you see everything that is on your plate it becomes easier to set boundaries with yourself based on the available time that you have for that ‘quick coffee’ or ‘social media break’.
Ali, whilst prioritising his studies, has not taken into account the importance of physical and psychological habits that help him stay on track. He endeavours that this semester will be different, and aims to include exercise and self-care for sustainability in his studies. He could start off by:
Given Ali has a tendency to spend any available time studying, it will be best to first schedule in self-care activities. Thus he (i) Blocks out 3 x 30min blocks each week in his planner for exercise; (ii) Sets aside 30 minutes at the end of the day before sleep to wind down, practice mindfulness and journal (iii) Each fortnight he also prioritises his appointments with his psychologist to work through his perfectionism; and (iv) On alternate fortnights he sees friends.
With the remainder of his time he is able to devote it to his studies, and maps out upcoming assignments, tests, and exams.
Tip #2. TRACK THE THINGS THAT HELP YOU STAY ON TRACK WITH YOUR STUDIES.
Why should you track? Because tracking allows you to identify patterns in your study techniques and how you manage your physical and psychological health. We’re looking for patterns such as:
Studying for certain topics are easier at certain times of the day.
Being more likely to succeed with exercise habits when a friend is involved for accountability than when left to exercise on your own.
A few days consecutive days of feeling stressed primes you to experience heightened anxiety and panic symptoms.
Having all of this data allows you to make powerful decisions when it comes to making changes that work (see the next section!), thus enabling you to be more efficient.
Since Ali has a tendency to focus exclusively on studying (leading to burnout), a priority for him would be tracking how well he sticks to habits that benefit his physical health and psychological wellbeing (see example below in pink). He also uses a daily planner to track his schedule for the day, outline his Top 3 Priorities for the day, and other tasks on his To Do list.
Tip #3. Review how you’re going + make changes to re-ALIGN.
When planning doesn’t go according to plan, don’t give up! All of that information you’ve tracked gives you insight into how to make changes to realign and stay on track with your studies.
Maybe you tried to study a challenging topic at a time when you were most tired, and would be more likely to grasp the content if you studied it at a time when you were more alert;
Maybe what you’d planned to take on for exercising took far too much effort and coordination (e.g. stand up paddleboarding) and instead it would help to choose a more flexible and portable option (e.g. walking); or
Maybe you were underestimated how long tasks took, which led to feeling overwhelmed at your progress, in which case adjust your time frames to be more realistic when setting your schedule.
Maybe planning doesn’t come naturally until you schedule in some regular time each week/day to engage in it.
The point is - don’t give up. All setbacks provide insight into why something didn’t work.
Having tracked his student life for a good month, Ali looks back on the data he has collected and identifies that he is likely to fall behind with his wellbeing habits when there is little accountability. Thus, he decides to exercise with a friend, and sets up a reward system for himself.
Looking over what Ali tracked for his productivity and performance, he recognises that he underestimates how long things take (e.g. summarising a chapter) which can easily lead to feeling demotivated and thus procrastination when time frames blow out. As a result, Ali ends up allowing more time for each task.
Following these adjustments, Ali reviews again after another fortnight and sees there have been some improvements. It also reveals some additional changes that he can make regarding how he organises his student life.
These 3 simple tips are a good starting point to help you organise your studies using a planner. Importantly, it takes time to get into a rhythm and pattern that suits your student life, so don’t feel discouraged if it takes several iterations to find a flow that suits you.
And if you’re interested in learning how to improving study skills, why not check out Nimble Noodle, our online study skills program?
You can also book in with one of our psychologists for a more tailored approach to organising your student life.
Positive Psychology: 5 Key Concepts (and how journalling helps with intentional practice)
Boost your wellbeing and resilience with Positive Psychology. In this article we look at 5 key concepts in the field of positive psychology, and how journalling can help you achieve better wellbeing.
Positive Psychology: 5 Key Concepts (and how journalling helps with intentional practice)
By Giulia Villa
“Curing the negatives does not produce the positives.” opined Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology. With this, Seligman started a movement - and a refreshing detour from traditional psychology by turning our focus away from fixing negatives to maximising positives - to become more resilient. Specifically, those skills used to ‘fix’ our unhappiness differ from those that enable us to become better, more resilient versions of ourselves. Key concepts such as the three routes to happiness, PERMA/PERMAH, strength and values, grit, and gratitude, have found their places in our psychological toolkits. And if there’s anything that the Covid pandemic of the past 18 months has taught us, it’s that we can’t predict the challenges and setbacks that life may throw at us – resilience is key for us to thrive under difficult circumstances.
Positive psychology provides not only a framework, but also outlines behavioural interventions for a happier, more satisfying life. In this article, we highlight five key concepts of positive psychology, look at evidence regarding the effectiveness of psychological interventions, and examine how you can stay focused on the positive psychology track.
5 key concepts in positive psychology
1. The three types of happiness
The concept of happiness is perhaps viewed as synonymous with positive psychology, and the exemplar of positive emotions. Seligman proposed that there are three paths to achieving happiness. The twist is: they are not all equal. The first path, or level, is the Pleasant Life. We all have things that bring us happiness in the moment: that delicious slice of cake, sleeping in to avoid work, a few (maybe too many) drinks with friends. However whilst these bring us pleasure in the short term, the instant gratification we get from the Pleasant Life does not necessarily translate long-term happiness.
This brings us to the second type of happiness - the Good Life. We pursue happiness through this path by being engaged in what we do. We become engaged and live the Good Life when we frequently use our strengths and virtues in our day-to-day life. Engagement might look like being passionate about your work, building your personal relationships, or pursuing new hobbies.
The ultimate path to happiness is the Meaningful Life. We can lead a Meaningful Life when we use our strengths and character traits to serve a cause or purpose that is bigger than us. There is no singular cause that will be important to everyone, so infusing our life with meaning involves reflecting on what really matters to us.
To learn more about the 3 types of happiness head on over to this article.
2. PERMA/PERMAH
Another important concept in Positive Psychology is that of PERMA, which are the five building blocks of resilience and wellbeing identified by Seligman - Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment. Let’s refresh these five components before we introduce the latest building block. In brief:
Positive emotions are important for resilience and wellbeing. In the moment, we can increase positive emotions by simply choosing to do things we enjoy. Practicing gratitude is a great way to feel more positively about the past and future.
We experience Engagement when we are fully immersed in an activity that requires our strengths, skills, and focus.
Intentionally investing in positive Relationships gives us purpose whilst building a protective tool against our own struggles.
We can all live a life filled with Meaning by working towards a purpose that is bigger than ourselves.
We gain a sense of Accomplishment by achieving goals that are important to us.
The latest research in positive psychology has expanded this model to add a sixth determinant of wellbeing: physical Health. We can break this down into three pillars:
Movement Recent research shows that those who exercise regularly are less likely to suffer from mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression.[1] Physical activity can reduce stress, boost mood and improve self-esteem.[2]
Healthy diet What we eat impacts how we feel not only physically but mentally. Alongside reducing the risk of chronic disease, a balanced diet can improve mood as well as cognitive function. A population study found that consumption of fruit and vegetables was the most consistent predictor of mental wellbeing.[3]
Sleep It’s challenging going about daily life under a cloud of tiredness, let alone try to improve ourselves. A lack of sleep can leave us feeling cranky and struggling to concentrate (hello brain fog). On the other hand, being well-rested is associated with positive emotions and having purpose – which we already know is key to achieving a Meaningful Life![4]
Learn more about the relationship between physical health and psychological wellbeing.
3. Strength and Virtues
So far, we have mentioned using your strengths to live an engaging and meaningful life, but it can be challenging to look inwards and know what these strengths are. Seligman and his colleague Peterson developed the Values in Action (VIA) Character Strengths Survey, comprising 24 character strengths categorized under six overarching virtues (Wisdom and knowledge, Courage, Humanity, Justice, Temperance, and Transcendence).[5]
In a similar vein to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), which is used for classification and diagnosis in traditional psychology, the VIA provides a framework to empirically assess and classify positive traits.
The VIA Strengths survey helps identify particular strengths, and by frequently applying and working on these strengths we are able to thrive and flourish.
Dr. Niemic from the VIA Institute on Character encourages us to be mindful and reflect on the role of our strengths in our lives: what strengths do we use when we are at our best? What about to overcome our struggles? We may notice that we have gravitated towards job opportunities, study paths, or hobbies which call on our strengths. Setting goals involving identifying strengths we wish to use more often, and integrating it into our daily routines. The more we practice tapping into our strengths, the more likely they are to become part of our routines and increase meaning and satisfaction in life. Head here for some great articles on how to harness strengths on a daily basis.
4. Grit
Grit is defined as passion for, and perseverance towards, long-term goals. It’s what keeps us going in the face of challenges. Research has found that grit is a greater predictor of success than other measures such as IQ and conscientiousness.[6] Not only do grittier people experience more success, they are also more resilient and find it easier to bounce back from adversity.
Unlike IQ, which remains relatively stable throughout adulthood, we can actually work to improve our own grit through intentional practice. Becoming ‘grittier’ requires a shift in mindset, involving examining those beliefs that hold us back, those beliefs that lead us to give up on things when we feel frustrated, or those that stop us from attempting a challenge out of fear.
Increasing grit involves crafting a balance between maintaining effort and interest. By varying mindset, seeing challenges and setbacks as learning opportunities, and incrementally stepping in the right direction, grit can be strengthened.
5. Gratitude
The practice of gratitude is not just the latest fad taking the wellness world by storm. Being grateful is a great way to amplify the effects of what is going ‘right’ in our life: a key tenet of positive psychology. In fact, the very act of expressing or receiving gratitude triggers the release of “happy” neurotransmitters in our brain: dopamine and serotonin.[7] These chemicals help us feel good and tap into those positive emotions, which we know are essential for wellbeing. The key to strengthening these neural pathways is to make gratitude a habit. To increase the likelihood of success, anchor gratitude practice to everyday tasks. Some examples of this are:
Jotting down a gratitude list whilst on the train to work.
Ending each day by naming three good things that happened that day, for example by journalling.
Writing a thank you message to a friend after spending some time with them.
How does positive psychology apply to real life?
Does positive psychology have the potential to trigger long term positive change? Let’s take a look at the evidence. For many, the workplace is an environment that conjures stress and anxiety. With the additional weight of the pandemic on our shoulders, it is no surprise that 63% of workers are experiencing decreased mental health due to workplace changes.[8]
To learn more about causes of burnout at work, check out our previous blog posts Early Career Burnout: Part 1 – Personal factors and Early Career Burnout: Part 2 – Workplace factors. Alongside addressing the personal and organisational factors mentioned in these articles, research suggests that positive psychology plays an important role on workplace performance and wellbeing. Positive psychology interventions in the workplace, such as gratitude diaries and capitalising on individual strengths, are linked to reduced stress and burnout amongst employees.[9]
Positive psychology is not just for adults. In schools, intervention programs based on positive psychology concepts have been successful at improving relationships and academic performance whilst reducing stress levels and symptoms of anxiety and depression in students.[10][11]
How journaling helps you practice Positive Psychology
So far, we have learnt about the key concepts in positive psychology and the effectiveness of positive psychology. But how can we maintain regular practice in order to reap the benefits of positive psychology in daily life? The answer: Intentional practice.
Intentional (or deliberate) practice aims to bring awareness and intent to all components of the to-be-implemented change. This means being mindful of the “what” and the “how”. Start by asking the following questions:
What is the desired outcome?
What behaviours need to be practised to achieve that outcome?
How will these behaviours bring about the desired outcome?
Resilience can be built through the intentional practice of evidence-based wellbeing interventions [12] in much the same way as deliberate practice helps with learning, skill acquisition, and expert performance in a wide range of areas (e.g. athletics, musical performance, etc.). Thus, for all of the 5 key concepts of positive psychology covered above, intentional practice can be applied in the following ways:
Positive emotions can be amplified through our intentional choice of activities that make us feel good.
A regular conscious practice of gratitude teaches us to intentionally focus on the positive sides of an experience.[13]
The intentional choice of activities in which we can express our strengths brings meaning and satisfaction to our lives.
One simple way to engage in intentional practice is via guided journalling, which is easily accessible to anyone. Journaling has been shown to improve psychological wellbeing and stress management.[14][15] It’s a highly portable activity that does not require significant planning, and the act of journalling gives you time to focus on enhancing your wellbeing.
Committing to journaling regularly, and in a guided manner to focus on the principles of positive psychology, can help you reach your goals and boost your wellbeing. It can be as simple as journalling about the positive aspects of your day, about a positive memory, or things that make you happy. Make a start today, and start journalling your way to improved wellbeing and resilience.
If a more structured approach is what will help you stick with the task, why not try guided journalling? Check out My Happy Place, a 30-day positive psychology-based journal with guided prompts.
If you’d like a tailored approach to building up your resilience and wellbeing reserves, why not contact us to make an appointment and get started?
REFERENCES
[1] Kandola, A. A., Osborn, D. P., Stubbs, B., Choi, K. W., & Hayes, J. F. (2020). Individual and combined associations between cardiorespiratory fitness and grip strength with common mental disorders: a prospective cohort study in the UK Biobank. BMC Medicine, 18(1), 1-11.
[2] Mikkelsen, K., Stojanovska, L., Polenakovic, M., Bosevski, M., & Apostolopoulos, V. (2017). Exercise and mental health. Maturitas, 106, 48-56.
[3] Stranges, S., Samaraweera, P. C., Taggart, F., Kandala, N. B., & Stewart-Brown, S. (2014). Major health related behaviors and mental wellbeing in the general population: The health survey for England. BMJ Open, 4(9).
[4] Steptoe, A., O'Donnell, K., Marmot, M., & Wardle, J. (2008). Positive affect, psychological well-being, and good sleep. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 64(4), 409-415.
[5] Peterson, C., & Seligman, M.E.P. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. New York: Oxford University Press and Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
[6] Duckworth, A. L., Peterson, C., Matthews, M. D., & Kelly, D. R. (2007). Grit: perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(6), 1087.
[7] Zahn, R., Moll, J., Paiva, M., Garrido, G., Krueger, F., Huey, E. D., & Grafman, J. (2009). The neural basis of human social values: evidence from functional MRI. Cerebral Cortex, 19(2), 276-283.
[8] Relationships Australia. (2020). COVID-19 and its effects on relationships. https://relationships.org.au/what-we-do/research/online-survey/AprilSurveyReportRelationshipsAustralia3.pdf
[9] Meyers, M. C., van Woerkom, M., & Bakker, A. B. (2013). The added value of the positive: A literature review of positive psychology interventions in organizations. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 22(5), 618-632.
[10] Shoshani, A., & Steinmetz, S. (2014). Positive psychology at school: A school-based intervention to promote adolescents’ mental health and well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 15(6), 1289-1311.
[11] Waters, L. (2011). A review of school-based positive psychology interventions. The Educational and Developmental Psychologist, 28(2), 75-90.
[12] Kaye-Kauderer, H., Feingold, J.H., Feder, A., Southwick, S., & Charney, D. (2021). Resilience in the age of COVID-19. BJPsych Advances, 27, 166-178.
[13] Emmons, R. A., & Mishra, A. (2011). Why gratitude enhances well-being: What we know, what we need to know. In K. M. Sheldon, T. B. Kashdan, & M. F. Steger (Eds.), Designing Positive Psychology: Taking and Moving Forward (pp. 248-262). NY: Oxford University Press.
[14] Dimitroff, L.J., Sliwoski, L., O’Brien, S., & Nichols, L.W. (2017). Change your life through journaling – The benefits of journaling for registered nurses. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 7, 90-98.
[15] Pastore, C. (2020). Stress management in college students: why journaling is the most effective technique for this demographic. (Unpublished Honours thesis, State University of New York, New York). Retrieved from https://soar.suny.edu/handle/20.500.12648/1512
PERMA: The Ingredients for Resilience + Wellbeing
Looking to build up your resilience and wellbeing reserves? Meet your new best friend PERMA, the key 5 ingredients from positive psychology for better resilience and wellbeing.
PERMA: The ingredients for resilience + wellbeing
What enables some people to bounce back from challenges while others crumble in a crisis? Well Martin Seligman, the father of Positive Psychology, studied resilience and wellbeing to answer this very question. In doing so, Seligman developed the PERMA Model, which contains five factors to help you build resilience and wellbeing - Positive emotions, Engagement, (positive) Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment. [1]Positive psychology shifts traditional ideas of psychology from working on fixing what is 'wrong', to focusing on what works, on strengths, on skills, and on enhancing the positives. Positive psychology has a lot to teach us about how to achieve and maintain long-term wellbeing.
Let’s look at each element of the PERMA model.
POSITIVE EMOTIONS
Positive emotions like happiness have an obvious connection to wellbeing. When we feel positive emotions we perform better, we respond more helpfully in our relationships, and we are more willing to hope for the best future, and to take risks to achieve that future.
How do we bring about positive emotions? The short answer is to do the things that make you happy. Fill your life with the things that make you smile – food, friends that build you up rather than drag you down, music, gardening, movies, exercise. Whatever it is that makes you feel good. Things like gratitude diaries are also great ways to train your mind towards the positive.
ENGAGEMENT
Have you ever had a time when you were enjoying what you were doing so much so that you were completely absorbed by it? So on a roll writing a report or assignment that an hour slipped by unnoticed? So enthralled with that Game of Thrones episode that you didn’t hear your partner calling your name? So blissed out during yoga that the past and the future just fell away and you felt completely in the present?
Psychologists call that experience “flow” - a state of being fully engaged with a task and, according to Seligman, engagement is one of the five crucial building blocks of wellbeing. We all achieve flow doing different things – sport for some, music for others, a hobby or a work project. Figure out what in your life gives you a sense of engagement.
(positive) RELATIONSHIPS
Humans are built to belong. We need connection, intimacy, and emotional and physical contact with others.
An integral part of overall wellbeing, therefore, is our relationships. We struggle with our wellbeing when our relationships are destructive, draining, one-sided, or we are just isolated. However if your relationships make you feel supported, included, understood and cared for, you have set yourself up for a lifetime of wellbeing.
Be conscious of building your relationships and you will be working not just on relationships but on overall life satisfaction.
MEANING
Seeing and working towards a meaning that is bigger and more important than just your own happiness is also important.
Having a purpose to your life brings satisfaction, even if working towards that purpose does not directly bring positive emotion, flow, or any of the other building blocks of wellbeing. This might be a religious faith, a political agenda, community work or perhaps charity work. Being with like-minded people working towards a common goal that you really believe in brings significance to your life.
ACCOMPLISHMENT
The final building block that allows humans to flourish is accomplishment, or a sense of mastery over something. Gaining mastery over something is important for its own sake, even if the accomplishment is not linked to any of the other building blocks of wellbeing.
Ever wonder why you keep doing Sudoku, even though it has no real world application? Why you are driven to get to the next level of Candy Crush Saga, or why you keep building that Lego construction even after your kid has drifted onto another activity? It’s important to know that we can do something well, that we can set a goal and reach it, and enjoy that feeling of success.
THE BOTTOM LINE?
People who adopt and live by these five concepts have been shown to do better at university, excel even after setbacks in sports, are less likely to experience depression or post traumatic stress, and even have a lower risk of premature death[2].
So stop and think. How can you apply the PERMA model to your own life? By being consistent in filling your life with positive emotions, engagement, good relationships, meaning and accomplishment you set yourself up to weather the storms in life more readily, and enjoy the blessings in life more fully.
If you’d like a tailored approach to building up your resilience and wellbeing reserves, why not contact us to make an appointment and get started?
About stigma (and why you don't need to suffer from mental health issues to see a psychologist)
Is your stigma getting in the way of you feeling better? Here’s why you don’t need to ‘suffer’ from mental health issues to see a psychologist.
About stigma (and why you don’t need to suffer from mental illness to see a psychologist).
by Joyce Chong (First published August 2016; Updated 2nd October 2020)
As psychologists, one of the things we often come up against in our work is a little thing called stigma. Even in 2020, with the global pandemic that is Covid-19 affecting mental health worldwide, with repeated focus on coping with lockdown, social isolation, and adjusting to a New Normal, we are still seeing stigma. Where once there may have been denial of the existence of mental health issues, organisations such as Beyond Blue and Black Dog Institute have worked tirelessly over the past 20 years to raise awareness of depression and reduce stigma. Nowadays, in our work we witness stigma in subtler forms [1], in thoughts such as,
“It’s okay for others to go through it and get help, but I should be able to sort myself out.”
“I’m weak if I have a mental health issue.”
“I won’t be seen as someone who has their act together if I have a mental health issue.”
Furthermore, there’s still stigma attached to seeing a psychologist, in spite of the many ways in which we can help individuals enhance the quality of their life, bouncing back from challenging times, but also learning to thrive and be resilient. So, in this article, we’ll touch on three helpful points when it comes to mental health.
1.Mental health encompasses the good, the bad, and the ugly. It is the entire continuum.
We often equate mental health with mental illness. According to the World Health Organisation, mental health is “a state of well-being in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.”
So what does a mental health continuum look like? It’s much like how we see physical health as ranging from someone who is in the pink of health, all the way through to someone who is coping with physical illness. In a similar vein, at one end mental health continuum individuals are thriving and resilient, all the way down to the other end where they are struggling with ill mental health. And, of course, there are all of the shades in between thriving and struggling.
Depending on what we’re experiencing in life, we can move up and down the mental health continuum (see point 2). And the importance of staying psychologically resilient and mental health aware is not lost on organisations, with findings showing that for every $1 an organisation invests in building a mentally healthy workplace they reap a $2.30 reward through increased productivity, reduced absenteeism and presenteeism, and fewer compensation claims. [2]
Indeed, our team are often involved in facilitating such training sessions, where attendees find learning about these concepts of mental health as well as taking on one or two simple steps to enhance their mental health, to be beneficial. We like to think of it as taking a multivitamin for mental health.
2. No one is immune to poor mental health.
There is no 'Us vs. Them' when it comes to those who have mental health issues and those who don’t. Life happens and this can trigger poorer mental health for anyone. If there’s anything that Covid-19 has shown, it’s that no one is immune to poor mental health. Earlier in the year we saw global mental health suffer when the world started to comprehend the profound impact of coronavirus, when we faced anxiety about our health and the health of loved ones, when we faced social isolation and loneliness, when we faced uncertainty about work and financial strain, and then when we had to adjust to a New Normal. It continues to have a far-reaching impact on all of our lives as second- and third-waves of the pandemic emerge around the world.
“There is no ‘Us vs. Them’ when it comes to those who have mental health issues and those who don’t. Life happens and this can trigger poorer mental health for anyone.”
Reactive mental health touches us all, as Covid-19 has shown. Outside of a global pandemic, relationship problems, work strain, traumatic accidents, separation, pregnancy and birth, the death of a loved ones, can all impact on our mental health. In fact, outside of a global pandemic, 1 in 5 experience mental health issues at any point in time [3], and hopefully 2020 has taught us empathy and compassion for those who experience mental health challenges on an ongoing basis.
3. Psychologists can help you thrive and perform better, in addition to helping you bounce back from mental illness.
So, if mental health encompasses the entire continuum from thriving to struggling, let’s rethink what it means to see a psychologist. Seeing a psychologist isn’t just about ‘fixing a problem’ or bouncing back from mental illness. In fact, here’s a list of what psychologists work with people on:
Developing a more resilient mindset, helping you shift from the glass being half empty to being half full.
Adjusting to a health diagnosis and the lifestyle changes it may require
Helping to change health behaviours – sleep, eating, exercising.
Improving performance (including as a student) through managing perfectionism, procrastination, goal setting, time management.
Improving communication and building better relationships (assertive communication, social skills)
Helping you feel better in yourself by focusing on boosting self-esteem and body image.
Living a life more aligned with what’s meaningful to you.
Adjusting to life’s challenges (relationship breakdowns, changes to work, migration, parenthood, retirement…global pandemic), and the impact it may have on one’s identity.
Working towards achieving balance in work, study, and life.
And that is just the tip of the psychology iceberg. In Australia, we have psychologists who have endorsement in specialised areas of training including mental health (this is the area many of us traditionally associate with psychology), sporting performance, education and development, forensics, neuropsychology, workplace/organisations, social behaviour, health, and community.
Critically, seeing a psychologist means working with someone who has undergone a minimum of 6 years of training on changing human behaviour and mindset (and that’s the minimum amount of training it takes to be registered as a psychologist; psychologists with endorsement have trained for a minimum of 8 to 10 years). That means that they bring evidence-based methods when working with you.
So, if we can take a step back from our preconceived ideas about mental health, and from the stigma we associate with mental health and seeing a psychologist, we can all look forward to building greater mental wealth.
REFERENCE
[1] Beyond Blue (2015). Information paper – stigma and discrimination associated with depression and anxiety (August 2015). https://www.beyondblue.org.au/docs/default-source/policy-submissions/stigma-and-discrimination-associated-with-depression-and-anxiety.pdf
[2] PwC and Beyond Blue. (2014). Creating a mentally healthy workplace: Return on investment analysis. Australia: https://www.headsup.org.au/docs/default-source/resources/beyondblue_workplaceroi_finalreport_may-2014.pdf
[3] Australian Bureau of Statistics (2009). National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing: Summary of Results, 4326.0, 2007. ABS: Canberra. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/mental-health/national-survey-mental-health-and-wellbeing-summary-results/latest-release
How can you counter the winter blues? Check out our tips on how to boost your wellbeing during the colder months.