Get refocused with a helpful acronym: REST
Relax
Help your body get re-centered
- Slow down and deepen your breathing
- Trace your hand. Breath in as you go up each finger and out as you go down
- Tense muscles in your body and release them one by one
Evaluate:
Describe the situation in a few sentences
- What did you feel, think, and want to do?
Ex. I couldn’t find a solution to the problem so I got anxious and started thinking I would fail the class. I wanted to solve the problem.
Set an intention:
Ask yourself, what can I do right now?
- Choose an action that will be useful rather than one that feels good
Ex. Even though I’m anxious and really want to solve the problem, I’m going to move on and work on other problems. I’ll come back to this one later.
Take action:
Move forward
- Accept that moving forward will be uncomfortable. Don’t waste your precious mental resources fighting negative feelings. Focus on taking useful action.
- To get going, identify one small step you can do and then do it!
Ex. I’m going to write a few notes about what I’ve tried and what I think I could try next to solve the problem. Then I’m going to close the program.