Everyone needs to navigate a major life transition at some point, whether you’re moving house, changing jobs, or recovering after a relationship ends. It can sometimes seem like any new, significant situation is impossible to manage, especially when you don’t have easily accessible tools to rely on.
Knowing that the human experience is fraught with challenges, it’s a good idea to collect a few tips and tricks for managing life’s curveballs. The following strategies for dealing with upheavals should be helpful, regardless of the specifics of your situation:
Create a Plan of Attack
Many of life’s challenges and changes can feel overwhelming because you don’t know how to approach them. There might also be multiple steps involved in seeing progress.
In that case, creating plans of attack can be helpful. For example, if you’re moving house, you might add ‘get a removalist quote,’ ‘buy packing materials,’ and ‘declutter the house’ to your plan. Suddenly, a previously overwhelming challenge becomes more manageable.
Be Kind to Yourself
We humans can be awfully hard on ourselves. We often expect perfection from ourselves, even when we wouldn’t expect it from others. With this in mind, be kind to yourself when you start thinking harsh thoughts about how you’re navigating a major life event. If in doubt, treat yourself with the same compassion you’d give to a friend or family member in the same situation.
Accept Change
Some of life’s major transitions and challenges aren’t of your own making. When the outcomes are out of your control, accepting what you’re going through is not always easy. However, accepting change can be a core part of finding the transition more straightforward to manage. You might also find that being more accepting of change helps you maintain a positive outlook. The more positive you are, the better your problem-solving skills can be, so it’s certainly worth putting in the effort.
Practice Self-Care
When something major is happening in your life, it’s easy to get so focused on it that everyday activities cease being a priority. However, if you fail to get enough sleep, eat well, and manage your stress levels, things will only get worse.
In fact, you generally need more self-care during challenging periods. So, as chaotic as life might be, set time aside for activities that help you maintain peak physical and mental wellness.
Stay Organized
It’s easy to feel like you’re losing control of your life when you aren’t organized. You might be entering uncharted waters, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be organized while sailing through. Organization can offer a sense of control during a time when many things might be out of your control.
Focus on time management and prioritizing the most important tasks to avoid overwhelming feelings. You might also decide to declutter your physical space – a job that can provide clarity and relieve anxiety.
Celebrate the Small Wins
When you’re used to achieving excellence in everything you do, you can’t help but feel like you’re failing when you’re going through a major life event. You might feel incompetent when you start a new job or lazy when a loss or failure sees you unable to get out of bed.
As a result, celebrating the small wins can be important. Even something as simple as showering and getting dressed on a day you don’t feel like it can be a reason to praise yourself.
Navigating major life transitions can take a significant mental and physical toll. However, staying organized, being kind to yourself, and creating an attack plan should make you feel more capable and in control.
