These are stressful times. COVID-19 is taking a toll on all of us. It is impacting us financially, physically, and emotionally. There is no end in sight, but there are things we can all do to relieve some of the stress. Self-care is very important to our physical and mental health. Each of us react differently to stress, but there are some easy to implement tactics that can help us cope more effectively. Mindfulness is a purposeful way to keep in tune with what your body and mind are feeling at all times.

A friend and colleague of mine Ryan Hartley introduced me to a simple yet fun tactic that should be familiar to anyone who has ever used a Windows PC. When a PC encounters an error and locks up or you experience the blue screen of death, oftentimes the only solution is to hit control, alt, delete. That keyboard combination often solves the issue. CONTROL, ALT, DELETE can also be used as an approach for addressing stressors in our lives. Take an inventory of all the things that are creating stress in your life. Then categorize the stressors into one of three buckets.

1) CONTROL: Identify the things that are causing stress in ones life that can be controlled. Can I make a change that will eliminate this stress. This could include having a difficult conversation with someone creating the stress, biting the bullet and buying a new vehicle rather than worrying everyday whether or not the car will start or deciding to commit to homeschooling your kids this fall given the uncertainty as to what will happen at schools.

2) ALT: Figure out what you can do to alter a situation that is causing stress. Rather than trying to change the situation or change another person’s behavior, determine what alternative course of action you can take. Can I change my approach to get a different outcome? By being more flexible and being willing to change we can take an alternative path and often alleviate stress.

3) DELETE: There are certain stressors that we cannot control and we cannot take alternative action to deal with. In those cases, we need to find ways to delete them from our brains. Worrying about whether or not a vaccine for COVID-19 will be found and implemented is out of my control and should not be something that is keeping me up at night. It is important to learn to let go of certain concerns, especially when worrying about them will have no impact on the outcome.

I love this approach to creating greater focus and freeing oneself from stressors. I love the computer metaphor and have taken it a step further to a mobile device. As mobile device users we all worry about battery life. One of the best ways to help our phone batteries make it through the day is to learn to shutdown background apps. Background apps suck power and waste energy when not in use. Phone have gotten smarter and will automatically shutdown unused background apps. We are not as smart as our phones in many instances.

Make a conscious effort to take a daily inventory of the background apps (noise and stressors) that are wasting our energy. This is an extension of the DELETE function that Ryan refers to. If you can close out those stressors that are adding no value and only draining your energy you will create space to address the things that really matter in your life. These life hacks require appreciation for mindfulness and an approach to staying in-tune with what your body and mind are telling you.

If you found this life hack helpful, I would urge you to share it with your friends, colleagues and family. One of the best ways I know of to help feel better about myself is to help others. These are challenging times and lending support to others can go a long way. Eliminating the things that drain us is a great way to improve positive energy.