It’s a tough time for libraries, and people in customer service. And while we don’t want to veer into any toxic positivity, it is good to spend a little time focused on building your happiness level. We are not going to solve people’s serious mental issues here. But bringing some happiness skills to your week can be helpful to everyone!
Mondays can be a little hard, even when things are going fine. Use this small injection of a happiness skill to your week. We are here to support you, and to help you to be a little happier in the library.
Sometimes, being happy (or calm or serene) is a matter of just deciding that you will be so. It’s not the answer to everything, of course. But making that decision itself can be helpful to you.
Check out the article excerpt from:The Elusive Practice of Deliberate Enjoyment
“In How To Calm Your Mind, Bailey, the author of The Productivity Project and Hyperfocus, argues that obsessing about more money, accomplishment, and stimulation produces perpetual dissatisfaction. And Bailey proposes strategies to “eliminate stress, overcome burnout, and resist distraction, while becoming more engaged, present, and productive.”
In explaining the ubiquity of stress and dissatisfaction, and their ability to trump our desire for calm, Bailey rounds up the usual suspects. Personalized algorithms allow social media platforms to generate content we are wired to enjoy and crave. Watching videos is more stimulating than reading books; pornography “is more dopaminergic than sex.”
According to Bailey, the ready and steady supply of digital stimulation — via news reports of terrorist bombings, violent video games, and apps comparing bodies and lifestyle — often exacerbates chronic stress. But not the good and short-term stress that helps us overcome a challenge (in an athletic contest, for example, or a presentation at a conference), and generates memories to look back on with pride.
Many of Bailey’s self-care strategies for calming the mind are also familiar, but nonetheless worth implementing. He recommends 150 minutes of moderate physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise every week. He prescribes less alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and takeout foods. Meditation, the “practice of presence,” he indicates, reduces stimulation, provides space to evaluate thoughts, and increases productivity.
And so, Bailey exhorts his readers to practice “deliberate enjoyment.” It might start with a list of savored items — and a commitment to savor at least one of them, including a future experience, each day. He advocates a one-month “stimulation fast,” which might include a “distractions blocker” on computers and phones; eliminating digital news sources; drastically reducing time on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Reddit, instant messages, online shopping, and ending all but three email checks a day.”
CMLE can be part of your support network; we are here for you, and support you in your library work. Take a nice deep breath in, and whoosh it out; it’s going to be okay today.