Manage your stress and overwhelm levels -Introduce a daily accomplishment list

Do you ever feel stressed and overwhelmed at the end of the day, feeling like you have achieved very little?

How often do you comment on how the day flew by and you got very little done?

As our lives are so busy now, we never take the time to stop and reflect on what we accomplished on any given day. We all know how effective to-do lists can be in getting stuff done but acknowledging your daily successes in the form of an accomplishment list, can be even more rewarding.

Identifying accomplishments shifts the focus from what we didn’t achieve to what we did. As the brain works on a reward system, reflecting on even the small things that we accomplish on a daily basis allows the release of the neurochemical dopamine.

What does Dopamine do?

This will promote a feeling of achievement and pride and boost our happiness levels as well as motivating the brain to take further action and continue to achieve. Implementing a strategy such as this has the power to bring more positivity into your life.

How can it help to increase Confidence levels?

When we never stop and take the time to acknowledge what we accomplished in any given day, we quickly move on to the next thing and the next thing, quickly forgetting all that we have actually achieved. We tend to focus on what we didn’t get done and maybe what go well. This can have a very negative impact on confidence levels. Think about it, it is a platform for the inner critic to run wild. By taking a few minutes out to focus on the things we did well helps to re-wire the brain to focus on what the positive or uplifting aspects to our day. Over time this will become more of a natural default helping to build up rather than deplete confidence levels.

How can I implement an accomplishment list into my daily life?

It takes 5 minutes or less and is best done at the end of the day.

It can be done before you go to bed and your accomplishments written into your journal if you like and notice the benefits of journaling or you can wait until you are lying in bed and do the practice mentally.

Mindfully scan through your day (30-40 seconds).
Record the top 3 things that you have accomplished either by writing them in your journal or mentally noting them. These can be as big or as small as you like. Try to change them each day if possible.

Simple examples could be- speaking up at a meeting, getting a document completed on time, having a nutritious meal, getting in your walk or meditation.
Reflect on how/why these happened.
Really acknowledge and yourself credit for these accomplishments.
Take 3 deep breaths, finish by taking in one really deep breath and let go of the day on the exhalation.

Over time what you will notice happening is that the accomplishments come to mind much quicker to you. Secondly when there is something that you haven’t achieved or done over the course of your day, because your brain is now trained to focus on what you have achieved, it will be much easier for you to look at yourself with compassion and kindness rather than allowing the inner critic to scream at you. That is absolutely not to say that you will let yourself away with doing less and less, what it does mean is that by turning down the inner critic, you will save energy in dealing with the heavy negative emptions that it drives and use that energy in accomplishing even more in the following days.

For me introducing a nightly accomplishment has not only served to boost my overall happiness and motivation levels, it has also greatly improved the quality of my night’s sleep!

Why not give it a go?

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