Emotional Self-Awareness Creates Simple Life| Figure Out Where to Start

You have to work late again, to finish that project report that is due tomorrow morning. This isn’t the first time this week you’ve worked late at the office. In fact, over the last year, you have had to work late more often, and you even bring work home with you. You feel tired, frustrated, and guilty. The guilt of work taking time away from your family never goes away.

You get home after that long day and stuff is everywhere. You step over the pile of shoes at the doorway and cringe at the mess. Dishes aren’t done. Flyers are on the kitchen island, along with everything else it seems. As you sit on your favorite reading chair, you try to relax. You are tired after working late, and the kids are settled in bed after their day of school and after-school activities. Where did the day go?

You left for work before the family woke up that day, and they were in bed when you got home. You’re frustrated with work. Stuff is out of control and has been for a while. It started small but then grew as time went on. Life at home continued on its busy schedule and you are hanging on by a thread.

Does this sound familiar? I can relate. Trying to balance work and home is tough when things are going relatively smoothly. When things go sideways, there is a deep pit that can pull you over the edge and it can be hard to figure out how to pull yourself out of it.

I’ve found that becoming more emotionally self-aware of myself has helped pinpoint what I can do to help make my life just a bit easier. When you are focusing on others and trying to help them, empathetic listening helps. Let’s turn those skills inward to help you.

What is Emotional Self-Awareness?

Emotional self-awareness is being able to recognize our own feelings, be able to look further to understand why you feel that way, and then understand how that affects those around you. So how does that help me work less overtime or fix the clutter in my home? Let’s break it down further.

Understanding Emotional Self-Awareness

Step 1: Listen to your personal emotions

How do you feel when you realize you need to bring work home again or have to stay late to get something done? Frustrated, overwhelmed, angry, guilty…

Step 2: Recognize each emotion

Recognize each emotion and accept them for what they are, a reaction to something not working correctly. Don’t lay blame on anyone else or yourself for that matter. Just focus on how you are feeling.

Step 3: Ask Why, and Keep Asking

Now dig deep as to what could be causing these emotions. Is it about the report being late? It is deeper.

Is it the constant disruptions throughout the day? Are there meetings scheduled during your most productive time of the day – when the report should have been on your schedule? Do you need to revise your scheduling routine?

Is it having to wait for information that got to you too late in the day? Is there something happening to slow down the flow of information to you? Why can’t it be easier to get the information?

Step 4: Investigate

Right! I don’t have time in the day to do that!

You do, and here is why. If you don’t take the time to try and find a solution to why something isn’t working, then you will continue to feel frustrated, overwhelmed, angry and guilty. Your relationships will start to suffer at work and at home. Your health might even be affected. All in all, things will become out of balance and life will suck even more. Trust me!

It was a few years ago now, but I remember it like yesterday. I had been working at home on weekends, and working late most nights as well. The guilt was eating me up inside because it took time away from my family. I felt like the worst mom ever, but I needed to get this stuff done.

The chaos of my life took over and I let it consume me until my body finally said enough, with my first anxiety attack. My heart was racing and felt like it was going to jump out of my chest, I couldn’t breathe, and both my husband and I were scared.

A very helpful call to a cousin, who was a nurse, helped me calm down. I shouldn’t have let it go that far. It wasn’t worth it. Do you know what I discovered that day?

I discovered that I love to help people, but that I need to set limits to how much I take on for projects. Trying to help everyone isn’t possible. What did I do to resolve this situation?

In the end, I started helping people sort through their own chaos. I helped them recognize how they could identify what wasn’t working in their work-life, and then try to find solutions to help fix it. I was in the background helping them when they needed me, but I wasn’t doing everything for them.

Use Emotional Self-Awareness to Improve Your Life

By practicing these steps you can improve areas of your life bit by bit. Don’t take on everything at once. You need to pick one and improve it, then move onto the next. By doing this you will find that your life will be easier, and much more enjoyable.

Find those moments of joy, and soak them in. Use those moments of balance and joy to help motivate you into improving other areas.

Start small if you have to. Find ways to reduce clutter on your desk to help focus your attention. Reorganize your schedule so you can prioritize your day when you are most productive.

Practicing emotional self-awareness will help pinpoint ways to simplify your life. By recognizing your emotions, and taking a moment to dig into those emotions, you can figure out what is going wrong. Use this to find a solution to help you improve your life bit by bit, letting you gain more valuable time with your family.