Stress Management for Travel Therapists

As I write this post my wife is franticly scrambling around the house making final arrangements for our trip this weekend out west to run the Antelope Canyon 55K.  Not only do we have to get ourselves to the airport in time to make our flight from Cincinnati to Las Vegas, but we have to do so with a 6mo old in tow as well.

Once we return from the race I wrap up my final week of work here in Lexington, KY.  We then have a weekend in Ohio for one last family visit, then 2 days to pack and prep for another flight.  This time to Mexico with some of our fellow travelers (no baby this time).  The second we arrive we have to pack up our house and move all of the way across the country (in 2 cars) to the Bay area of California to find a house, find child care, and begin another contract, this time with both of us working. 

I feel my chest tightening just typing all of that.

As we have had to navigate a tricky contract negotiation in the last couple of weeks and begin to make plans for the next few months of our lives there have been times where the stress felt insurmountable.  We had multiple recruiters working their hardest to provide us with the best jobs they could offer in an area that fits our wants and desires.  Even travelers as seasoned as we are feel the pressure to make each of the recruiters happy and take their job offer.  Friends with both, it was a challenge knowing that one will be disappointed.  Our uneasiness was palpable.  Waffling back and forth before settling on one that fit the needs of our baby girl more than anything else. 

It is redundant to say that this has been, and likely will be, a stressful time.  But recently we have had some realizations to help us see it in a different way.

Stress, when attempting to assess and combat it, is in its self is a poorly defined term.  It is a nondescript feeling of “mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances.”  The realization that we have come to is that, in our lives, this ambiguous concept of stress can largely be broken down into two further categories.

Now, why are we taking the time to break down something like stress?  Well once it can be more appropriately defined it can be appropriately addressed, and hopefully eliminated. We have delineated our stressors into two general categories: Fear, and Overwhelm.

Fear

Fear, and its maladaptive partner anxiety, are emotional reactions to real or perceived threats.  Fear can be paralyzing.  Big decisions get stalled out, paralyzed to take the necessary steps to take action. 

We felt this in a very real way when trying to choose between our potential jobs.  One will be for  nearly 6 months and the other for almost 12 months.  Timelines stretching so far into the future that we have difficulty picturing their end.  To imagine knowing what is best for our family with a 1-1.5yr old was handicapping to say the least.

Tim Ferriss has identified a useful practice that he calls “Fear Setting.”  Essentially it involves analyzing a situation and asking yourself “what is the worst that could happen?”  Mentally playing out the full scenario.  Blood and guts and all. Then you identify the steps required to get your life back on track.  How do you repair the gnarly damage done.  Financial, personal, professional, etc.  He goes into more detail about it here.

All in all what inevitably happens is that the serious threats are appropriately identified and the phantom fears are revealed to be just that.  After all ,often, “the wolves in the dark are only dogs in the daylight.”

Overwhelm

Overwhelm is simply the accumulation of tasks that pile up in front of you.  Like freight cars off of the train track they jumble on top of one another.  A twisted mess of logistics and menial activities that must get completed before you can finally take a full bellied exhale.

While Ellen is an immensely goal and task driven individual, she has a propensity to fall into the overwhelm trap more frequently than I.  When this happens it is my job to attempt to steer us back on course a focus our efforts as best we can.  In these situations I rely on two strategies.

Priorities

Prioritizing the most important or “biggest bang for your buck” tasks is often the go to technique.  To further steal from Tim Ferriss, there are times where 80% of the results can be achieved from 20% of the work.  Identifying these activities can chomp a huge bite out of the perceived train wreck in front of you.

Bite by Bite

There is an old African proverb that goes: The only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.  Sometimes this is the approach that we all must take.  Sequential, stepwise progress in a positive direction. 

When we began this site we never dreamed of writing close to 100 posts in less than 2 years.  But after a few stops and starts, our steady stream of articles has built itself into something we are proud to share with our friends and fellow travelers (you guys).  Even today, to sit down and think about writing 100 pieces of content for a blog feels insurmountable.  But this very site is proof otherwise. 

Remember, Sequential, stepwise progress in a positive direction.  Just as I tell my patients, the size of the step doesn’t matter.  As long as you are moving in a positive direction you are getting closer to your goal!

Hopefully a couple of these strategies will be of use to you on your own adventures.  Stress is NEVER as daunting as it seems.  It is often just Fear or Overwhelm in disguise.

 

Written by: Stephen Stockhausen