Recently we had David Gower from the Paramatta Eels participate as a panellist at our online event ‘Playing in All Conditions.’ During the event we discussed how COVID-19 has impacted his work and his tips for getting through it. David had some messages that he wanted to share with apprentices and trainees about being grateful during COVID-19 and breaking time down into smaller blocks.
Being grateful
“I’ve focussed a lot of my energy around just being grateful, for the life I have, my health, the health of my family and just controlling what I can control...”
Research has shown the benefits of focussing on what we are grateful for. Grateful people sleep better, experience less physical aches and pains and report feeling healthier. Gratitude also increases how resilient we feel and how good we feel about our lives. This is some great advice for everyone during challenging times. To try this yourself, just think of three things that you’re grateful for at the end of each day.
Breaking it down
David also suggested looking at this time in smaller chunks and “...really breaking it down into those small blocks, whether it's a week or a day...” This is a great strategy in uncertain times, rather than focussing on the long term when we don’t know what might happen, it can be helpful to just focus on the next week. Take it one step at a time.
This is also a great way to achieve our big goals in life, by breaking them down into smaller more manageable chunks. When we try and tackle things as a whole it's easy to become overwhelmed and do nothing. But if you break it down so that each task seems easier, you’re way more likely to do it.
How to put it into practice:
Break it down – If you’re looking for work for example, it can be really easy to start thinking about how big that task is and keep putting it off. But if you break it down into tiny chunks like ‘today I will update the work experience section on my resume’ and ‘tomorrow I will job search just for 15 minutes’ it seems so easy that you’re more likely to achieve it.
Reward yourself – When you complete a chunk of your goal reward yourself for your progress! This will keep you motivated to keep chipping away.
So, whether you’re trying to get through COVID-19, get a new job, get out of debt, buy a house or some other goal entirely, don’t forget that breaking it down into ‘easy’ chunks is the best way to get it done!