March started off a celebration of Women’s History Month and ended with episodes on how to identify and support leaders who are struggling, especially now that we are in the midst of a pandemic. Ironically, the focus in March changed the week of the 5-year anniversary episode where I offered some perspectives that will help you to look at things differently so you could release some of the stress that you are likely experiencing. Changing your perspective, depending on the perspective you choose, can be like releasing a pressure valve. The next episode, which was the episode before this one, talked about the effects stress has on your system and why you may be finding it hard to function at your very best. I listed out some symptoms of a leader who is struggling and the mindset of a leader who, while being challenged in a crisis, can continue to function and grow in the face of those challenges. I know it has not been easy to talk about hard things but the way to the other side is through. We need to acknowledge what we are dealing with before we can get through it. Common Responses to Stress Under stress, we typically go into a Fight, Flight or Freeze response. Flight looks like avoiding or running away from a problem. Fight looks like getting defensive or combative. Freeze looks like going still as you take in information and formulate your next move – are you going to Fight or take Flight? New research is also showing a female response to stress will also include Tend and Befriend. Some of us under stress will have increased nurturing behaviors and seek out social connections. How many of us in the current crisis have gone on a baking frenzy? My hand is way up in the air. How many of us have increased the amount of reach outs to friends, family, and colleagues to reassure them and ourselves that they are thought of and the connection is still there? Again, my hand is way up in the air. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, it is not business as usual. While you can’t expect that you’ll have the same performance that you had before this crisis there are some gentle things you can do to increase your focus and productivity. First, you must find calm. Perhaps not feeling calm all day every day, but injecting calm throughout the day. When we are stressed, we tend to be very active but not always productive. When we feel stressed, we often also feel time-pressured. We start moving so fast we can get stuck in the weeds, losing sight of the big picture and important details. We start giving unimportant details too much time and attention which results in lots and lots of wasted time. We are also more likely to make mistakes when we are moving too fast and under too much pressure. The goal is to avoid or, if you are already there, to get out of this frenetic state so you are functioning optimally. Start with a practice in the morning that helps you calm your racing mind and get clear on what the priority of the day is. Set timers or put on your daily calendar time blocks to unplug and engage in activities such as meditation, prayer, reading, walking, stretching, yoga, breathing exercises, fun and play. You choose what works best for you. Those activities will help to take you from feeling energetically stretched and scattered to bringing that energy back in your body and feeling centered. This level of calm has several benefits. It quiets the chattering, distracting, monkey mind thoughts so you can give whatever you are currently doing your full attention. A state of calm comes with a heightened level of awareness so you are able to see things more clearly. Additionally, this level of awareness helps you to realize everything will get done in due time. It all gets done one step at a time. This practice of finding calm will help with the next practice to help you continue to increase your focus and productivity. Practice being aware of your thoughts and emotions. Your thoughts and emotions are your signals to your state of be