You just finished working an overtime shift and you鈥檙e ready to head home after completing your paperwork. As you drive in your car, you can鈥檛 wait to shower off the day and hop into bed.
But the last few hours of your shift were tough. It鈥檚 still weighing on you, but you don鈥檛 want to bring the heaviness home. You want to put it behind you, but it hasn鈥檛 been easy lately to do that with the extra shifts and difficult calls.
The stress has been impacting you in more ways than one, but you鈥檙e not sure how to process it all. For some, journaling is a great way to self-reflect and unload, but writing has never been your 鈥渢hing.鈥�
If opening up a journal and seeing blank page after blank page is overwhelming, then there are other ways you can get what鈥檚 in your brain out in the world. Here are five alternatives to journaling if you don鈥檛 like to write or are looking for different ways to express and explore your thoughts and feelings.
1. Be artistic
You probably spend most of your time as a 鈥渓eft-brain thinker.鈥� You鈥檙e analytical and logical. It鈥檚 part of your job and embedded in your DNA.
Consider using the right side of your brain to give your overused side a break by getting creative. This will look different for every person, but you could try drawing, painting or doodling in a sketchbook.
The best part about art? You don鈥檛 need to show or explain it to anyone. Use it as a safe place to express yourself and externalize your feelings. And who knows, maybe one day you鈥檒l be ready to share it with someone else. But if not, that鈥檚 OK too.
2. Write a poem
, a 45-year law enforcement veteran and officer with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, finds joy in combining his love of music with. His first poem, 鈥�,鈥� is written to be sung to the tune of Billy Joel鈥檚 classic 鈥淧iano Man.鈥�
Writing the poems, according to Stagg, was therapeutic: 鈥淭o sit down and write out these poems 鈥� it was exactly what was in my heart and what I had been going over in my mind. I finally decided to just pt down exactly how I felt. And it just all poured out after that.鈥�
Several EMS providers have had their poems published on SA国际传媒:
- EMS Poem: 鈥楾he Paramedic鈥�
- EMS Poem: 鈥楾he Physicians Choice鈥�
3. Speak out loud
OK, I hear you. No writing.
Instead, try speaking out loud to process how you feel. It sounds weird, but speaking out loud forces your brain to slow down and process differently by using the language center of your brain.
By slowing down, you鈥檙e less likely to become bombarded by your thoughts. Before you knock it, give it a try.
Take out your phone and use an audio recording app as you talk to yourself out loud. Unsure of what you should talk about? Start with two things you鈥檙e grateful for and why. Later, you could dive a bit deeper into a current challenge you鈥檙e facing and possible solutions to the problem. Or maybe you can start talking about something you want to let go of, but need to talk it out to figure out how to make that thought a reality.
And don鈥檛 forget: your brain is made to think. Don鈥檛 push away thoughts. They will come back to you tenfold in unexpected ways. Treat yourself as you would treat a good friend by practicing compassion and understanding toward yourself.
4. Take photos
Have you ever looked at a photograph and automatically understood how the photographer was feeling in that moment in time?
Challenge yourself to take a . The photo you decide to take 鈥� and whether or not it includes the emotion you felt at that particular moment 鈥� is up to you. You can print the photos digitally or go old school and use a Polaroid camera. There are also a variety of smartphone apps you can use to store and categorize your photos.
Look back at your photos after six months to a year. What are recurring themes or subjects? Is there a dominant mood? What patterns in the photos do you see?
5. Track your mood
Do specific calls you respond to regularly cause you to tense up for hours afterward? By tracking your moods in real-time, you can learn about your emotional patterns and triggers. And by understanding how you react, you can put a plan in place for the next time similar emotions resurface.
Check-in on how you and your partner are functioning during difficult calls, and learn when and how to take a productive break
There are plenty of mood-tracking apps to download on your smartphone, but , and are a few choices to get you started. These apps all have one thing in common: they help you gain clearer insights about your moods and behaviors. The end goal? To make positive lifestyle changes and improve your overall mental health.
