How to Slow Down Your Hamster Wheel of Emotions During Times of Crisis

I don’t mean to be selfish, but boy did I need to hear Lisa Walker’s session this morning. Walker, Ph.D., MCC and owner of Walker Consulting LLC, spoke to attendees about how to effectively communicate, and thrive, during times of crisis.

Combine the pandemic with social unrest and we have the combination of heightened emotions, shifting priorities, tension, discomfort, moments of clarity and the most common word I saw in the chat room of the session, anxiety. But, as Walker pointed out, “We still have to be in control. We have work to do and we have to get things done.”

Walker began by asking attendees several questions to think about, one of them being, “When do you have your biggest breakthroughs?” Attendees responded with things like mowing the grass, showering, riding their motorcycle, shaving, cooking, prayer, meditation, running, walking and being alone in nature. According to Walker, it is in these times that we are able to reset our brains — which are hardwired to immediately go to “fight or flight” in our amygdala during times of crisis or stress. She said we need to be deliberate about creating the moments mentioned above so that we can slow down our hamster wheels and regain clarity and control, and begin to empathize, strategize and make better decisions.

Here are some of her suggestions for how we can reset our brains during difficult moments:

Name it to tame it
Walker said we have to be able to name the emotions we are feeling as they are happening. “We cannot effectively manage what we aren’t aware of,” she said. “This will then help us figure out how best to respond to it.”

Reframe the situation
Instead of looking at a crisis or situation as difficult, Walker encouraged attendees to look at it as a learning opportunity. She gave the example of conversation you need to have with a peer or employee that could be awkward or hard. She said to reframe it as an important conversation that will help the team and the organization instead of a difficult situation you are dreading.

Reorder and prioritize
Walker posed multiple questions that would be useful to ask during times of heightened anxiety. What priority is this for me, my team, my customers or the organization? When should this be a priority? What kind of priority is this? Is it health, safety, process or efficiency? For whom is this a priority? As one attendee wrote in the chat, “If everything is a priority, then nothing can be a priority.”

Normalize it
Walker said once we start to normalize a situation, we can then have more resources at our disposal. Talk to people who have been through crises before and ask how they dealt with it. Look at your own organization and reflect on a time you have been through a crisis in the past. How did you come out of it? Who did you lean on for support? Who do you have now who you could provide support?

Reposition it
Look at the situation from different perspectives. Think about how your customers or clients see a situation; how your executives see it; how people of different backgrounds see it; and how different people within your company see it. “Trying to see from different perspectives of others will help us navigate the crisis more successfully,” Walker said.

Walker left attendees with a hopeful and promising challenge. She asked everyone to close their eyes and think about where they will be and who they will be on New Year’s Eve of 2025. She said to imagine you are talking about the pandemic of 2020 and what you learned. She encouraged listeners to think about what they hoped they would say when friends and family asked how they made it through. Definite food for thought.

Leave your comments below. I would love to read your answers!