Thoughtful Thursday: A Cluttered Mind

It's Thursday, and that means it is intern webinar day. I run a free webinar series for interns every couple of months or so, and the topics range from being a leader to marketing to time management. (By the way, if you are interested in more information on my webinars, click here.) Tonight's webinar topic is "Self-Care and the Music Therapist."

I always seem to schedule this particular webinar topic when I am the most stressed. This is a good thing as it reminds me of my own self-care practices (or lack thereof) and promotes the idea that self-care is something crucial in the daily life of every therapist. I have the opportunity to remember why it is important to take time to be mindful of self.

Currently, I am getting a presentation together, thinking about a sermon for Sunday (one that can be easily chopped up and adjusted to accommodate others), coordinating registration for the Online Conference for Music Therapy, running music therapy groups, trying to figure out how to run centers, and trying to organize the unorganized office space that I currently occupy. I have stacks of things to color, laminate, and cut out. Those things can't be done because they are less important than client documentation, sitting in meetings, and trying really hard to coordinate treatment for a rapidly growing client population (we are increasing our census at the moment).

Wow. When I start to write things down, I realize why I am feeling tired. My mind is cluttered with all sorts of things.

Part of my self-care practice is to make to-do lists. I am currently trying things like bullet journaling (mine doesn't look ANYTHING like the examples on Pinterest), and scheduling my time in 30 minute chunks (9:30-10:00 - catch up on client notes; 10-10:30 - bathroom, snack, cut out zoo visual aids; 10:45-11:45 - group #3 of the day; etc.). Writing things down helps me decrease the mental clutter.

Tonight, as I talk to interns about establishing self-care practices and making them habitual, I will also be reminding myself that I need to practice what I preach. It is time for some healthy self-care and focusing my energies on what is important and necessary to do in the next several days.

To that end, I am going to go make a lunch, eat some breakfast, and do some breathing to start this day off right.

Happy Thursday.

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