Jul 31, 20213 min read

1 Simple Step to Stop You Ever Worrying Again if You Left the Oven On

Updated: Apr 29

Woman looking stressed with blog title added

When most of us think of mindfulness we think of meditation.

Yet mindfulness is a great tool that we can use each and every day without sitting in one position thinking of nothing.

It is particularly useful when we are at our most stressed and full of anxiousness. This is also when we need it the most.

If you are anything like me then there will be times when you are on your way to work and a thought suddenly pops into your head telling you that you didn’t lock the front door, or turn your hair straightener off, snuffed out the candle, turned off the heating, the oven, the stove top, or something similar. Even though you think you remember doing it, that thought doesn’t leave you. It plays in your mind all day. Only for you to find when you get home that you had locked it/ turned it off.

All this does is create more stress and anxiety when we are already at capacity.

A few moments of mindfulness can stop this added stress and worry we put ourselves through.

When you do the same task over and over again your unconscious mind knows what to do, so when your conscious mind is running way too fast and is already juggling the 7 or so things it can cope with at any one time your unconscious mind takes over and you still complete the task. But have you no conscious recollection of doing so, as your conscious mind wasn’t fully present at the time.

Your unconscious mind is great at picking up the slack when your conscious mind is busy, have you ever got from A-B and wondered how you got there? Or been driving somewhere new and found yourself taking a wrong turn on to a familiar route? That’s just your unconscious mind stepping in to help.

So, how do you make it so you keep your conscious mind present when you are completing tasks such as locking up or turning appliances off?

Mindfulness - It adds but a few seconds to your day, and with practice it’s easy to do.

Follow these simple steps and you’ll never have to second guess yourself again:

As you turn off your straightener, or snuff out the candle, lock the door, bring your conscious mind to the task by taking a deep breath in, breathe out and watch your hands do the task and it can help to say out loud what you are doing as you are doing it. When you have done it, look at the switch (that’s now on off) or the burnt (unlit) wick and again say out loud that it’s done. Do the same when you lock the door on your way out and you won’t have to spend the day second guessing yourself or worrying that the house is getting burgled or going to burn down.

You don’t always have to say it, but when your mind is racing it can be hard to get it to focus on one thing, saying it out loud helps with that. As you get better at being mindful you probably won’t need to say it, you’ll just be able to do it. But it’s a great way to get started.

Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry - all forms of fear - are caused by too much future, and not enough presence. - Eckhart Tolle

Once you master it for these types of tasks, you will be able to apply it to other aspects of your life. And when you see the difference it makes you will probably want to.

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