How ‘Stranger Things’ Can Help Us Find Balance
Everyone is being tasked with learning how to re-balance major parts of their life: travel, work, entertainment, family, and more. Fortunately, you can maintain social distancing while also leaning on a few tidbits of wisdom we’ve gathered from Stranger Things. To re-balance your strange life without getting overwhelmed, try these tips.
Go for a Bike Ride
Getting outside and soaking in the fresh air and spring weather is great for your body and mind. It can help you process your emotions, and can even spark ingenuity and innovation. Going for a quick bike ride may be exactly what you need to come up with new work-from-home strategies that keep you sane and healthy while functioning remotely during the pandemic. You might even discover that cloud computing is the next best thing to actually working in real-time with your co-workers.
Listen to Yourself
Ever fought with yourself in your own head because “that voice” tells you to do something — or not to do it? That voice is likely your intuition, and you need to listen to it. When you don’t listen to your gut, you almost always end up learning why you should have, and it’s usually a hard lesson. The next time you want to ignore that inner voice, think about Joyce and when she listened to her intuition about the Christmas lights she hung in Season 1, Episode 3. They helped her take the first steps toward finding and recovering her son. That should help you understand why listening to your gut is so important.
In With the New, Out With the Old
Remember when Joyce was convinced she heard Will in the Upside Down? She didn’t let anything stand in her way, even though she was hearing him from inside the wall. You have to do the same for the important things in your life. Now is the time to make sure you’re properly prepared to fight for what’s important, and it can all start with removing any obstacles in your path — such as clutter in your living area and workspace that distract you from what’s important. Dumpster rentals are affordable, and no-contact dropoff and pickup services are available. Once the clutter is gone, it’s easier to integrate the new, rebalanced ways of life you’re establishing during the pandemic.
Keep it Basic and Simple
Now is not the time to indulge in a new sports car with all the bells and whistles — unless, of course, you feel you absolutely need one to maintain your sanity during this global crisis. Instead, now is the time for you to understand that we don’t need all of the fancier things in life. An old stick shift can be just as reliable as the newest, geeked-out ride with all of its fancy features, and can get you there without breaking the bank. (Besides, with stay-at-home orders issued for most places, you won’t have much opportunity to hit the road for a while, anyway.)
Tap Into Your Contacts
When was the last time you scrolled through your phone and email contacts? You probably have a ton of contacts you forgot about, and probably even more you didn’t know you had. Take a look at that list and consider the people on it. Who gives you the best feelings? Who helps you achieve what you aim for?
The main characters in “Stranger Things” work as a team, so you should, too. Find the people you collaborate best with. When you have a team that collaborates well, you have both a lighter load to tackle and greater propulsion to get there. Which means you get better results.
Know When to Say No
You probably slay whatever task comes your way, but even the best of us need rest. This is why it’s so important to learn how to say no. Sure, you might want to stay up for the next three nights building a satellite phone from scratch, but will that really help your home and work life?
You are human, and you need a break every once in a while. Do squeeze in some moments of respite — you can follow in the footsteps of the “Stranger Things” kids by going for a walk down a remote train track (social distancing!), or you can even take a drive barefoot.
Things have certainly gotten strange in the real world lately. You might even say they’ve been turned upside down — maybe not the kind of Upside Down that’s lurking underneath Hawkins, Indiana. You probably won’t find a Demogorgon in your backyard. But tapping into your strengths and adapting to whatever you do encounter can help prepare you to deal if things get even stranger down the road.
Find more articles on how to find balance, focused, and mentally prepared.
