Tips on Daily Structure?

[Hopefulphoenix]

Hello.
I just wondered if anybody had any helpful tips to offer on creating a daily structure alone?
My t has said my recovery has to begin at the right end, creating a feeling of safety at home first. But this structure thing has me at a loss!
At the moment no matter how okay I manage to feel in the evening, come morning Im back in that anxious black pit.
I have ideas of things, most crafty things that can help, but then a very unhelpful part of my brain kind if stops me. It says stuff like oh whats the point, doing a jigsaw wont help anyway etc. Experience/ Ideas?? ?

 

[bellbird]

Do you have a regular wake up time?

I think to create structure within a day, the best place to start is the time you wake/get up (which can often be influenced by the time you go to bed in the evenings).

My diurnal variation is the opposite to yours; I feel worse in the evenings. So I'm trying to think backwards to give you suggestions as "take sleep meds early and curl up in bed with Netflix" probably won't help you :laugh:

Do you meditate? That's something I try to incorporate to my mornings; even if it's just a 2 min guided meditation.

Oh and don't listen to that part of your brain: every little thing you do to chip away at your anxiety and build a safe environment Does make a difference.
:hug:

 

[Hopefulphoenix]

Bless you @bellbird Im usually up by 9. The mood stabilizers I take make me sleep ridiculously long, even tho I go to bed at midnight. No I dont meditate, it scares the life out if me tbh...
I have just been doing a guided mini body scan in psycho physio. My guy was talking about the angst ball in my tummy not being dangerous and to stay with it. I felt like yelling If someone had kicked you really hard in the balls and had someone else saying .. its ok. Just feel it... its not dangerous, how would you like it?!
Thats how scary and horrid it feels to kind of be in my body with my feelings. Im seriously avoidant! I know thats why I am practising but boy its hard.
Thanks for your supportive words. Id like a version of them inside my head to fight the defeatism!!

 

[Teamwork]

I liked it when my t said to me regarding fear, that it rises up settles down, comes back, settles again. Once I started to recognize the truth that it wasnt actually with me full time I was able to start staying with it, working with it. My anxiety is the same. I also recognize due to medication that I take at night, I am particularly useless in the mornings, so if I try to schedule mundane tasks at that time it is an uphill battle. Knowing that I tend to soak dishes in am, wash them up later on and set a 15 minute timer and try to be done in that time. When I look at all I have to do in a day I feel overwhelmed, instead, everything I get done I count as an accomplishment. I also look at tasks and acknowledge if they are boring to me or something I feel satisfied in doing. I time the boring ones so I know I will only be bored for a short period of time. I also schedule throw out and recycling days for the day before those curb side collections because then I have a target to reach, such as getting it to the curb on time. I think too, I asses what motivates me and use those as tools to help with scheduling. Time of day really matters to me so I am aware of when I really will get something done, and when I may just need to do a non essential task so I don’t keep myself in futility mode.
Finally, my schedule and structure is made according to me and my way of doing things with a lot of self awareness as to when I am most functional, as well as timed targets. The timer on my ipad has really helped, because when I play beat the timer, it takes the focus off how badly I don’t want to do the task.