The Power of Journaling

It’s Thursday, April 16th – about five and half weeks have passed since TENFOLD started a full-time work-from-home protocol.

During a culture check-in with our team this week, a Designer described their mental state as ‘hypervigilance,’ defined as “an enhanced state of sensory sensitivity accompanied by an exaggerated intensity of behaviors whose purpose is to detect activity.” Sound familiar? As a leader, you may be finding this time to be some of your busiest work ever – I know it’s that way for me.

Working remotely, the days start even earlier and never seem to truly end. Back-to-back calls among clients, partners, and internal team meetings met with the needs of the family around you that are navigating this new reality as well. ‘Hypervigilance’ is a great descriptor of what it’s like to work and lead during a crisis. The outlook for business has changed drastically and leaders are focused not only on sustaining through the proverbial storm but also being strengthened by the experience. I believe it can be done.

Our team spent much of our retreat in Fall 2019 talking about Growth Mindset, with no idea how fortuitous those conversations would become just six short months later. Together, we have quickly adopted new technology like Microsoft Teams and new daily rhythms to sustain us – we’re learning at lightspeed. What I’m wondering is this: how do we retain these lessons so the leaps we’re making right now create momentum for the future?

A HEALTHY HABIT OF JOURNALING.

This is a new practice for me and one that I approach as an outlet, not an obligation – the last thing we need is another task to add to our already crammed days. I keep a bulleted list for a-ha moments so that when I have some quiet time and feel it will be an enjoyable exercise, I revisit my list and write. Reading through past entries from time to time is a great refresher of our learnings and insights. Even from week to week, I find that I don’t remember some of the things I’ve written due to the sheer volume of new information.

We are looking forward to the day where we return to more familiar work rhythms, but also know that much of what we’re experiencing now is changing the landscape of work life. I am sure the practice of journaling will endure for me in some form after we head back to a sense of normalcy. This is just one simple step to take toward supporting a growth mindset and ensuring the journey won’t be wasted – that we’ll grow through what we go through