Step No. 1 – get your head in order.

When I was younger, my favourite TV series was Sex and the City, where the main characters are friends who can discuss and work through any life situation together. No matter what it is — sex, love, career, raising children, or buying a new apartment.

In my case, the idyll shown in the series remained only on the screen, which I could observe from the sidelines. My friends were not that open or close, so there was nothing left for me to do but look for answers to my problems in wise books, on social media, or, as a last resort, go to a psychologist. And no matter how hard I tried to implement the advice I had read or listened to in my daily life, I didn’t achieve any major results. Why? Probably because other people’s recipes don’t always work for me.

Besides, life is not always made up of big, global problems for which specialists more or less have ready-made answers. More often it consists of many small, seemingly insignificant ones that, like little ants, irritate your nerves, knock you off balance, and in the end turn you into a neurotic, unbearable creature — unpleasant to those around you, and especially to yourself.

So what to do? From time to time, once a month or at slightly longer intervals, I take two or three days off. No — not the kind of vacation where you go to the countryside, travel abroad, or visit a spa. I take time off from housework, from my job, from social media, and I occupy myself with sensory activities that require using my hands. It might be a puzzle, knitting, crocheting, sewing — anything creative. And I try to focus only on this activity, during which not only does some more or less usable product emerge, but first and foremost my thoughts get sorted out.

When my hands are busy and nothing else is distracting me, I can talk things through with myself — about what is worrying me at that moment. Such activities reduce stress, help shift focus from the insignificant to what truly matters, allow me to relax, and ultimately help restore my inner strength, which I need for my everyday life and work.

And it doesn’t matter if the sweater you knitted only fits your dog, or if you’ve already crocheted the fifth hat you’ll never wear. This time, it’s the process that truly matters.

When sensory activities help clear your head