Foxes, chickens and improving our wellbeing

Last week was highly enjoyable. It was full on and very busy, but totally rewarding too. Every day (except Friday) started at 4.20am. Whilst these days are shorter, and the sun still has nearly three hours before it rises, it is a great time of day. Well at least for me, not so much for J. More of which later. At this time of day, it is surprising what you can see, if you are observant. Monday started off very foggy. It was a thick fog that made me cough, as I walked Dylan for his first walk of the day. However, we stumbled across two young fox cubs playing in the park. I don’t know who was more surprised, them, Dylan or me. It was a privilege to share the space with them though, albeit for just a few moments.

I wouldn’t have always said that. Indeed, over the years, I have lost many a chicken to foxes. When we moved into our current house, our chickens were killed within days. Unbeknown to us and our next-door neighbours, a pair of foxes had made their den in a disused greenhouse at the bottom of their garden. Following the loss of our hens, I made a fox-proof hen enclosure, we bought some more hens, and the foxes moved on, as the neighbour’s greenhouse was brought back into action.

When I lived in Wales, all the local farmers would go for a Boxing Day hunt for foxes. Not on horseback, nor wearing red coats, but walking the fields with loaded shotguns, trying to ferret out a fox. It was far more dangerous to us than it would ever have been for the fox. Some 40 years on and out on our walk yesterday, we came across a sign that prohibited armed trespassers on the land we were passing through. The sign also informed us that it was prohibited to go shooting on Christmas Day in Lancashire! These days, J and I love a good walk on Christmas Day, but as I gave up my shotgun when we got married and wouldn’t go hunting these days anyway, it is just a walk allowing us to get close to nature.  

Back to those early starts. It is the perfect time of day for me.  The author, eye surgeon, and neuroscience researcher, Mithu Storni, published her book ‘Hyperefficient: optimize your brain to transform the way you work’ last week. In it she notes that people are not machines, therefore working in linear ways (9-5, Monday to Friday) is not always going to allow our brains to function effectively. She advocates several changes we could all make to ensure we function in more creative ways. The first of which is that early mornings and late evenings are prime creative times. However, it is not just getting up early that counts, it is what you do with the time that is important.

No TV, steer clear of social media, avoid coffee and find something that just allows your mind to slowly embrace the world around you. For me that is walking Dylan first thing. As  I walk, I let my mind reframe how I might get through my day, whatever is in my calendar. By the time I get to my desk at 6.30am, I’m more often than not seeing the world through a more positive lens. Storni has another tip that I already use. Try working in bursts of 60 and no more than 90 minutes. Importantly, during that time, tackle the most difficult and challenging tasks first.

The pace of our working lives has changed over the last two decades. We are expected to do more with less, to be super effective and efficient. Often this results in a sense of being overwhelmed, and consequently totally impotent and unable to move things forward. It is an all too familiar place that many of us often find ourselves in. However resilient we may feel we are, the sheer scale of the ‘ask’ can, at times, result in us simply not being able to do anything. This state of being can bring with it a vicious circle of despair, a lack of self-confidence and, of course, make us unable to do what others are expecting us to do. I’m sure we have all been there at times. I know I have.

The longer-term consequences of such stress on our mental health and wellbeing are well known. Anxiety and depression continue to be major causes of people being off work in the UK for health reasons. There are now more than 1 million people in England waiting for NHS-provided mental health care. Last week, this year’s global Ipsos Health Service Report was published. It makes for an interesting read. According to the their report, in the UK, mental health is now the number one health problem people worry most about, overtaking worries about cancer and obesity. In a post-pandemic world, stress and its impact upon people’s mental health and wellbeing is viewed as the area of life that 54% of the population are most concerned about.  

Getting up early and making sure we have a slowed down start to the day won’t stave off everybody’s stress or anxiety. We can, however, all find ways of engaging in activities that might help us have a better, more balanced and fulfilling life; see here for tried and tested approaches. Life is precious, let’s all try and make the most of the time we all have. If in the moment these don’t help, just remember it is okay to not feel okay all of the time.