Published on 12, July, 2020
I turn towards crafts. I don't know if it is an autistic thing or not but it gives me something else to focus on. I will spend hours upon hours getting absorbed into my craft.
I use a mix of mindfulness and meditation to bring down the stress level.
The mindfulness helps put the issue I'm stressed over into perspective - steal its power to make me respond irrationally and lets me quickly plan a response to it.
Having that plan of attack to deal with the issue gives me a feeling of control again and this helps enormously.
For things that are outside my control (eg waiting for someone else to come to a decision) then meditation is the best form of approach for me - it helps me take the focus off things I cannot control and conciously brings my concentration back to things that can actually be useful to me.
With practice this can help calm the mind at the end of a difficult day to help with sleep, calm the red beast when I'm cut up by an idiot driver or when dealing with a difficult customer in my work - things where taking control quickly are a real advantage.
It isn't for everyone and requires some mental discipline.