Intolerance of Uncertainty and Managing Emotions

So I've decided to keep a diary (of sorts) of my experience with the Yale Course @  https://www.coursera.org/learn/managing-emotions-uncertainty-stress , just to see how I get on with it.

Week 1: So weeks aren't "weeks", they're just sections. I like the format. The video's are short. There's a transcript of each video so I can skim read and skip ahead if I want to. I'm not bombarded with additional reading which is at a different level. Some of the content feels a bit "common sense" obvious and I'm thankful that I've attended enough work-based courses to learn to extract what I need from them and ignore the stuff that I already know or doesn't matter. There's a concept of "leveraging emotion" which I like. Also how emotions can steer decision-making and that being aware of them can help in the choices we make (suddenly my mood chart takes on a whole new purpose). There's a lot of self-reflection this week (not discussion with other learners) and I wonder if the whole course is like that. There's 100% mark given just for completing some of the questions.

It feels a bit odd with it focused for educators in the US school system. But the first half is about self-awareness and management and I figure at least that much is worth a look. The second part which focuses on students I might step back from. 

What did surprise me was writing about my emotions over the last year - usually I think I've had a "bad year" or "good year" directly connected to my work. Stuff outside of work I never really thought about . As I was signed off, diagnosed and returned to work and then figuring out the impact of my diagnosis my emotions ranged from the really unpleasant (when I was signed off) to everything associated with optimism (when I was diagnosed) and that sense of relief which comes when a puzzle has been solved (when I really started to understand how it impacted me - although there was some anger and disappointment mixed in there too). 

Just been asked how I felt about "X" has helped me capture the need for awareness of how I was feeling (something I picked up from my therapist reasonably quickly and then forget to apply too often, possibly because I like the distraction of "busyness"). 

How useful will it be? I'm not sure. ACT is my thing at the moment and I'm wondering if I'm building in another idea/set of techniques which seems good but I'll just forget about. I do set high expectations on what I expect things to do and then get disillusioned when it feels they're not having the impact I expected. 

I've looked at the PDF file for self-reflection and I'm really tempted to skip it - but then I realise I'd already be hindering myself in what I get out of the course. Decide to put it aside and look at it later, or maybe tomorrow.

So I've decided to keep a diary (of sorts) of my experience with the Yale Course @  https://www.coursera.org/learn/managing-emotions-uncertainty-stress , just to see how I get on with it.

Week 1: So weeks aren't "weeks", they're just sections. I like the format. The video's are short. There's a transcript of each video so I can skim read and skip ahead if I want to. I'm not bombarded with additional reading which is at a different level. Some of the content feels a bit "common sense" obvious and I'm thankful that I've attended enough work-based courses to learn to extract what I need from them and ignore the stuff that I already know or doesn't matter. There's a concept of "leveraging emotion" which I like. Also how emotions can steer decision-making and that being aware of them can help in the choices we make (suddenly my mood chart takes on a whole new purpose). There's a lot of self-reflection this week (not discussion with other learners) and I wonder if the whole course is like that. There's 100% mark given just for completing some of the questions.

It feels a bit odd with it focused for educators in the US school system. But the first half is about self-awareness and management and I figure at least that much is worth a look. The second part which focuses on students I might step back from. 

What did surprise me was writing about my emotions over the last year - usually I think I've had a "bad year" or "good year" directly connected to my work. Stuff outside of work I never really thought about . As I was signed off, diagnosed and returned to work and then figuring out the impact of my diagnosis my emotions ranged from the really unpleasant (when I was signed off) to everything associated with optimism (when I was diagnosed) and that sense of relief which comes when a puzzle has been solved (when I really started to understand how it impacted me - although there was some anger and disappointment mixed in there too). 

Just been asked how I felt about "X" has helped me capture the need for awareness of how I was feeling (something I picked up from my therapist reasonably quickly and then forget to apply too often, possibly because I like the distraction of "busyness"). 

How useful will it be? I'm not sure. ACT is my thing at the moment and I'm wondering if I'm building in another idea/set of techniques which seems good but I'll just forget about. I do set high expectations on what I expect things to do and then get disillusioned when it feels they're not having the impact I expected. 

I've looked at the PDF file for self-reflection and I'm really tempted to skip it - but then I realise I'd already be hindering myself in what I get out of the course. Decide to put it aside and look at it later, or maybe tomorrow.

Still on week 1. I haven't got to the pdf file yet and I get the feeling this may have to be a weekend thing. The adjustment to the new role at work is pretty exhausting so I sleep most of the evening, then eat late (crashed at 7pm tonight, woke at 11:30 and scoffed a meal at midnight). Need to check into here to keep my sanity so I'm thinking about how to manage this. Realise I've worked a little longer than I need to (the mission creep that comes from working at home) and decide I need to make more effort to "park" things and pick them up the following day. This may not be the quick burn I hoped for.