With the rise in measures due to the impacts of COVID-19, many are battling the subsequent mentality driven pandemics of worry, fear, and anxiety. While we collectively strive to fulfill our work duties, we must couple them with parental, familial, economic, and a slew of other bombardments that have overcome our global community. How can we combat these mental intrusions during a time when poise and clarity are so needed?

Rasmus Hougaard, the founder and managing director of Potential Project, a firm that brings mindfulness to companies to unlock new ways of thinking and working, offers insights to how our minds respond to crises and how we can overcome the weight we often bring upon ourselves. In a recent essay, along with colleagues, Jacqueline Carter and Moses Mohan, Hougaard outlines a case for mindfulness that architects can pull from, as we tackle the complexities in our work and the complexities in our lives.

Our Tendency For Negativity and Distraction

As our minds wander, we can easily get sucked into negative thinking, Hougaard explains, elaborating that during times of crisis we become even more drawn towards obsessive thinking, along with feelings of fear and helplessness. "It’s why we find ourselves reading story after horrible story of quarantined passengers on a cruise ship, even though we’ve never stepped foot on a cruise ship, nor do we plan to.," he writes.

While none of us had control over the onset of this pandemic, nor the consequential implications it's brought on our lives, we do have control in how we respond to this challenge. Hougaard teaches the reader that fear narrows our vision, dismantling our ability to see the bigger picture and the positive, creative possibilities in front of us. Instead of giving into our natural tendency to worry, we should instead build our mental resiliency. As part of a highly creative and problem solving industry, it seems that Hougaard's insights speak well to the architect.

Building Mental Resilience

According to Hougaard, "Resilience is the skill of noticing our own thoughts, unhooking from the non-constructive ones, and rebalancing quickly." He offers three strategies to nurture and train this skill in our lives:

1. First, calm the mind. "You can observe and manage your thoughts and catch them when they start to run away towards doomsday scenarios," writes Hougaard. Instead of getting pulled by the latest news notification about the drops in the stock market, we might instead look at what a privilege is to be able to work from, for those of us who can. This is a muscle that we can build, and over time it will get stronger. Apps such as Headspace are great for guided meditation.
2. Look out the window. "To meet this frustration with reflection versus immediate reaction. I know my mind has needed space to unhook from the swirl of bad news and to settle into a more stable position from which good planning and leadership can emerge," Hougaard writes. 
3. Connect with others through compassion. With all of the isolation that has been bestowed upon us, it can be tough to connect with other people, but Hougaard encourages us to throw out the "every person for him/herself" mindset and start to think about our "shared vulnerability and interdependence." He defines compassion as the intention to be of benefit to others. This is something we can all do virtually and in person by simply asking ourselves: "How can I help this person have a better day?"