As a young professional, working in the cultural sector at a large organization, I have a busy life with all the usual ‘suspects’ such as work pressure and stress that comes with it. I have a well-filled life with a demanding job, a good relationship, a nice group of friends and cool hobbies, outings and travels. Keeping all balls in the air can really be a challenge! In the past year this sometimes got too much for me and I needed help to regain my mental strength.

My search for NiceDay

I was mainly looking for practical help for matters that I did fully managed  on my own. It was not my goal to explore my “deep psychological grounds” but more to get a grip on certain feelings I had and the behavior that resulted from them. In search of an app  that offer mental support, I came across the NiceDay app in the App Store. I started without a coach first, I started recording my feelings and events in the diary in the app. After regularly registering and reading on the NiceDay site, I decided that it would be valuable to get started with a coach. I  started the conversation with the NiceDay Team and soon I was connected with my coach Sarah!

Online coaching

In the beginning I was quite nervous to be coached online through a video call. Fortunately, this tension quickly gave way to trust and peace. Video calling worked very well for me: I was able to determine a time that suited my busy schedule and I would find a nice spot where I wanted to sit and do the video call. It was not another activity that I had to force in my busy schedule. For the session with Sarah I could stay at home or even block half an hour during working hours and find a quiet place at work.

A weekly session

In the first session it was immediately explained what I could expect and how the sessions would be. Sarah and I immediately had a click: she understood my world very well and helped me every week with a plan for the week after that. Through all the sessions I have collected some tips and tricks that still support me every day: meditations to do, books to read, podcast to listen but also practical tips for when I experience panic or want to cheer myself up after a negative experience.

Register and reflect yourself

Keeping track of my feelings in NiceDay still helps me. I finished the coaching with Sarah but I still use the app independently for my own reflection. Keeping track of how you feel and reflecting on this gives you a lot of self-insight: what happened? Why did I respond that way? And how can I do things differently next time so that it is better for myself? A process, but one that is worth it!

Keep everything rolling 

From now on I will take you into my life through a blog that will appear every two weeks. I will explain how I deal with all kinds of situations from work pressure to relationship stress and how the knowledge and advice I have had in coaching support me in this. How do I try to keep all those balls in the air every day? You can read it here!