Before you do anything, remember to H.A.L.T. : Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired— A Popular and Powerful Self Care Tool

I was struggling to climb out of a deep hole that I dug for myself during my recent severe case of burnout when a coworker first told me about H.A.L.T.

For those who are not familiar, H.A.L.T. is an acronym for Hungry, Angry, Lonely, and Tired. The acronym was first introduced by Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS foundation trust aimed to encourage staff to take frequent breaks and improve their health and well being. H.A.L.T. lists out four important emotions that can alter one’s behavior and its consequences, and this powerful tool is used in a wide range of context from self care practice, anxiety therapy, to addiction recovery.

There are multiple ways to interpret these four key words, but I want to share these words to you as emotions to pause and consider before you commit to words or actions.

I personally found H.A.L.T. to be extremely powerful when trying to figure out a healthy balance between work and personal life. When I was beyond burnt out, I still found myself saying, “It’s okay just get through this week” for weeks until I physically and emotionally couldn’t. But H.A.L.T. method allowed me to pause and reflect before diving head first into a task, which ultimately helped me increase resilience and ultimately my productivity.

So before doing anything, remember to H.A.L.T.:

H — hungry?

Physical and emotional hunger is very easy to confuse and something very powerful. If something like food can bring such euphoria by eating some amazing food, then one can imagine what the consequences of the lack of food can do. So before you let something as harmless (more like amazing) as food transform and be associated with negative emotions and destructive habits, take a step back and ask yourself — am I physically or emotionally hungry and how do I desire to fill it?

A — angry?

Are you about to say that thing to your family or to your loved ones because you truly mean it or because you’re angry? Anger is a healthy emotion to have, but too much anger can turn really ugly really fast, and I’m sure many of us have experienced times when we said things we didn’t mean in the heat of the moment. So before you let your words flow out when you’re boiling inside, take a step back and ask yourself — is whatever I’m about to say or do going to help the situation or will I potentially regret it?

L — lonely?

This one is a hard one, especially during this pandemic. Even without COVID, we are known to be in the midst of a loneliness epidemic where social media has allowed us to connect more yet feel more disconnected and lonelier. Loneliness literally eats you, and unlike anger it’s so silent yet the damage that it can cause is devastating. So before doing anything ask yourself — am I doing it for myself and for my well being or is it because I’m lonely?

T — tired?

Lastly but definitely not the least, am I losing control or am I just tired? In the busy world today, it’s so easy to neglect our self care and say, “I don’t have time to be tired” and chug coffee or energy drinks and go about our day. Fatigue is something that we all know can have detrimental effects yet we feel the most comfortable neglecting it when in fact, we lose more time and energy trying to bounce back if we were to push our fatigue limits. So before you say, yes to another project when you’re shoving coffee down your throat, ask yourself — am I recharged enough physically, mentally, and emotionally enough to take it on?

All four of these are basic needs of a human being, and it makes sense that we should always be conscious of these four powerful emotions. H.A.L.T. can serve as a cushion before doing anything that might hurt you or as an affirmation that your intentions are clear and well, and serves as a great reminder to always pause and reflect.

Remember, no matter how much work or responsibility you seem to have and you feel stressed and overwhelmed, the best person who can take care of it all is the best version of you.