Minimize Stress in Your Life
January 25, 2008
Use these simple tips to minimize stress in your day to day living.
Lower your expectations and you will suffer less disappointment. Try seeing everything as already perfect and accept things as they are, then you can strive less and relax more.
Learn to say NO. Next time someone asks you to do something, before the word ‘yes’ slips out, pause, say you can’t give an answer just yet ? you’ll get back to them. This technique gives you time to think. Now you can choose to say NO, calmly, politely and kindly.
Do one thing at a time. SLOW DOWN! If you are racing, so is your heart! Write yourself a list, prioritize your tasks and work through your list methodically. You need to enjoy what you are doing, not just the results of your efforts.
Stop trying to fall asleep. So many people go to bed desperate to fall asleep as quickly as possible, and then suffer the frustration of wakefulness. Quit struggling ? you need to relax before you can sleep! Be thankful that you are warm, safe and cozy, be glad that your body is resting. Breathe deeply, slowly, gently and listen to your heart beating peacefully.
Six Questions To Make Your Workplace Stress-Free
January 10, 2008
Many CEOs see stress as an intractable problem which would cost too much to tackle properly — or alternatively something that only affects ‘whiners’ whom their organisations would be better off without. Employee assistance programmes, corporate gym memberships and flexible hours are seen as expensive, of dubious effectiveness, and in the worst case, as mollycoddling staff. Many organisations do the bare minimum to comply with legislation — and some get stung for heavy penalties as the law gradually tightens up.
Let’s look at stress in a different way. Stress is a drain on your organisation’s productivity, morale and commitment. When you remove the causes of stress in your organisation, not only will everyone feel better about coming to work, your bottom line will improve. And if you can get the answers right to these six simple common-sense questions, codes of practice and counselling programmes won’t come into the equation. Are you interested yet?
Why The Questions Are In This Form
We could ask questions that look at the situation from the outside, like “Do my team members have what they need to do the job?” This detached, third-party viewpoint is the way that managers have traditionally looked at ‘people factors’ in the past. This won’t get you the whole answer.
Top Ten Ways to Reduce Your Stress at Home
December 26, 2007
Top Ten Ways to Reduce Your Stress at Home
1. Create a communication center on the fridge for messages, chores etc.
2. Make a calendar for everyone to refer to ? write in daily schedules, appointments etc.
3. Keep the grocery list posted where all family members can add items as they run out.
4. Create recipe categories that make sense to you.
5. Keep related items together, for example the coffee filters and coffee "live" above or near the coffee maker.
6. Make a closet, drawer or shelf just for certain items (i.e., bathroom supplies, batteries, cook books).
7. Keep cleaning supplies in a bucket for ease of use.
8. Start a child’s file system with a simple container, basket, file or shelf. It may contain information about their medical records, medicines, education, extra curricular activities, memorabilia, etc.
9. Finish one task at a time. Distractions will leave you with a lot of chores that are half way done.
10. Practice the art of wastebasketry. Take a minute and clean out, toss and purge whenever you can, don’t put it off to another day.
7 Successful Stress Management Techniques
December 13, 2007
Everyone needs successful stress management techniques. Easy to learn and easy to implement, you can use them for your own stress management or teach them to help others manage theirs.
Manage your stress and be a healthier, happier and more pleasant person to be around. Let’s cut to the chase?
1. Make stress your friend
Acknowledge that stress is good and make stress your friend! Based on the body’s natural "fight or flight" response, that burst of energy will enhance your performance at the right moment. I’ve yet to see a top sportsman totally relaxed before a big competition. Use stress wisely to push yourself that little bit harder when it counts most.
2. Stress is contagious
Stressed people sneeze stress germs indiscriminately and before you know it, you are infected with stress germs too!
Protect yourself from stress germs by recognising stress in others and limiting your contact with them. Or if you’ve got the inclination, play stress doctor and teach them how to better manage their stress.
3. Copy good stress managers
When people around are losing their head, which keeps calm? What are they doing differently? What is their attitude? What language do they use? Are they trained and experienced?
How to Recognize Stress Before it Turns Into Anger
November 25, 2007
After a stressful day as a computer programmer, Jim pulled into his driveway. The children’s toys were scattered on the walkway to the house.
He immediately began noticing slight tension in his muscles and apprehension in his stomach. Entering his house, his wife ignored him while she talked with her sister on the telephone. His heart started beating a little faster.
Looking around, he noticed disarray; nothing was picked up, the house was a mess. Irritation and frustration started to settle in. Finally, as his feelings grew, he exploded and began yelling at his wife and children.
Stress may trigger anger:
Stress is often the trigger that takes us from feeling peaceful to experiencing uncomfortable angry feelings in many common situations such as the one described above.
Stress is most easily defined as a series of bodily responses to demands made upon us called stressors.
These "demands" or stressors can be negative (such as coping with a driver who cuts in front of you on the freeway) or positive (such as keeping on a tour schedule while on vacation).
Stressors may be external to you (like work pressure) or internal (like expectations you have of yourself or feeling guilty about something you did or want to do).
5 Steps to Stress Relief
November 11, 2007
Take a moment to think about the week that just passed. Are your first thoughts of long hours at work, driving your kids to every kind of practice imaginable, hurrying to make dinner, clean the house, do laundry, vacuum and wash dishes? Is it any wonder that in today’s busy world, more and more women suffer from stress-induced anxiety than ever before?
If you often find yourself struggling with the effect stress has on your physical and emotional well-being, follow the following 5 steps to stress relief:
1. Acknowledge it. It sounds simple, doesn’t it? It might even sound futile. But taking a moment to admit to yourself that something is stressing you out is the first step in letting go of it. As women, studies show that we often take on more than we can handle. By acknowledging that an extra activity will put more added stress on an already hectic lifestyle, you can balance out the pros and cons and make a decision that’s right for you.
7 Tips to Relieve Stress At Work
October 29, 2007
Do you feel stress at work? Do you carry your stress home with you at night?
Here are some tips that will help you achieve success over stress. You can reduce stress on the job.
1. When making phone calls, as you pick up the phone and dial, take three slow deep breaths. Concentrate on pushing tension out of your lungs as you exhale.
2. Sit down to eat. (Do not eat while standing or driving in your car) Focus on relaxing and enjoyable talk at lunchtime. If co-workers only insist on rehashing all of the negative stuff at work, insist on eating alone.
3. When you drive your car to your business or your job, listen to something enjoyable or motivating.
4. On the way home from your business or your job, listen to enjoyable or relaxing music.
5. Take a few minutes each day to thank God, in whatever form is consistent with your belief system, for the glorious sunrise. At sunset, do the same. If you are at work while the sun is setting, take a quick break to watch the sun set and again, thank your concept of “God” for the glorious sunset.
Stress Reduction Tips for Parents
October 12, 2007
The best way to reduce your stress is to really know what it IS, that is making you stressed! So sit down for a minute and think about last year. You can look at a calendar to remind yourself of events, or appointments. This may jog your memory, such as realizing that taking your kids to the doctor can stress you out. Stress can also grow from your surroundings. Are you disorganized? Are your drawers and closets filled with clutter? Do you waste a lot of time searching for items?
? Determine your stressors (flip through last year’s calendar, talk to your spouse, look around your house, etc) ? List them (if you can) in order of what stresses you the most ? Divide them into categories (related topics, i.e. meals, errands, carpool, clutter) ? Determine how often a particular thing makes you feel stress (daily, weekly, monthly).
Now you should have a pretty good idea of what makes your blood boil. So your next step is to:
Get proactive
20 Ways to Shift Worry Into Attractive Energy
September 27, 2007
Worry, big or small blocks positive vibrations from entering your realm. The longer the behavior, the deeper the roots, the harder to override. Staying in its merry-go-round places the person in a form of trance. And like all trances, the person in the trance isn’t aware that they are there. If told they are in a trance, they would simply deny it.
A self-mirror change requires persistent external feedback or shaking event before noticeable by a person in a trance. Even with strong positive feedback, it may take years before the person is open enough to accept the feedback as truthful. This is because when our internal dialogue makes a choice it closes that file and changes that belief to their truth. Because we don’t lie to our inner dialogue, it automatically accepted it as truth. And to open it up to reconsideration is taking a risk. The common reasoning, everyone has worries, is a perceived truth, yet it is an incorrect filter.
The good news is that as a belief it’s replaceable. To start, the person in the trance needs to allow themselves to see their status and with a distorted vision, it isn’t easy. Where the behavior stems from doesn’t really matter. Because worry is an easy path of least resistance, it is painless to stay on its carousel.
Beyond the Stress of Success - Access Your Thriving Zone
September 13, 2007
Genuine enthusiasm…real feeling of accomplishment…sense of satisfaction and fun. Welcome to your thriving zone!
How do you gain quick access? Simple…take 3 easy steps.
Pause to Refresh…Given the relentless demands of nonstop 24/7 lifestyles, it is easy to forget we are human beings, not human doings. Yet performance experts agree. Constant doing without real downtime impairs our ability to perform at our best. And this also keeps us from being in our thriving zone.
Need proven and manageable ways to incorporate regular pause-to-refresh intervals in your work day? Try these:
- Pause every hour and a half to consciously recover from the physical, mental and emotional pressures of work.
- Get up from your desk for a few minutes. Take several deep breaths. Stretch. Take a short walk around the office or inside the building.
- Leave the building to breath some fresh air. While outside, gaze up at the sky, pay attention to a tree or a plant. Staring off into the distance without any particular focus actually relaxes the brain and the body.
