Monthly Archives: December 2014

Each minute of our life is a lesson but most of us fail to read it. I thought I would just add my daily lessons & the lessons that I learned by seeing the people around here. So it may be useful for you and as memories for me.

Hello beautiful people,

First I want to apologize for the lack of posts it’s getting towards the end of the year so I’ve been swamped with personal and professional life. So that got me thinking today I should write a post about how to live life under stress and how to manage your life!

“If you ask what is the single most important key to longevity, I would have to say it is avoiding worry, stress and tension. And if you didn’t ask me, I’d still have to say it.”

Stress is a major problem for many people — a hectic, stressful job, a chaotic home life, bills to worry about, heavy syllabus for exams and bad habits such as unhealthy eating, drinking and smoking can lead to a mountain of stress.

If your life is full of stress, like mine once was, there are some simple things you can do to get your life to a more manageable level.

I won’t guarantee that all of these will work for you. They worked for me, but each person is different. Pick and choose the ones that will work best for you, and give them a try. One at a time.

• Accept yourself. If you can’t accept the way you are, change it. Because if you are too worried about that extra fat, or your extremely long hair, your other worries will just start building up again. And if you can’t change it, you will have to accept it, because that’s who you are. And you really can’t change it.
• Be early. I will admit that it’s hard to be early when you have to get 3 kids ready (my brother, sister & Myself.. seriously — try it!). But being late can be very stressful. Try to leave earlier by getting ready earlier, or by scheduling more space between events. Things always take longer than normal, so schedule some buffer time: extra time to get ready, to commute, to do errands before you need to be somewhere, to attend a meeting before another scheduled appointment. If you get somewhere early, it’s good to have some reading material.
• One thing at a time. This is the simplest and best way to start reducing your stress, and you can start today. Right now. Focus as much as possible on doing one thing at a time. Clear your desk of distractions. Pick something to work on. Need to write a report? Do only that. Remove distractions such as phones and email notifications while you’re working on that report. If you’re going to do email, do only that. This takes practice, and you’ll get urges to do other things. Just keep practicing and you’ll get better at it.
• Have Good Sleep. If you don’t get enough sleep you end up being touchy and snappy. In order to establish a good rule of thumb for sleep is to go to bed whenever you’re tired, and wake up at the same time each day (weekend or not!). This way, you will get the right amount of sleep!
• Simplify your schedule. A hectic schedule is a major cause of high stress. Simplify by reducing the number of commitments in your life to just the essential ones. Learn to say no to the rest — and slowly get out of commitments that aren’t beneficial to you. Schedule only a few important things each day, and put space between them. Get out of meetings when they aren’t absolutely essential. Leave room for down time and fun. 
• Get moving. Do something each day to be active — walk, hike, play a sport, go for a run, do yoga. It doesn’t have to be grueling to reduce stress. Just move. Have fun doing it.
• Develop one healthy habit this month. Other than getting active, improving your health overall will help with the stress. But do it one habit at a time. Eat fruits and veggies for snacks. Floss every day. Quit smoking. Cook something healthy for dinner. Drink water instead of soda. One habit at a time.
• Don’t take things personally. Most of the time, people say things as a joke, and you have to learn to recognize that. And if they really mean it, remember that they probably aren’t even worth your time. (and if it’s someone you are close to who is just mad at you, they probably don’t mean it either)
• Do something calming. What do you enjoy that calms you down? For many people, it can be the “get moving” activity discussed above. But it could also be taking a nap, or a bath, or reading, or having sex (which can also be considered a “get moving” activity if you do it for longer than 5 minutes). Other people are calmed by housework or gardening. Some people like to meditate, or take a nature walk. Find your calming activity and try to do it each day.
• Simplify your finances. Finances can be a drain on your energy and a major stressor. If that’s true with you, figure out ways to simplify things. Automate savings and bill payments and debt payments. Spend less by going shopping (at malls or online) much less. Find ways to have fun that don’t involve spending money.
• Have a blast! Have fun each day, even if it’s just for a few minutes. I like to play with my kids — they take my mind off everything and are really hilarious. I also like to play sports (again, often with my kids). Board games are fun. Sex, again, can be a fun activity. Whatever you choose, be sure to laugh.
• Get creative. Throwing yourself into a creative activity is another great way to de-stress and to prevent stress. I like writing, but others like to paint or play music or sketch or make pottery or do interior design or build things.
• Declutter. This is a favorite of mine. I like to take 20-30 minutes and just go through a room, getting rid of stuff we don’t use or need anymore. I look around at anything that’s cluttering up a room, and get rid of it or find a better place for it. When I’m done, I have a nice, peaceful environment for work, study, play, and living. Do this a little at a time — it can be one of your “fun activities”.

I know many of you are in college or high school and are probably facing problems probably working and trying to balance your time as well. I surely don’t have the solution to all of this but I do have some helpful tips.

Tips for Students:  

• Get a day planner and use it and then get a calendar and use that as we’ll! Knowing when things are due and what is coming up will help you stay organized and recognize what needs to be done first!
• Another tip I have is to take breaks don’t try and do everything at once you will loose your mind so take a little break here and there to take a breath, count to ten, listen to a song,or read a few pages I your favorite book. Believe me when you are an overwhelmed that little break can feel like a good nights sleep.
• Finally my last thing of Advice will give you is to avoid stress once you get in to full blown stress it is very hard to get out of it. I personally get a panicky anxiety feeling when I am over stressed I always need to remember when I start to feel that way I need to walk away for five minutes just because I will get nothing done in that state of mind.

I hope some of these things could help you you all are so smart you can do anything so don’t let stress stop you.

Please feel free to share your story and any lessons you learned, you experienced , you came across in your life in the comments below.