Every once in a while, lay in bed a few extra minutes, or stop whatever you’re doing, and take stock of where you are. Think of your accomplishments, the obstacles you’ve overcome, the mistakes you’ve corrected, the blessings you’ve been given. Be thankful for your good health and the loved ones in your life. This [...]
It’s more productive—and less stressful—to work as a team. In your job, in your family, in your community. When you
spread the work and responsibility around the pressure eases, everything becomes more cooperative. As much as we like to think of ourselves as complete packages, we’re not. We need others to contribute what we lack,
to balance [...]
And I know many today do. But when you’re talking on your cell phone, putting on makeup, eating breakfast, or (not uncommon) reading!—while operating a multi-ton motor vehicle—you’re putting yourself and others in danger. For basically naught. Research affirms, whether you’re driving or not, multitasking is less effective, less productive than doing things sequentially. Why? [...]
If you don’t plan leisurely pursuits now for down the road, you’ll never get to do the things you really want to and should be doing. Take the initiative. Buy tickets for
shows, concerts and sporting events weeks, even months in advance. Enroll now in a fun and interesting class you’ll take next semester. Get family [...]
So advised a popular mattress ad. And they had a point. You don’t need a study (like the one mentioned below) to tell you that a healthy sex life can reduce stress. As much as a lack of sex can worsen it. But today, with our busy schedules and relentless ambitions, sex for many couples [...]
In any given day, you’ll have progress and setbacks, triumphs and failures. That you can bet on. But as good a day as some people have, they’ll manage to find something to fret about. (”It’s just luck, it won’t last, I’m destined for misery.”) And as
bad a day as others have, they’ll see the good [...]
Everything is going along at an even keel, sometimes even for years, when suddenly… you’re starting a new job. Moving. Getting married. Having a baby. Going off to school. Making a major life transition. That means a lot of planning, doing and upheaval in a compressed amount of time. The stress can be intense, unrelenting. [...]
Are you comfortable when you’re by yourself? Can you do things solo and enjoy them—like going to the movies, a restaurant, museum, even traveling—without feeling ill at ease or self-conscious? Or do you always feel you have to have someone else in tow, and lacking that are prone to miss out? If so, be assertive, [...]
You may have the kind of job, or life, where you constantly have to drop something to take care of something else. This can be a never-ending source of stress and frustration. If you let it. Or, as unlikely as it seems now, you can condition yourself to get used to it…even enjoy it! When [...]
What angry scenes we stage in our minds! Reenactments of arguments recently fought. Vengeful thoughts of what we’ll say next time we see that so-and-so. Seething dialogs and envisioned acts of retribution aimed at whatever current nemesis we’re up against. These inner rants can poison our temperament, and have an all-consuming effect far out of [...]