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LIFESTYLE
AND TIME MANAGEMENT SKILLS
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Perhaps
it is time to put emphasis on the 'life after birth'. And make it as enjoyable
and stress free as it can be. Streamlining one's living pattern and priorities
of life is perhaps the most significant step that one can take in order
to sidestep stress and its effects.
The first thing is to set one's body clock right to get around crippling stress-effects such as sleep disorders, bowel disorders, nerve perturbation and hormonal dysfunction. To minimize the effect of stress one has to help oneself to a good sleep. The human body is designed for sleep to come effortlessly. When sleep comes with an effort it is obvious that we're holding on to the day's stresses and reaching out for tomorrow's as well.Apart from adjusting one's lifestyle to one's body clock, effectively managing time is also an invaluable skill in coping with stress. Knowing when to take the load and when to offload, often goes a long way to maintaining a healthy and balanced existence. |
 Effective time management and living in an organized way can save us from nagging day-to-day stressors. We just can't keep count of missed or procrastinated calls to the doctor, a friend, a relative or a business partner in a day. Many don't have the time for family and social commitments, which often results in anxieties and relationship tensions. A bad time manager invariably ends up a much-harried one at the close of the day. Getting organized in various fields of life—be it a holiday trip, household, office or management of children's affairs—can be a sure step towards avoiding stress. To get yourself organized in life the following points can prove vital: • Be Flexible. There is always more than one solution to a problem. One should be flexible enough to accept alternative solutions and experiment with them. It doesn't help becoming anxious, depressed and staying screwed, if one's dream formula for a problem didn't work. • Be Realistic About Your Ability. It does help to set realistic and achievable goals?long term or short term, in life. The targets should correspond to one's capability to achieve them. Making unrealistic demand on oneself and others is a sure way to invite stress. • Prioritize Your Tasks. Prioritizing the tasks on hand can help reduce the challenges in completing them. Putting time and energy to important tasks and breaking a big task into smaller steps makes things easier. When one finishes one thing at a time and is able to meet one's responsibilities in time, the effect can be inspiring. • Do Not Baulk At Delegating Responsibility. Delegating responsibility when it is appropriate, prevents emergence of stress. When one has several tasks at hand and puzzles over how to go about them, assigning smaller tasks to others can work wonders. This can be done both in office and at home. • Learn To Be Assertive. Practicing to be a little more assertive or learning to say `no' when required can prevent you from taking up extra tasks which can eat into your precious time and energy. We often come across a housewife at home or an executive in office putting themselves under unwelcome stress by taking more than what they can handle. • Keep A Time Planner. Keeping a time planner ready helps going about one's task systematically. The listings should be scheduled on a day-to-day and priority basis. It is, also, important to allot a little more time for each schedule to avoid working under strain and anxiety. • Take Planned Breaks From Work. Whether a quick 5-minutes break or a 5-day long holiday, the breaks might offload the after-effects of stress in us. A jaunt to a spa or health resort goes a long way in refueling our stress resistant capabilities. |
 Effective communication is key to the success of all kinds of relationships. Stress—the real 'bug' in our lives, generally comes from the interaction with others and demand from modern way of living. A hiccup in communication at any level is most likely to lead you into a stress situation. Learning to say no, developing interpersonal communication skills such as listening to other's views and providing effective and timely feedback is key to effective communication. When your ideas and attitudes are effectively communicated to people around, you may find yourself in a win-win situation in every sphere of life-family, workplace or social gathering. This can save you from unnecessary misunderstandings and consequent tensions. |
— It is imperative to create a tranquil and inviting environs in and around the resting-place to slip into a restful sleep. — One must make it a point to end the day with a pleasant or relaxing schedule: listening to choice music, reading a light and leisurely book, doing some simple, relaxing exercises, playing with children or watching a fun-filled tele-show. — It is significant to keep a watch on what you take at dinner, as most of our mind-body anomalies spring from indigestion of food at physical level or indigestion of emotions (irritation, uneasiness et al) at mental level. A rich and heavy dinner close to bedtime can intervene with your sleeping patterns, make you sluggish in the morning and can disrupt your normal diet routine.—Taking an expert's help for natural product based aromatherapy and Flower Essence therapy can be a useful option against insomnia. Approximately 20 million prescriptions are written each year for sleeping aids (Archives of Internal Medicine), a number that is dwarfed by the quantity of over-the-counter sedatives sold annually. Though these medications relieve short-term insomnia, medically it is held that these are not helpful in resolving chronic sleep problems. Non-toxic sedatives available over the counter in holistic medicine shops have been proved to be better options for sleep disorders. A change in attitude such as simple modifications of habits, thought, and behavior patterns often go a long way in reducing stress and tension. Practicing to let go or making a conscious choice not to become angry or upset over trivial matters saves a lot of mental and physical energy. Trying to develop the habit of adopting a humorous view towards life's situations, can take the edge off everyday stressors. |
 Bringing pets into your life can be rejuvenating. This has been proved by many recent experiments. Company of pets other than humans can have a therapeutic effect on us, especially when we are in the grip of stress. As human-to-human interactions are often complex and unpredictable, we may not feel relaxed and comfortable in the company of our own species. But, with pets as company, we can be ourselves and enjoy unconditional acceptance from our companions. A pet can be anything from a cat to a fish, or a bird to a tortoise. People are known to keep unusual varieties such as snakes as pets. It is obvious that the selection of pets should be compatible to one's temperament, availability of space at home and lifestyle. The company of a pet has amazing capability to transport you from the grindings of day-to-day life to a more relaxing and fulfilling existence. Clinical researches show that presence of pets around stressed out individuals can: • help check stress-induced disorders such as hypertension and heart ailments. •
be excellent mood enhancers. It diverts your attention from depressing
subjects to something more pleasurable. Individuals who have mental
illness or low self-esteem focus on themselves and have difficulty in
relating to others. Spending time with pets can develop an outward focus
in their thinking. • lessen medical attention for stress-induced aches and pains as you spend time with pets and taking care of them. • lessen negative mental responses such as anger and self-centric attitudes developing a sense of empathy, especially in children. • add years to one's life. It's known that pets provide unconditional, nonjudgmental love and affection to their owners. It has been found that many cancer patients with pets lived longer because subconsciously they felt that their pets need them and they need to survive to take care of their pets. Watching or observing the natural and pleasant activities of pets, holding or touching them and talking to them enlivens their mind and heart. It also creates a sense of belonging and responsibility in their life, which can boost the desire to live longer. To know more about therapeutic effects of a pet besides you, visit healthy reasons to have a pet. |
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A well-nourished and fit body can be more resilient to stressful conditions. Many illnesses induce stress and stress too induces eating disorders, addiction to alcohol and substance abuses. Hence, a planned and nutritious diet can act as an effective stress-fighting tool. Natural, unprocessed foods and herbal concoctions are proved to be helpful to many stress induced disorders such as disturbed bowel syndrome, digestive malfunction, nerve perturbation and other disease conditions. Again a healthy and disciplined diet habit can help an individual in stress conditions as well as prevent him from falling victim to abusive food habits. |
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