Recently, I wrote about being stressed out and how I noticed it was starting to impact my health. Well, it’s funny, because since I wrote that, things have been much better. Let me tell you about what I did, and maybe it can help you (and help me remember 🙂 ).
First, I spent a couple mornings of my dog walks just thinking about the items that were causing me stress. Once I could actually identify what I was stressed about, then I could make a plan of action to help minimize it. For me, it came down to my Mom’s move, finances and my overwhelming to-do list.
Next, now that I had some clues, I could start coming up with a plan to relieve the stress. The to-do list. I took a quick pass and removed out things that I really didn’t need on the list. But, that wasn’t many things. I was able to postpone out some other things… still not a huge impact. What really made the difference was effectively using my time. I think I wrote about this a while ago, but I needed to go back to planning out my day. I would do it roughly 1/2 to 1 hour increments. The funny thing is that I would also schedule down time. Work 2 hours, take a 30 minute break to either do nothing, or do something I find relaxing/refreshing. The crazy part is that I got more done with the breaks than I did without them. I shouldn’t say crazy because it makes perfect sense. When I’m stressed out I spend all this energy bouncing from one thing the next, I’m un-focused and run myself ragged. All the while making things even worse. Draining me further, so I was even less productive while working. Just giving myself 10-30 minutes a few times a day made a world of difference. Give it a try if you can.
Finances are always a hot button for me and this goes back to child hood. Well, the best thing for me to do was to stop and review my budgets and take a look at all of my accounts. By doing the simple exercise of looking at how much I need each month, then comparing that to how much I have in liquid savings, plus looking at how much of the money I spend is really savings in one form or another, I was able to objectively convince myself that I had nothing to worry about. Even with upcoming expenses, I could see my projected invoices and begin to set my mind at ease. I really was ok, but I guess i had to prove it to my emotional side 🙂
Mom’s move was even easier. When I look at it, the bulk of the expenses are already paid for. In 2 weeks, the move will all be over, including the crazy long drive with Mom and her two cats. I also have a baseball game with friends to look forward to after I get back, so I’ll be able to have a relaxing night off after a crazy week.
I found myself today knocking off most items on my list, and feeling very little stress. I need to do this exercise more often so I can avoid getting run down. Hope you might be able to steal some wisdom from this.
Thanks for reading,