1- Get up fifteen
minutes earlier in the morning.
The inevitable morning
mishaps will be less stressful.
2- Prepare for the morning
the evening before. Set the breakfast table,
make lunches, put out
the clothes you plan to wear, etc.
3- Don't rely on your
memory. Write down appointment times,
when to pick up the laundry,
when library books are due, etc.
("The palest ink is better
than the most retentive memory." - Old Chinese Proverb).
4- Do nothing which, after
being done, leads you to tell a lie.
5- Make duplicates of
all keys. Bury a house key in a secret spot in the
garden and carry a duplicate
car key in your wallet, apart from your key ring.
6- Practice preventive
maintenance. Your car, appliances, home,
and relationships will
be less likely to break down/fall apart "at the worst possible moment".
7- Be prepared to wait.
A paperback cam make a wait in a post office line almost pleasant.
8- Procrastination is
stressful. Whatever you want to do tomorrow, do today;
whatever you want to
do today, do it now.
9- Plan ahead. Don't
let the gas tank get below one-quarter full;
keep a well-stocked "emergency
shelf" of home staples;
don't wait until you're
down to your last bus token or postage stamp to buy more; etc.
10- Don't put up with
something that doesn't work right.
If your alarm clock,
wallet, shoe laces, windshield wipers -
whatever - are a constant
aggravation, get them fixed or get new ones.
11- Allow 15 minutes of
extra time to get to appointments.
Plan to arrive at an
airport one hour before domestic departures.
12- Eliminate (or
restrict) the amount of caffeine in your diet.
13- Always set up contingency
plans, "just in case". ("If for
some reasonseither of
us is delayed, here's what we'll do..."
kind of thing.
Or, "If we get split up in the shopping center,
here's where we'll meet.").
14- Relax your standards.
The world will not end if the grass
doesn't get moved this
weekend.
15- Pollyanna-Power!
For every one thing that goes wrong,
there are probably 10
or 50 or 100 blessings. Count 'em!
16- Ask questions.
Taking a few moments to repeat back
directions, what someone
expects of you, etc., can save hours.
(The old
"the hurrieder I go, the behinder I get," idea.).
17- Say "No!" Saying
no to extra projects, social activities, and invitations
you know you don't have
the time or energy for takes practice, self-respect,
and a belief that everyone,
everyday, needs quiet time to relax and to be alone.
18- Unplug your phone.
Want to take a long bath, meditate, sleep, or read without interruption?
Drum up the courage to
temporarily disconnect.
(The possibility of there
being a terrible emergency in the next hour or so is almost nil).
19- Turn "needs"
into preferences.
Our basic physical needs
translate into food, water, and keeping warm.
Everything else is a
preference. Don't get attached to preferences.
20- Simplify, simplify,
simplify.
21- Make friends with
nonworriers. Nothing can get you
into the habit of worrying
faster than associating with chronic worrywarts.
22- Get up and stretch
periodically if your job requires that you sit for extended periods.
23- Wear earplugs.
If you need to find quiet at home, pop in some earplugs.
24- Get enough sleep.
If necessary, use an alarm clock to remind you to go to bed.
25- Create order out of
chaos. Organize your home and workspace so that
you always know exactly
where things are.
Put things away where
they belong and you won't
have to go to through
the stress of losing things.
26- When feeling stressed,
most people tend to breathe in short, shallow breaths.
When you breathe like
this, stale air is not expelled, oxidation of the tissues is incomplete,
and muscle tension frequently
results.
Check your breathing
throughout the day, and before,
during, and after high-pressure
situations. If you find your stomach
muscles are knotted and
your breathing is shallow, relax all your
muscles and take several
deep, slow breaths.
Note how, when you're
relaxed, both your abdomen
and chest expand when
you breathe.
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27- Writing your thoughts
and feelings down
(in a journal, or on
paper to be thrown away)
can help you clarify
things and can give
you a renewedperspective.
28- Try the following
yoga technique
whenever you feel the
need to relax.
Inhale deeply through
your nose to the count of eight.
Then with lipspuckered,
exhale very slowly through your mouth to the count of 16, or for as long
as you can.
Concentrate on the long
sighing sound and feel the tension dissolve.
Repeat 10 times.
29- Innoculate yourself
against a feared event.
Example: before
speaking in public, take time to go over every part of the
experience in your mind.
Imagine what you'll wear,
what the audience will look like,
how you will present
your talk, what the questions will be
and how you willanswer
them, etc.
Visualize the experience
the way you would have it be.
You'll likely find that
when the time comes to make the
actual presentation,
it will be "old hat"
and much of your anxiety
will have fled.
30- When the stress of
having to get a job done gets in the way of getting the job done,
diversion - a voluntary
change in activity and/or environment - may be just what you need.
31- Talk it out.
Discussing your problems
with
a trusted friend can
help clear your mind
of confusion so you can
concentrate on problem solving.
32- One of the most obvious
ways to avoid unnecessary stress is to
select an environment
(work, home, leisure) which is in line with
your personal needs and
desires.
If you hate desk jobs,
don't accept a job which requires that
you sit at a desk all
day. If you hate to talk politics,
don't associate with
people who love to talk politics, etc.
33- Learn to live one
day at a time.
34- Everyday, do something
you really enjoy.
35- Add an ounce of love
to everything you do.
36- Take a hot bath or
shower (or a cool one, in summertime) to
relieve tension.
37- Do something for somebody
else.
38- Focus on understanding
rather
on being understood,
on loving
rather than on being
loved.
39- Do something that
will improve your appearance. Looking better can help you feel better.
40- Schedule a realistic
day.
Avoid the tendency to
schedule
back-to-back appointments;
allow time between appointments for a breathing spell.
41- Become more flexible.
Some things are worth
not doing
perfectly and some issues
are well to compromise
upon.
42- Eliminate destructive
self-talk:
"I am too old to ...,"
"I am too fat to ...,"
etc.
43- Use your weekend time
for a change of pace.
If your work week is
slow and patterned,
make sure there is action
and time
for spontaneity built
into your weekends.
If your work week is
fast-paced
and full of people and
deadlines,
seek pace and solitude
during your days off.
Feel as if you are not
accomplishing anything at work? Tackle a job on the weekend
which you can finish
to your satisfaction.
44- "Worry about the pennies
and the
dollars will take care
of themselves.
"That is another way
of saying:
take care of the todays
as best you can
and the yesterdays and
the
tomorrows will take care
of themselves.
45- Do one thing at a
time.
When you are with someone,
be with that person and with no one or nothing else.
When you are busy with
a project, concentrate on doing that project
and forget about everything
else you have to do.
46- Allow yourself time
- everyday - for privacy, quiet, and
introspection.
47- If an especially "unpleasant"
task faces you, do it early in the day
and get it over with;
then the rest of your day will be free of anxiety.
48- Learn to delegate
responsibility to capable others.
49- Do not forget to take
a lunch break. Try to get away from your
desk or work area in
body and mind, even if it is just for 15 or 20 minutes.
50- Forget about counting
to 10. Count to 1,000 before doing
something or saying anything
that could make matters worse.
51- Have a forgiven view
of events and people.
Accept the fact that
we live in an imperfect world.
52- Have an optimistic
view of the world.
Believe that most people
are doing the best they can.
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From: NATIONAL HEADACHE
FOUNDATION
Formerly National Migraine
Foundation
5252 N. Western Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60625
(312) 878-7715 --
In Illinois
1-800-523-8858 --
Outside Illinois
- 1-800-843-2256
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