10 Real Ways to De-Stress

Everyone tells us to relax, but they never give us practical advice about how to relax. It does not help us when someone says, “You have to learn to relax.” That comment just puts more pressure on us and turns relaxing into just one more chore we have to do. Despite people telling us “To stop and smell the flowers,” we are still over-stressed. We deal with stress in unhealthy ways like overeating or being sleep deprived. Well, there are better ways to de-stress, and they are easier than you may think. The first and most important thing to remember that reduces stress is finding ways to feel more in control of your circumstances. The following are some ways you can can more more control and, thereby, feel less stressed: 1. At the end of each day, prepare for the next day. Make a to-do list of all the things you must do the next day and clean your work area. 2. Prepare healthy snacks at least twice a week and always keep snacks with you. Do not “feed” your stress with cookies or ice cream, because they will not help. 3. Make good use of all spare minutes that come up each day. If you find you have 5-10 minutes to spare, put more staples in your stapler, shred paper, or some other simple activity. 4. Listen to music, especially smooth jazz. Listen to relaxing music in your car, at work, at home, and anywhere else that you can. Music can be very soothing. 5. Take good care of yourself. This means get plenty of restful sleep, go to the dentist regularly, workout at least 30 minutes on at least four days each week, drink plenty of water, and take weekend naps if you need them. 6. Make shopping and errand lists. If you keep a list of the groceries you need and the errands you have to run, you will save yourself the stress of forgetting something. You will also save yourself the stress of having to make several unnecessary trips and wasting time, because you did not plan ahead. 7. Keep a simple budget so that you will always know where you are financially, and money shortages will not sneak up on you. 8. Do not spend all evening and all weekend on the cell phone or reading and writing emails that relate to your job. If you need to do extra work, schedule one hour each evening and a few hours each weekend to do work-related activities. Realize that your “downtime” is just as important as your work. 9. Be sure that you have one or two good friends that you can confide in who understand and are supportive. 10. When things do not work out well, try to imagine what is the worst thing that can happen. If you do that, you will realize that there are solutions to even the worst problem. Jo A Joy, Esq., MBA, CEO Copyright 2006 Indigo Business Solutions. All rights reserved. You may contact Jo Ann by phone at (602) 663-7007, by fax at (602) 324-7582, by email at joannjoy@Indigo Business Solutions.net, and by mail at 2313 East Ocotillo Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85016 For more information about these and other important business topics and for legal consultation, please visit our website at http://www.IndigoBusinessSolutions.net Copyright 2006. Indigo Business Solutions is a registered trade name.nThe future of your business starts here.nnAbout the author Jo A Joy is the CEO and owner of Indigo Business Solutions, a legal and business consulting firm. Indigo Business Solutions is a “one stop shop” for small businesses. We differ from other business consulting firms, because we offer comprehensive legal and business counseling. We can offer most of the professional services that a business requires. We work with our clients to develop strategies that create value and competitive advantage. Jo Ann has a law degree, an MBA, and a degree in Economics, but she is not a traditional atto ey. Rather, she is a strategic business atto ey who works closely with clients to create and implement strategies that will greatly improve their performance and chance of success. Her background includes commercial and real estate law, accounting, financial planning, mortgages, marketing, product development, banking, and business strategies. She ran a successful business for 10 years, and she has written and given presentations on many different legal and business subjects.