Category Archives for stress

Stress: Procrastination Leads To Stress (Sometimes Only Subconsciously)

Procrastination leads to stress. When you know you need to finish a task yet fail to take action toward that end you wind up increasing your stress level.

You may think that out-of-site is out-of mind. However, your subconscious mind knows that you are not doing what you need to do. Your conscious mind knows it too, even when you try to hide that information from yourself.

Rather than run the risk of impairing your health you can develop an action plan to change your habit of procrastinating into one of producing desired results.

Realize your procrastination reflects a habit. Part of that habit may be fear. If you put off attempting to reach a goal you are not certain you can attain then putting off any attempts give you a false sense of hope.

So long as you do not make an honest effort then you will not lose your dream.

What?

What if you attempt to reach that goal and your doubt and fear prevent you from succeeding? You tell yourself your dream was crushed and cannot ever happen.

Now you find yourself hopeless with nothing to look forward to. Talk about a major stressor. What do you do with your life now that the dream no longer exists for you?

Who wouldn’t procrastinate coming from such a stressful place of fear?

Maybe you put off starting tasks because you bought into the popular thought form that a little stress is good for you and is the best motivator. That is a myth. Stress is unhealthy no matter what circumstance creates it.

Sometimes you procrastinate because you really do not know how to tackle what seems to be an overwhelming task. You have two choices when you feel that way. First you can ask someone else who already did what you want to do for help or guidance. Second, you can create small steps to make the job doable a bit at a time.

I used to have that problem. I looked at the end point I wanted to realize. But I didn’t know how to work backwards to discover each step I needed to take to reach that place.

What do I mean by work backward? See yourself finishing up that formidable task. What is the very last thing you did to achieve that result?

Okay, once you know that next-to-last step ask what step would have to be done immediately before the recorded one for that recoded step to happen? Keep working backwards. You are, in fact, creating your action plan.
When you get to the beginning simply begin it – your plan, that is.

Stress: Calm Yourself to Remove Stress

When you perceive an action or event as stressful and someone tells you to calm down, how do you feel? Chances are you feel even more stressed.

However, in that same situation, when you yourself notice you slipped into a stressful moment and tell yourself you can switch your feelings instantly to calm, you feel different, right?

We experience our lives from the inside out not vice-versa. Most people do the opposite. They blame outside circumstances and people for how their lives look and how they feel.

Yet the world does not work that way. Those people will never change how they feel if they expect someone to make that happen for them. Never.

Taking yourself out of stress is simple but not always easy because we forget what we know. When stress hits us we lose out ability to reason things out. Our emotions run us. Rather than thinking with our emotions our emotions do the thinking.

Now what is wrong with that picture?

Did you ever fight with someone or participate in a heated argument only to coo off later and regret the words you spoke (or yelled)?

Blair Singer sums it up perfectly, “When emotions go up intelligence goes down.”

So the idea of counting to ten before reacting takes on great meaning in that context.

But there is a different way to calm yourself. First of all you need to catch yourself feeling the stress. You can do that by refusing to react to any circumstance. Reaction happens instantly without thought.

You can decide, from now on, you will respond to whatever happens. Then pay attention to how you feel about the event. Remember that events have NO meaning in and of themselves. You assign meaning to them.

When you step back to take a good look at what happened and create options for responding then you recognize the truth that you choose how your life goes in every moment.

The significant point here is that you make the choice for you. No one can tell you what you want to do. No one can tell you what is in your highest and best interest.

You have full power over your life – always and in all ways. Sure, appearances cause the illusion that someone has power over you. The fact is you may think you gave your power away to them but you cannot give away what lies within at your core.

Live in your own power to respond to always take charge of you.

Stress: This Tool Knocks Out A Boat Load Of Stress (No Kidding)

We live hectic stressful lives today. This tools serves to keep us organized and sane in a world of overwhelm.

I received my very fist day planner when I graduated from the rehab program following a brain injury. Since I had no short-term memory they gifted me with some place to write down everything I needed to note and every appointment I needed to keep—and keep it all organized in one place so I could easily find what I wanted when needed.

The brain injury left me with no short-term memory and no ability to organize anything. So this gift made life doable for me.

After receiving the book I discovered the company that made it taught organization classes that showed you how to use the planner effectively. I took advantage of the opportunity to maximize my use of the day planner by taking that class.

In that class I learned a clever and simple system to organize my day, track what was important to do as well as what I wanted to accomplish and when.

That system seemed wonderful. I definitely adapted parts of it that fit my learning and life style. I recommend taking that class if the company still offers it.

However here is a huge drawback to what they teach, in my opinion.

They teach you how to make “to do lists” every day. They recommend making three lists of what needs to be done. Then they instruct you to label the tasks that must be done that day as “A” priorities. Next, mark the items B that would be nice to get done that day but can wait until the next day, if need be. Finally, they say to make a list of things you would like to get done – someday – and mark those items with a C.

At the end of each day they tell you to mark off what you did accomplish and move the left over A and B and C items to the next day.

DO you see any flaws in that system? Here is what I found.

I kept myself busy doing the B items and some A items. The most important A items, the ones I actually had some silly fears around – those items got moved to the next day – repeatedly.

My advice to you is always always always do what you most fear, the hardest task first. Once that is out of the way your stress level plummets freeing up your energy to zoom through more tasks more efficiently.

When you leave something you know, deep down, is very important you stress yourself Seeing that same task on your daily list raises your stress level around it.

So moving an A task from one day to the next reflects a fear that is causing you great stress.

Looking at that list of B and C items – undone – every day adds to your stress level. Right in your face you see reminders of what you failed to accomplish!

Let’s be honest here. Does a “To Do” list help you remember what you say you want to do OR does it remind you how much you didn’t do?

Seriously, do you need a reminder of the zillions of things you want to get done – someday? Don’t you know that list inside out and upside-down?

I propose a better idea than a to-do list: make a “Who do I have to be to do ABC” list.

People who accomplish certain kinds of tasks possess the same inner strengths and knowings. Maybe you have to be someone who easily and comfortably talks on the phone. Maybe you have to be someone whose self-confidence bursts forth without you ever saying a word.

Once you discover the traits you need to possess to do what needs to get done then you will sail through that kind of task every time it arises for the rest of your life!

How To Survive A Stressful Day: 5 Tips To Eliminate Stress

How do you make it through a stressful day still intact and functioning?

When you fail to put strategies in place ahead of time for the possible stressful days you chance letting your emotions overpower you stealing your sense of reason and logic.

Follow these five tips to stay on top of stress and maintain control of your life and your thoughts.

1. Pay attention to your feelings. They reveal your thoughts. Whatever you think about causes you to feel a certain way. You can work backwards from your feelings to see what thoughts cause you to feel certain emotions.

Stay alert for unhappy stressful feelings.

2.When you catch yourself feeling a way other than happy and calm immediately get present in the now. You must live in the present moment to act.

You cannot act in the future. You cannot act in the past. You only act in this present moment, now.

3. Maintain a secret vault where you store good happy memories of times when you felt really great. When stress hits, without even thinking, pull out one of your instant happy thoughts from the vault and re-live that feel-good experience.

Your subconscious mind cannot tell the difference between what is real and what you imagine so it will cause you to feel as though you are living that experience.
Your mood will shift to the unstressed happy time instantly. Your body will follow the lead.

4. It is not enough to switch to good feelings and thoughts. You want to be vigilant and persistent about staying with good feelings and thoughts. If you just think a good thought to switch off the immediate stressor then let yourself slip back to habitual negative thoughts you will lose the ground you made to stay stress-free.

Whatever you think about you manifest. Persist in your feel good thinking. Feeling good leads to manifesting good things.

5. You need to do more than think good thoughts. You want to feel yourself living in the happiness of your stress-free life.

Use all five senses to virtualize (to see, hear, smell, touch, and taste) your preset moment as your happy desired life. Get into the feeling of already being there and living that life.
In fact you do live that life already. That reality already exists as a possibility for you. You can bring it to you with your thoughts and, more importantly, your consistent feelings.

Stress Comes in Many Forms

Stress doesn’t always show up in ways we easily recognize as stress. For that reason we fail to remedy or eliminate a stressful situation simply because we do not realize it is, indeed a stressor.

Let me give you an example to clarify what I mean.

I live in the country. When I first moved here I pretty much screamed whenever I saw a mouse in my house. It freaked me out! (I know. Big me. Little mouse. You can stop laughing now.)

Well here I am 1 ½ year later. I no longer have a mouse catcher (more commonly known as a cat). I now have an upstairs mouse and a downstairs mouse in my house. Yuck!

Maybe I no longer jump or scream but I no way want pests in my house.

I could not figure out what to do to remove them. They move faster than you can imagine.  Zoom– like a flash they fly across the floor moving from one hiding place to another!

Maybe I don’t scream any more but I definitely feel the stress of the situation inside me. I am not calm. Silly me. Until last night I thought that keeping m bedroom door closed would keep them out!

I discovered they are cagey and tiny and cannot keep them out of any more. I know. I discovered the mess they leave behind in my bedroom closet and in my office closet too. YUCH!

I didn’t stop to think about how stressed I feel until today. We spent hours playing hide-and-seek last night. I tried to think of the mouse as a pet and thought maybe I can have some fun – until I found all its messes on my things and had to clean it all up.

I did not sleep well. After barricading his known hideouts I had no clue where he wound up. Hoped he was not in my bedroom but had no idea really!

Today I definitely feel the stress level increasing.

I asked friend with mice problems what to do. She said she puts out poison. They take it back to the nest and no more mouse problem.

Realize I never liked killing anything – not even a fly. So for me to take steps to kill a mouse seemed impossible.

But here he was running through the room while I was teaching class. Not acceptable!

So I bought poison and put it out, as my friend told me to do.

I woke up this morning to the sounds of a mouse crying something awful. I never heard it make a single sound before. That pitiful squeak accompanied thrashing – behind my stove. I know that is his favorite hiding place.

I got this sinking feeling the poison was not fast acting and that little mouse was dying a slow and painful death,

Gee! My stress level went even higher.

I felt so bad – and guilty. I just did not know what to do.

The thought of a dead mouse behind my stove ran through my head. Pictures of that mouse writhing in pain ran through my imagination as I listened to it cry and thrash about.

Oh man. What do you suppose? Out he came again – all fine and playing more hide and seek.

Now I get to choose whether or not to let the mouse’s presence bother me or…send it love and hope it will allow me to catch it and put it outdoors.

Which do you think I chose? What would you do?