Thursday, December 6, 2012
The holiday season is upon us, the end of the year is approaching and everyone is trying to get a lot of stuff done in a short period of time. This tends to be a recipe for unnecessary stress… Here are 10 things you can do, right now, to reduce your stress level.
- Step away from your desk and take a 5-minute walk outside, or around your office building.
- For the next 3 minutes, close your eyes, and focus on your breathing. Inhale, exhale… that’s all you need to think about for the next three minutes… (go ahead, set your timer and begin).
- Remain focused on what you are doing right now – do not allow your mind to wander to what you have to do tonight, tomorrow, or even in the next hour. Just stay in this present moment.
- Clean the clutter off your desk.
- Clean out one file cabinet drawer.
- Spend 5 minutes petting your cat or dog.
- Schedule a mental health day for you to do whatever you want sometime in the next two weeks (Yes, you can find one open day…).
- Schedule the first 30 minutes of tomorrow (or the next day) as time just for you – no email, no phone calls, no appointments – just you getting your mind set for the day ahead.
- Write down five things you are grateful for right now. (Pause here and go do that now – it will shift your perspective.)
- Decide to stop reacting to events in your life as stressful (instead of thinking, “Oh my goodness, I have so much to do today, how will I get it all done!!?”, say, “I’m grateful I have this day ahead and an abundance of things to occupy my time”). It’s only stressful if you think it’s stressful.
This is a wonderful time of year – don’t waste it being stressed!
