Have you noticed that our society seems to be obsessed with being “busy?” You cannot be too busy, it seems…and people even enjoy topping each other to see who gets the title of “Busiest.” BUSY is the new status symbol that gives people an instant lift of self-esteem. They are SOMEone if they do not have enough hours in the day.
Well…the bad news (you knew there was some) is that this hyper speed will inevitably lead to burn-out. The elevated stress may lead to sleep problems, headaches, digestive problems and even serious health issues over time.
So…time to take stock. Is it possible you are TOO busy for optimal productivity and happiness?
Are you constantly multitasking?
Do you lose items often?
Are you missing important family events?
Are you becoming increasingly short tempered?
Do you use caffeine to fight fatigue often?
Do you get frequent headaches or other physical signs of stress?
Do you skip exercise because you are too busy?
Are you phasing out hobbies you used to enjoy because you don’t have time?
Yes answers to these questions may indicate your life is moving too fast.
Being too busy has to cut somewhere…and this is often found in a key area of your life. Family, health, career, spirituality, home…do you see this evident in your life?
If this seems to fit for you, come back next time and we will begin to explore how to rebalance a life that is TOO busy.
So…one week into the New Year…how are your resolutions going? You did make at least one…didn’t you? I’m assuming you did and I’m also going to go out on a limb and assume it had something to do with getting healthier or looking more fit.
How are you going about accomplishing this? Have you been out shopping for treadmills yet? Or…are you hitting the exercise DVD every day (Shred anyone?)?
You must have a plan to succeed. No plan is a plan to fail. Don’t make it fancy or complex…but do make some sort of a game plan to accomplish your goal. Even it if is simply blocking out 30 minutes some time every day to make your New Year’s resolution happen.
Have you studied your face lately? I mean…really studied it? I’ll prepare you…if you are anywhere near 40, you probably won’t be entirely jazzed about what you see when you take a moment to really study your face.
But then…you need to consider all of the experiences and wisdom you have added along with those wrinkles. Wrinkle cream may ease those tiny lines…but it cannot take away the hard earned lessons you’ve learned over the years. It cannot steal from you the memories that make you who you are today.
I know the wrinkles are not all that pleasant to find…but they are hard-earned. The laugh lines speak volumes about a happy and content life. The worry lines are a testament to the hard times you’ve survived. Consider the wrinkles a road map and an outline of…YOU!
Anyone else suffering anxiety lately? I’m putting my hand up. Let’s face it…economic woes all by themselves have many of us worried and anxious. I also have teenagers. That should be self-explanatory. One of my teenagers is embarking on his first year of college…’nuf said, right? I also have many younger children at various stages of childhood. It’s enough to make it necessary for me to take long pauses several times during the day to make sure I’m still on top of my game.
Exploring anxiety…we are programmed to feel anxiety because it helps keep us safe and productive. Anxiety is an internal reaction to stress. It is when anxiety becomes a chronic negative mindset that problems arise. We can train ourselves to respond to stress in a positive way instead of a negative way.
We can compare anxiety to a mild physical ache that we sometimes feel when we are tired. Anxiety is actually a mild fear. Often we cannot even pinpoint the exact cause of anxiety. Anxiety is pervasive and fear has a definite source.
When we are confronted and feel fear, we respond in one of three ways: fight, flight, or freeze. Let’s plug these responses in to how we deal with anxiety.
Fight: When we are fighting anxiety, we tend to feel irritable and often are short and impatient with those around us. Often we don’t even understand why we feel irritable, but it is usually coming from feeling anxious.
Flight: Often people feeling anxious try to avoid what makes them anxious. They don’t want to think about it or talk about it.
Freeze: Does procrastination sound familiar? Often people feel frozen and unable to accomplish things that need to be done when they are feeling anxious.
Self-doubts, worry about the future, fear of failure, and high self-expectations are all common threads among people struggling with anxiety.
Sooo…what to do about it? How to transform anxiety into something productive and positive? Here are some suggestions:
- Simplify everything you can. Pare down and get down to the bare bones in life. Eliminate as much of the “fluff” as you can.
- Keep a complete calendar and list of everything you have to do and all appointments. Trying to carry all this information around in your head adds to frustration and a “muddled” feeling. Let it go, get it out of your brain, and record it somewhere else!
- Relax when you feel stressed. Make a conscious effort to take deep breaths and physically relax your body.
How’s this for simple fat burners?
I was just reading about how celery actually takes more calories to chew and digest it than it contains. This photo supposedly contains approximately 200 calories of celery. Now, if I were to eat that much celery, it would probably take me all day. That, in itself, would be quite an effective fat burner.
I’m all about all natural fat burners. What do you say?
Searching for an online master degree program? Gonzaga Online has an interesting servant leadership program designed to create a credential-building certificate that involves the mind, body, and spirit.
This is an ideal opportunity to gain the skills necessary to define you as a leader in your chosen career. When you need an education, online learning is an option to consider. It is reasonably priced and the classes are often able to be scheduled around your other duties.
If I had the time and opportunity, I would seriously consider Gonzaga University Online.
Why does it seem to take something big to move us to put life into proper perspective. An accident or a death seem to be common events that spur folks to start thinking hard about choices, options, and decisions. Suddenly, little things like acne remedies don’t seem quite so monumental anymore. Of course, anyone who suffers from serious acne should obviously try to solve this problem…but still…you know what I mean!
Don’t wait for something big and bad to happen before you take stock and do some hard thinking about choices and options. Strive to live fully and live purposefully every day and make your life be what you want it to be. The rewards will be instantaneous and huge…I promise.
Transportation, that is…
Yup…how is this for a diet pill that works. I’m talking about walking and biking to get us where we need to go. Instead of cars how hard would it be for us to start choosing human power to get us to at least some of our destinations? I am striving to use human power more this summer. When I have errands around town, I now put a backpack on my back and take off on my brand new bike. The bike was a way of motivating myself to use it more and it’s working. besides…I realized I hadn’t had a new bike for 18 years so I was due for a new one.
Anyway, the benefits are many. Calories burned, exercise, save money on gas, reduce your carbon output….plus it will just plain make you feel good. I promise!
You know what you need to do and you know why it has to be done. You might even know how to do it and how long it will take. The problem? You just can’t seem to get started. It happens to most of us at one time or another. Perhaps you are a regular procrastinator or maybe this is a special situation that is overwhelming for some reason. Whatever the reason, letting the days go by without activity will only compound the problem. Here are some suggestions for getting started.
Five Minute Focus: Make yourself work on the job for only five minutes. Sometimes just getting started is all it takes.
Decide What to do Next: Don’t be intimidated by the job. Map it out and break it down into small jobs.
Tackle the hard ones first: Almost everyone has more energy and attention at the beginning of their workday than at the end, unless you’re taking diet pills perhaps.
Get Help: Tell someone what you’re going to accomplish, mention a date, and ask them to check in on you.
Make a Deal: Bribe yourself to get going. Make a promise to yourself that when you get busy on the action, you get a reward.
I honestly cannot remember the last time I was bored. I’m sure it was over 21 years ago before I had any children. If that truly was the last time I was bored (and I think it was)…I remember why I was bored. I was young and I was not challenging myself sufficiently. I believe that is the crux of boredom. People get bored when they are not challenged enough…when they do not challenge themselves. Challenge doesn’t have to be unpleasant…challenge can even be entertaining! Keep your mind busy and you will never be bored.
- Set a new goal for yourself.
- Tackle some decluttering.
- Get busy on a hobby or learn a new one.
- Learn something new.
- Get some exercise.
- Read a book.
- Call a friend.
- Write a letter.
- Window shop online (LCD mount anyone?)
- Run an errand.
- Listen to music.
- Organize something.
Technorati Tags: challenge, decluttering, entertaining, hobby
