Sunday, May 25, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Puzzles!
Five pieces of coal, a carrot and a scarf are lying on the lawn. Nobody put them on the lawn but there is a perfectly logical reason why they should be there. What is it?
Whilst in a balloon floating stationary off the coast of Goa , I dropped two water bottles over the side. If one was empty and the other full, which hit the ground first?
A man rode into town on Friday. He stayed for three nights and then left on Friday. How come?
Answers
They were used by children who made a snowman. The snow has now melted
Neither,I am off the coast,I am flying over the sea.So both the bottles hit the sea.
Man's horses name was Friday
Whilst in a balloon floating stationary off the coast of Goa , I dropped two water bottles over the side. If one was empty and the other full, which hit the ground first?
A man rode into town on Friday. He stayed for three nights and then left on Friday. How come?
Answers
They were used by children who made a snowman. The snow has now melted
Neither,I am off the coast,I am flying over the sea.So both the bottles hit the sea.
Man's horses name was Friday
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Some More Puzzles
What is Lateral thinking?It is a word that was invented by Edward DeBono in 1967. Somewhere along the way it has officially become a part of the English language. On DeBono's official web site, he says there are several ways to define it.
Essentially, lateral thinking is a way of attacking problems from other angles, as opposed to the more traditional linear and logical ways.
DeBono has also come up with various tools to help us think in these lines.I would like to present some thinking puzzles which will help us to think in a different direction.
The Coin
John is on a raft, adrift in the ocean with several other survivors of a shipwreck. The others are too weak, so he or Mike will swim to a nearby island to look for help. It is almost certainly suicidal, due to the circling sharks, but they have little else to hope for. Mike takes the lose change from his pocket and puts two pennies in a hat. He tells John that one is a 2005 penny, and the other 1975. If John picks the newer penny he can stay on the rat, and Mike will risk his life. If John picks the older penny, he must go. John has seen that both pennies were actually dated 1975, but he doesn't want to say anything, because Mike is a big guy. How does he win, and get Mike to go, without exposing him as a fraud in front of the others?
There is a man who lives on the top floor of a very tall building. Everyday he gets the elevator down to the ground floor to leave the building to go to work. Upon returning from work though, he can only travel half of the distance up riding in the elevator and has to walk the rest of the way up unless it's raining! How can this be?
Mel Colly stared through the dirty soot-smeared window on the 26th floor of the office tower. Overcome with depression he slid the window open and jumped through it. After he landed he was completely unhurt. Since there was nothing to cushion his fall or slow his descent, how could he have survived?
Answers:
John picked up a coin and accidently slipped into the ocean.The coin remaining in Mikes hand was 1975,so it is assumed that John picked 2005 dated coin.Mike cant tell that the other coin was also 1975 because he will be proven as a liar and people at that time is in no mood to tolerate a liar.
The man is very, very short and can only reach halfway up the elevator buttons (assuming the levels of the buttons designating floors increases from bottom to top). However, if it is raining then he will have his umbrella with him and can press the higher buttons using it.
Mel Colly was so sick and tired of window washing, he opened the window and jumped inside. Alternatively, Mel's office was in another building, on the first floor, and he was looking at the 26th-floor window of another tower; "the window" in the second sentence then refers to that of Mel's office, not the 26th-floor one. Mel could also have had a balcony. (uh, then why was it "miraculous"? If he only fell a few feet, there's nothing miraculous about his survival
Essentially, lateral thinking is a way of attacking problems from other angles, as opposed to the more traditional linear and logical ways.
DeBono has also come up with various tools to help us think in these lines.I would like to present some thinking puzzles which will help us to think in a different direction.
The Coin
John is on a raft, adrift in the ocean with several other survivors of a shipwreck. The others are too weak, so he or Mike will swim to a nearby island to look for help. It is almost certainly suicidal, due to the circling sharks, but they have little else to hope for. Mike takes the lose change from his pocket and puts two pennies in a hat. He tells John that one is a 2005 penny, and the other 1975. If John picks the newer penny he can stay on the rat, and Mike will risk his life. If John picks the older penny, he must go. John has seen that both pennies were actually dated 1975, but he doesn't want to say anything, because Mike is a big guy. How does he win, and get Mike to go, without exposing him as a fraud in front of the others?
There is a man who lives on the top floor of a very tall building. Everyday he gets the elevator down to the ground floor to leave the building to go to work. Upon returning from work though, he can only travel half of the distance up riding in the elevator and has to walk the rest of the way up unless it's raining! How can this be?
Mel Colly stared through the dirty soot-smeared window on the 26th floor of the office tower. Overcome with depression he slid the window open and jumped through it. After he landed he was completely unhurt. Since there was nothing to cushion his fall or slow his descent, how could he have survived?
Answers:
John picked up a coin and accidently slipped into the ocean.The coin remaining in Mikes hand was 1975,so it is assumed that John picked 2005 dated coin.Mike cant tell that the other coin was also 1975 because he will be proven as a liar and people at that time is in no mood to tolerate a liar.
The man is very, very short and can only reach halfway up the elevator buttons (assuming the levels of the buttons designating floors increases from bottom to top). However, if it is raining then he will have his umbrella with him and can press the higher buttons using it.
Mel Colly was so sick and tired of window washing, he opened the window and jumped inside. Alternatively, Mel's office was in another building, on the first floor, and he was looking at the 26th-floor window of another tower; "the window" in the second sentence then refers to that of Mel's office, not the 26th-floor one. Mel could also have had a balcony. (uh, then why was it "miraculous"? If he only fell a few feet, there's nothing miraculous about his survival
Monday, May 19, 2008
De Stress Your Mornings
Most of the families suffer from morning madness, which involves a mad rush to keep up with the watch that ticks away. It’s a stressful time. If you follow some steps routinely you can avoid getting worked up.
Decide on the clothes that you are going to wear to office the next day.
Keep them ironed.
Keep the slippers next to the front door.
Keep the necessary things such as wallet, its contents, mobile phones, lap top etc packed and next to the front door.
Keep keys of automobile and the keys of the front door near your wallet.
Keep the ingredients needed for next days break fast on the kitchen table.
Stick to simple break fasts like oats, bread and omelette, corn flakes, fruits etc for week days. Never feel guilty about the light break fast, all the above mentioned things are equally nutritious and you are not a superman.
If you need to carry lunch, try to prepare it the day before. If you have a microwave safe lunch box, pack the lunch the previous night itself.
Keep a time fixed at night to start preparing for the next day.
Alarm clocks have options for the alarm to ring at a particular time for the entire week. Use this feature to save time on fixing alarm clock.
Wish you all a less stressful morning schedule
Decide on the clothes that you are going to wear to office the next day.
Keep them ironed.
Keep the slippers next to the front door.
Keep the necessary things such as wallet, its contents, mobile phones, lap top etc packed and next to the front door.
Keep keys of automobile and the keys of the front door near your wallet.
Keep the ingredients needed for next days break fast on the kitchen table.
Stick to simple break fasts like oats, bread and omelette, corn flakes, fruits etc for week days. Never feel guilty about the light break fast, all the above mentioned things are equally nutritious and you are not a superman.
If you need to carry lunch, try to prepare it the day before. If you have a microwave safe lunch box, pack the lunch the previous night itself.
Keep a time fixed at night to start preparing for the next day.
Alarm clocks have options for the alarm to ring at a particular time for the entire week. Use this feature to save time on fixing alarm clock.
Wish you all a less stressful morning schedule
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Managing Conflicts
A major source of stress is conflicts happening in relationships.It could be in the office or at home.Conflict can be defined as an opposition of opinions or purposes that may cause mental strife.
The first part of resolving a conflict is to accept the fact that conflict is natural.Conflict is an inherent part of our life. Nothing is wrong in having a conflict. Misunderstood this energy can cause destruction, managed it can provide great opportunity and benefit.Conflict are needed to bring in new ideas to work on better solutions.Imagine a world where every body agreed to what any body said.If that is the case we will still believe that earth is the center of the universe.
Conflicts between cultures bring in a more refined culture.If you search history you will find that many civilizations which did not face any external threat decayed,whereas others who had threat improved and flourished.
It is a powerful energy.But if mismanaged it can result in tension,unresolved problem,stress,low productivity,sour relationships,ill health,anxiety,resentment.If conflict is resolved it can bring relaxation,openness,high productivity,expanding friendly relationships,good health,empowerment,a sense of achievement.
Stages in conflict
There are different stages in any conflict,lets go through them one by one.Discomfort is the first stage when you are not liking the person in your team or the way your family member behaved.Then there is an incident to trigger the process,followed by misunderstanding ,tension and the actual conflict.Conflict is best resolved if we start working at the earlier stages.
Ways in which people deal with conflict
There are three ways in which people handle conflicts generally.They are avoiding the conflict,facing the conflict and handling them poorly,facing the conflict and handling them well.
Avoiding the conflict:
We steer clear of sensitive subjects.When we see that particular person we talk about anything under the sun other than the area where we have problem.
Quickly change the subjects.If we notice that the talk is leading to a conflict situation we change subject.
Don’t say anything.We just don't voice our opinion even if we are not liking it.
Blame the group.We blame the whole group.For example if you have problem with your wife we say that all women are like this.
We give looks of disgust,but we never open up the subject.
We resort to sarcasm.For example you and your team member have a conflict situation,you don't talk about the situation itself but will talk about the activities of the team member with sarcasm.
Result:Hurt feelings in both the side ,problem not resolved.
Facing It And Handling It Poorly
We attack verbally.We abuse the person in front of us,it can in extreme go to physically attacking the other person.We might use the power of the boss , or significant others to cause problems for the other person.We force our views.
Result:Hurt feelings in both side,problem might be resolved from the side of the person who uses this handling technique.The other person suffer,there could be sore relationships.
Facing It And Handling It Efficiently:Conflict Resolution
Conflict resolution is defined as a process of working through opposing views in order to reach a common goal for a mutual purpose.This is an essential tool in any life situation,be it your family or your office.You can never avoid conflicts but you can learn to resolve it for more productive relationships.I will discuss the entire conflict resolution topic via one case study.The case study is from a hypothetical office situation.
John worked hard on a project which was completed successfully bringing revenue to the company.He asks for a raise.Company turns down his request.
Steps to resolve a conflict
Conflicts has to be thought through not fought through.Therefore think it through.
Explore the thought process after conflict.
What really happened?
I worked day and night on this project,the project is a success.When I asked for the increment they shooed me off.
How do you feel?
I feel terrible,lost ,used and miserable.
What impact has this had on you?
I don't feel like working any more.I want to change my job,but I fear whether the same thing will follow me on the new job.
Have you made any assumptions?
They wanted to use me.
What stories have you created?
May be manager wanted to take all the credit.
What do you think they are thinking?
They think that this fool will work and all can take advantage.
What might you have contributed?
I don't know.May be I should have been more assertive.
What is your purpose?Is it to have better communications,better teamwork and accomplish goals or is it to assign blame,prove a point,put them in their place.
Set The Stage
Once you have thought through and you have determined your purpose then set a stage for resolution of your issue.
Mentally rehearse situations
Do not begin by blaming, attacking or accusing
Maintain eye contact
Maintain a non aggressive posture
Describe the problem as a possible miscommunication
Understand that there are two sides to every story
Clearly communicate your goal for the conversation
Invite them to join you as a partner
Show confidence in a positive outcome
Focus on Them First
Ask them to tell their story first
Give them your full attention
Ask questions – listen to the answers
Uncover feelings
How might they feel impacted?
What assumptions have they made?
Get a complete picture
Acknowledge their feelings
With these questions you will be fully aware of both the sides of the story.May be the manager felt threatened by the way you asked for a raise,may be he had some other issue disturbing him at that time,may be head office just lectured him on how to cut down on costs.
Help Them Understand You
Share your side of the story
Use their story to make yours better
Describe your thoughts and feelings
Explain your intentions
Be clear, calm and specific
Keep it on track
Look for common points
Seek mutual benefits
Sir,I feel frustrated when i heard that my pay will not be hiked.If you hike my pay productivity of the company is going to increase since the hike will motivate me.I would like to work as a part of this company's success.If you cannot raise the pay as much as i have demanded raise it as much as you can,may be when the financial conditions of the company improves you can put through my request again.
Use these steps whenever you are faced with conflicts in life.Don't forget to mail me your success stories.
The first part of resolving a conflict is to accept the fact that conflict is natural.Conflict is an inherent part of our life. Nothing is wrong in having a conflict. Misunderstood this energy can cause destruction, managed it can provide great opportunity and benefit.Conflict are needed to bring in new ideas to work on better solutions.Imagine a world where every body agreed to what any body said.If that is the case we will still believe that earth is the center of the universe.
Conflicts between cultures bring in a more refined culture.If you search history you will find that many civilizations which did not face any external threat decayed,whereas others who had threat improved and flourished.
It is a powerful energy.But if mismanaged it can result in tension,unresolved problem,stress,low productivity,sour relationships,ill health,anxiety,resentment.If conflict is resolved it can bring relaxation,openness,high productivity,expanding friendly relationships,good health,empowerment,a sense of achievement.
Stages in conflict
There are different stages in any conflict,lets go through them one by one.Discomfort is the first stage when you are not liking the person in your team or the way your family member behaved.Then there is an incident to trigger the process,followed by misunderstanding ,tension and the actual conflict.Conflict is best resolved if we start working at the earlier stages.
Ways in which people deal with conflict
There are three ways in which people handle conflicts generally.They are avoiding the conflict,facing the conflict and handling them poorly,facing the conflict and handling them well.
Avoiding the conflict:
We steer clear of sensitive subjects.When we see that particular person we talk about anything under the sun other than the area where we have problem.
Quickly change the subjects.If we notice that the talk is leading to a conflict situation we change subject.
Don’t say anything.We just don't voice our opinion even if we are not liking it.
Blame the group.We blame the whole group.For example if you have problem with your wife we say that all women are like this.
We give looks of disgust,but we never open up the subject.
We resort to sarcasm.For example you and your team member have a conflict situation,you don't talk about the situation itself but will talk about the activities of the team member with sarcasm.
Result:Hurt feelings in both the side ,problem not resolved.
Facing It And Handling It Poorly
We attack verbally.We abuse the person in front of us,it can in extreme go to physically attacking the other person.We might use the power of the boss , or significant others to cause problems for the other person.We force our views.
Result:Hurt feelings in both side,problem might be resolved from the side of the person who uses this handling technique.The other person suffer,there could be sore relationships.
Facing It And Handling It Efficiently:Conflict Resolution
Conflict resolution is defined as a process of working through opposing views in order to reach a common goal for a mutual purpose.This is an essential tool in any life situation,be it your family or your office.You can never avoid conflicts but you can learn to resolve it for more productive relationships.I will discuss the entire conflict resolution topic via one case study.The case study is from a hypothetical office situation.
John worked hard on a project which was completed successfully bringing revenue to the company.He asks for a raise.Company turns down his request.
Steps to resolve a conflict
Conflicts has to be thought through not fought through.Therefore think it through.
Explore the thought process after conflict.
What really happened?
I worked day and night on this project,the project is a success.When I asked for the increment they shooed me off.
How do you feel?
I feel terrible,lost ,used and miserable.
What impact has this had on you?
I don't feel like working any more.I want to change my job,but I fear whether the same thing will follow me on the new job.
Have you made any assumptions?
They wanted to use me.
What stories have you created?
May be manager wanted to take all the credit.
What do you think they are thinking?
They think that this fool will work and all can take advantage.
What might you have contributed?
I don't know.May be I should have been more assertive.
What is your purpose?Is it to have better communications,better teamwork and accomplish goals or is it to assign blame,prove a point,put them in their place.
Set The Stage
Once you have thought through and you have determined your purpose then set a stage for resolution of your issue.
Mentally rehearse situations
Do not begin by blaming, attacking or accusing
Maintain eye contact
Maintain a non aggressive posture
Describe the problem as a possible miscommunication
Understand that there are two sides to every story
Clearly communicate your goal for the conversation
Invite them to join you as a partner
Show confidence in a positive outcome
Focus on Them First
Ask them to tell their story first
Give them your full attention
Ask questions – listen to the answers
Uncover feelings
How might they feel impacted?
What assumptions have they made?
Get a complete picture
Acknowledge their feelings
With these questions you will be fully aware of both the sides of the story.May be the manager felt threatened by the way you asked for a raise,may be he had some other issue disturbing him at that time,may be head office just lectured him on how to cut down on costs.
Help Them Understand You
Share your side of the story
Use their story to make yours better
Describe your thoughts and feelings
Explain your intentions
Be clear, calm and specific
Keep it on track
Look for common points
Seek mutual benefits
Sir,I feel frustrated when i heard that my pay will not be hiked.If you hike my pay productivity of the company is going to increase since the hike will motivate me.I would like to work as a part of this company's success.If you cannot raise the pay as much as i have demanded raise it as much as you can,may be when the financial conditions of the company improves you can put through my request again.
Use these steps whenever you are faced with conflicts in life.Don't forget to mail me your success stories.
Hobbies For Stress Relief: Aquarium
For those who love fish
Research shows that having a pet at home reduces stress,increases life expectancy of patients having heart disease,cancer etc. Introducing pets for treatment is known as pet therapy.You can have any kind of pet a dog,cat,fish anything.I would like to discuss about maintaining an aquarium.
Research shows that watching fish swim in an aquarium reduce stress. Well, if you like fish don't waste time to own one. I advocate this hobby to reduce stress because fish is a pet which demands very less time for maintenance adds beauty to our interior coupled with stress relief .You can leave the fish at home when you are on a holiday, with less pain than that of leaving any other pet.
How to go about it?
Locate a place in your house which has got less traffic at any given point of time. should be a place which is free of direct sunlight. I said direct sunlight. Light is needed so you should not keep it in a dark corner as well. Fix a fluorescent bulb for extra light,switch the light of at night.
Go to any pet shop in your area and get a glass tank.
Place the tank on a stand meant for supporting it.
Place filter pads. Wash sand and put it in the bottom of the tank.
Plant some aquatic plants in the sand. Some aquatic plants of Indian origin are ambulia,rottala indica,wisteria etc.
Put some gravel in the bottom of the tank.
Fill it with fresh water,slowly.
Now time to buy some good ornamental fish. Gold fish,Gaurami,Angel fish etc are common ones.
Cleaning your aquarium
Clean it once in two weeks.
First you will want to pour most of your water into your holding fish tank or container.
Now net your fish buddies out of the remaining water and move them over to the other fish tank.
You can pour the remaining water out, and you are free to clean the inside of the tank, but do not use anything with harsh chemicals, a simple wipe down with a clean towel is good enough.
Once your tank is clean, you can fill it back up with water about 2/3 the way
Take a plastic bag,fill it up with your old water and put the fish in it. Leave this bag in the fish tank for some time. It will help the fish to get used to the water temperature.
Once the water temperatures have had time to even out, you can free your fish from his bag prison, into his freshly cleaned home!
Friday, May 9, 2008
Hobbies For Stress Relief -Gardening
Gardening to relieve stress:
Getting in touch with the nature is one of the best ways of reducing stress level. Green plants,beautiful flowers ,cool breeze can take your breath away. You should also have an interest in maintaining a garden,or maintaining it can become another stressor.
Every one feels nice to walk in the greenery, the thought itself is very relaxing. Plants give out fresh oxygen which is beneficial to health. If you are interested in planting vegetable and fruit bearing plants in your garden you can eat some healthy food. No need to rush to the market and get the stale stuff,instead you can go straight to your garden and decide your menu.
Who knows your garden could also invite guests like birds and squirrels. Waking up hearing the sounds of birds is a bliss in itself. A garden pond will be ideal for bringing in these little guests. You can also plant water lilies,lotus and other aquatic plants in the pond.
Water plants are my favorite because of some reasons.Firstly,they need very less maintenance.Secondly,they will bloom through out the year.Thirdly, there are water plants which blooms at night and day.So you will have one set of flowers in your pond in the morning and another set decorating your pond at night.The last reason is the fragrance it is awesome.
Another low maintenance category is cactus.Did you know that there are a variety of flowering cactus?Well, there is. All that a cactus require is plenty of sunlight.Watering is not needed, rainfall is more than enough.Fertilizers can be used once in a year.
In cities where do I find place to do gardening?
I know of a family who had kept a beautiful garden in their balcony.Lots of birds had made that their home as well.That little piece of greenery was so good to watch.Do you have a balcony?Do you have a terrace ?If your answer is no to both the questions dont get disheartened .Go for indoor plants.They will also supply fresh oxygen inside your house.Amaryllis is one of my favourite since it is a flowering plant.
How much time will it take?
Preparing the soil,deciding the plants to your taste etc will consume two weekends. Rest all you need is half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the evening. It will also couple in as your physical exercise and stress buster.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Coping with Stress
Stress is a word which is most commonly used word in todays world. Stress at work,stress in relationships,stress in studies and so on....We also come across a wide variety of solutions for it.One does not even know which technique to choose to cure one's problem.I’ve imparted training in various corporates and have seen people coming up with variety of significant issues on stress. I've learned from my limited interaction is that stress management techniques are specific to problems and worse, it is specific to individuals.So there is no antibiotic for stress.Then how do we go about it?I would like to discuss some steps which would enable you to cope up with stress.But as I told earlier you should use it according to your problem and your situation.
Step 1
Recognize the enemy
Though people complain that they have stress one hundred times a day they might still be not aware of stress in their life. So, before recognizing the cause of the stress recognize whether you are suffering from stress.I will elicit some symptoms of the stress. Symptoms include persistent back ache,head ache,irritability,memory impairment,confusion,bouts of anger,feeling pushed to the limits etc.These symptoms could be a pointer to the fact that you might have stress.
Step 2
Identify the source
Is it generated at work and carried over to family or vice versa,did any significant life event happen in your life?Significant life events are:Marriage,Death of a spouse,Divorce,New Job e.t.c...Some times it can be generated from multiple sources.Identify the source.
How do you identify the source?The best strategy is to write down the possible sources.Write down problems in each area. The areas could be as varied as work,family,relationships...etc.Then prioritise.Think which problem of yours need most of your attention.Mind is like computer at times when we turn off the program which takes maximum memory space the rest of the issues will fall in place.
Step 3
Can the problem be resolved?
Ideally you should work towards resolving the problem.You can start working towards this by adding solutions to the biggest problem in your problem list.You can list various strategies to solve one issue and choose the best.
But some times you are so stressed that you cannot even think about the source, forget about thinking about the steps on resolving it.In such a condition you should skip step 3 and go straight down to see stress relief techniques.There are some other areas where the source of stress cannot be changed. Example is a dream job and a boss with personality disorder.Well, in conditions like this again you can minimise the damage caused by stress by following some of these techniques.
Step 4
Stress relief techniques
Eat balanced diet
A sound mind in a sound body.So keep your body healthy.Eat a balanced meal.Minimise junk food consumption to least possible amount.
Importance of exercise
Exercise regulary.So tomorrow onwards are you planning to go to the gym? I didn't tell you to go to gym,though going to gym is one of the possible alternatives.By exercise I meant any rigourous physical activity for fifteen minutes to half an hour per day.It could be anything ranging from salsa,basket ball,cycling,jogging,playing in the rain,playing hide and seek with your kid and yes, going to gym. It is found that play can reduce stress.
Practice Relaxation
Practice Medtiation or relaxation technique.If you go and type stress relief or coping with stress you will see practice meditation,relaxation etc..I know it is an over discusse topic.But I cannot avoid it from my article because of its significance in stress relief.What does it do?The relaxation or meditation will activate a response pattern in the body which is diagonally opposite to the response pattern of the body in stress.This soothes down the stress response and will provide relief.
There are many relaxation techniques like progressive muscle relaxation technique, visualisation, deep breathing exercise etc.. Choose a specific relaxation program which suits you. In my next article I would be covering these techniques in detail.
Spiritual belief is a big stress buster.You should have spiritual belief.
Importance of positive attitude
I would like to mention here one strategy which plays a big role in keeping you resolve stress , it is your attitude. Attitude is like your window to the world. You see everything and every body through this window. Check your attitude. Are you a person who always sees problems in everything, your spouse, children, parents, boss, colleagues, weather and everything under the sun? Just prepare a daily checklist and see how many times you complain in a day.
Try to minimise that.See solutions instead of problems. When faced with a difficult situation you will see possibilities instead of problems if you have a positive attitude.If your colleague is a big problem instead of suffering and complaining try to find solutions which can improve your mental peace in that situation.
Aim in your life
When you see people who are successful in life in spite of big problems in their life we can find one common thing.The have an aim in their life.You can go into the biographies of any prominent world figure and will find the same.For success aim is a necessary ingredient.In the context of stress it is necessary to have an aim because we know where we are going and you can solve and overcome many issues thinking about your aim.You are working harder and longer so that you can go for a cruise trip with your family,or you want a happy retired life,or you want to start a company of your own.This will give some meaning to the problems that you face everyday.
Manage time
If you are the one who always feel pushed for the time this one is for you.Well just ask four questions to yourself.What are you doing?Why are you doing it?Where did the demand come from?.
What are you doing?
Time like money has to be recorded to see the point of maximum usage.If you are the one who has problem in managing time just record your daily activities and the time you allotted for it.Do this activity for two weeks.You will see what are you doing every day and where are you wasting time.
Why are you doing it?
Is it because it is part of your larger goal?Is it some activity to keep you happy?Cut down those activities which does not bring much advantage to you.If you can do all the activities without feeling pressed for time nothing like it,but if you have a problem with time then prioritize.
Where did the demand come from?
Is it from office?Is it from family?Can you delegate some of your work.If you are spending more time doing dishes why dont you ask your childrenor spouse to give a helping hand.Delegation is a tool which can spare you from lots of time related stress.
These are some coping technique to reduce the level of stress that you face in your every day life.Well, though I've discussed many topics here there are more details to each which I will add as specific articles.Again some solutions might not be suitable to your context.Choose the solutions which will help you to cope with stress most efficiently.
Step 1
Recognize the enemy
Though people complain that they have stress one hundred times a day they might still be not aware of stress in their life. So, before recognizing the cause of the stress recognize whether you are suffering from stress.I will elicit some symptoms of the stress. Symptoms include persistent back ache,head ache,irritability,memory impairment,confusion,bouts of anger,feeling pushed to the limits etc.These symptoms could be a pointer to the fact that you might have stress.
Step 2
Identify the source
Is it generated at work and carried over to family or vice versa,did any significant life event happen in your life?Significant life events are:Marriage,Death of a spouse,Divorce,New Job e.t.c...Some times it can be generated from multiple sources.Identify the source.
How do you identify the source?The best strategy is to write down the possible sources.Write down problems in each area. The areas could be as varied as work,family,relationships...etc.Then prioritise.Think which problem of yours need most of your attention.Mind is like computer at times when we turn off the program which takes maximum memory space the rest of the issues will fall in place.
Step 3
Can the problem be resolved?
Ideally you should work towards resolving the problem.You can start working towards this by adding solutions to the biggest problem in your problem list.You can list various strategies to solve one issue and choose the best.
But some times you are so stressed that you cannot even think about the source, forget about thinking about the steps on resolving it.In such a condition you should skip step 3 and go straight down to see stress relief techniques.There are some other areas where the source of stress cannot be changed. Example is a dream job and a boss with personality disorder.Well, in conditions like this again you can minimise the damage caused by stress by following some of these techniques.
Step 4
Stress relief techniques
Eat balanced diet
A sound mind in a sound body.So keep your body healthy.Eat a balanced meal.Minimise junk food consumption to least possible amount.
Importance of exercise
Exercise regulary.So tomorrow onwards are you planning to go to the gym? I didn't tell you to go to gym,though going to gym is one of the possible alternatives.By exercise I meant any rigourous physical activity for fifteen minutes to half an hour per day.It could be anything ranging from salsa,basket ball,cycling,jogging,playing in the rain,playing hide and seek with your kid and yes, going to gym. It is found that play can reduce stress.
Practice Relaxation
Practice Medtiation or relaxation technique.If you go and type stress relief or coping with stress you will see practice meditation,relaxation etc..I know it is an over discusse topic.But I cannot avoid it from my article because of its significance in stress relief.What does it do?The relaxation or meditation will activate a response pattern in the body which is diagonally opposite to the response pattern of the body in stress.This soothes down the stress response and will provide relief.
There are many relaxation techniques like progressive muscle relaxation technique, visualisation, deep breathing exercise etc.. Choose a specific relaxation program which suits you. In my next article I would be covering these techniques in detail.
Spiritual belief is a big stress buster.You should have spiritual belief.
Importance of positive attitude
I would like to mention here one strategy which plays a big role in keeping you resolve stress , it is your attitude. Attitude is like your window to the world. You see everything and every body through this window. Check your attitude. Are you a person who always sees problems in everything, your spouse, children, parents, boss, colleagues, weather and everything under the sun? Just prepare a daily checklist and see how many times you complain in a day.
Try to minimise that.See solutions instead of problems. When faced with a difficult situation you will see possibilities instead of problems if you have a positive attitude.If your colleague is a big problem instead of suffering and complaining try to find solutions which can improve your mental peace in that situation.
Aim in your life
When you see people who are successful in life in spite of big problems in their life we can find one common thing.The have an aim in their life.You can go into the biographies of any prominent world figure and will find the same.For success aim is a necessary ingredient.In the context of stress it is necessary to have an aim because we know where we are going and you can solve and overcome many issues thinking about your aim.You are working harder and longer so that you can go for a cruise trip with your family,or you want a happy retired life,or you want to start a company of your own.This will give some meaning to the problems that you face everyday.
Manage time
If you are the one who always feel pushed for the time this one is for you.Well just ask four questions to yourself.What are you doing?Why are you doing it?Where did the demand come from?.
What are you doing?
Time like money has to be recorded to see the point of maximum usage.If you are the one who has problem in managing time just record your daily activities and the time you allotted for it.Do this activity for two weeks.You will see what are you doing every day and where are you wasting time.
Why are you doing it?
Is it because it is part of your larger goal?Is it some activity to keep you happy?Cut down those activities which does not bring much advantage to you.If you can do all the activities without feeling pressed for time nothing like it,but if you have a problem with time then prioritize.
Where did the demand come from?
Is it from office?Is it from family?Can you delegate some of your work.If you are spending more time doing dishes why dont you ask your childrenor spouse to give a helping hand.Delegation is a tool which can spare you from lots of time related stress.
These are some coping technique to reduce the level of stress that you face in your every day life.Well, though I've discussed many topics here there are more details to each which I will add as specific articles.Again some solutions might not be suitable to your context.Choose the solutions which will help you to cope with stress most efficiently.
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