How about a few more stress buster techniques you ask? Well here you go, some very short easy things to do to manage stress;
- Eat right - the better you eat, the better you feel, the better you perform. I am no dietitian but what I do know is that you need to cut as much sugar out of your diet as possible. It's that simple.
- Pray - praying has been found to have the same benefit as meditation.
- Love - not that kind of love, (although that is also very good for you), do more of what you love doing. Choose one thing each day that excites you or makes you happy. Furthermore, be around those who you want to be around, particularity those who make you laugh.
In case you didn't notice the first three techniques - Eat, Pray, Love!
- Reading - reading, particularly action fiction novels, has been found to have great benefit for your 'emotional' brain in the same way that prayer and meditation has.
- Take regular breaks - when under the pump we tend to try and work harder to catch up or to get ahead. Take it from me, no matter how hard you work you will never catch up. Take a break every 50 minutes to stretch, get a drink, go for a quick walk, or maybe just to go to the toilet. Research shows that the more breaks you take the more efficient you become.
- Exercise - 30 minutes of exercise at the end of each workday is enough to burn off any adrenaline and cortisol that has built up over the day.
- Be a learner - your brain likes to be active, interested and excited about new things. It has a thirst for information because each night it dumps out what hasn't been used in the last 30 days. (I doubt that you would end up with nothing in your head if you didn't learn new things but let's not risk it!) Learn as much as you can to keep your brain active, you will never ever be able to fill it up.
- Reward yourself - Treat yourself to one pleasurable thing each day which will stimulate the good chemicals in your brain.
- Play - there is a child in all of us, satisfy that child by playing as much as you can. Do whatever it was that you enjoyed doing as a child.
- Break routines - three letters in the word RoUTine = RUT. If you end up in a rut it is actually worse for your brain than being too busy.
Next week I will provide more quick fix things to do to manage stress, these will be for the most important part of your brain, the emotional part that keeps us thinking about what could go wrong.
Don't be frightened by them, be excited.