Stepahnie Staples Spring 09

Stop the ride—you want to get off, go back to bed and pull the covers up over your head!
If those days are happening to you more often than not, perhaps you could do with a few tricks to pull out of your sleeve at times like these. Here are some quick, easy and doable tips for surviving everyday work and home pressures.

Acknowledge the feeling—Find a safe, private place to vent, scribble, doodle. Keep a stress ball in your pocket or stamp your feet. It’s necessary to acknowledge the feeling of pressure.

Breathe deeply—There is no better way to quickly re-oxygenate those brain cells than a good deep breath. It’s rare how few times in a day we really breathe deeply; instead our shallow respirations fill only one third of our lungs. Deep breathing helps us to process more logically and gives us the much needed few moments to calm down and rethink. Inhale deeply and exhale for twice as long to fill those cells with much need oxygen. Do this five to 10 times. You can add words to your breaths. For example, on the inhale say ‘peace’ or ‘love’ or ‘patience’; feel the essence of those words being drawn into your body and exhale words you want to be rid of like ‘stress’,  ‘frustration’, or ‘anger’.

Set a time boundary—No need to ruin your whole day—give yourself a time limit to be frustrated. Say ‘I’ll give this 10 minutes and no more of my precious time.’ Life is too short to let your whole day be ruined so set a boundary and then move on.

Problem solve—If this is something that is recurring, ask yourself if there is something you can do about it. If you have stubbed your toe over and over on that bed frame, perhaps you should wrap a towel around the post. Sometimes there are simple answers to recurring problems.

Repeat a mantra—‘I know what I know,’ ‘I am doing the best I can at this moment,’ ‘I am enough’, ‘I can’t please everyone all the time,’ ‘I can only do one thing at a time.’ Repeating a mantra is calming, grounding and reaffirming.

Don’t take it personally—Not everything is about us—sometimes it’s situational, sometimes it’s environmental. If we can give people the benefit of the doubt a little more often and not assume everything is directly related to us, pressures may not seem as overwhelming.

Hang out with the happy gang—Don’t let the cranky gang get to you. Distance yourself whenever possible or they will bring you down to their level. Surround yourself with winners, not whiners. Develop a professional network of like-minded, supportive people who are wanting to deal with issues, not exacerbate them.

We all have ‘one of those days,’ but with a little practice and commitment we can shift the bad day to perhaps a bad hour and then with even more practice, reduce it to a bad moment. This is a life/work skill that will do you, and those around you, well and will enrich your life for years to come.

Good luck!

Stephanie Staples is a Winnipeg Woman with a knack for lifting attitudes and shifting perspectives in workplaces across North America. For more tips on better living visit www.yourlifeunlimited.ca.