How to Manage Holiday Stress

Dec 23, 2015 | Self, Time Management

How to Manage Holiday Stress Using Relaxation Techniques

This time of the year, most of us experience a high level of holiday stress.  Trying to finish everything you told yourself you’d get done this year in your business, combined with the stress of shopping and family get togethers can create a load of stress all at once.  Stress has many different side effects, depending on how individually you can handle it.  Although the signs and symptoms may not show as quickly and severely, there are techniques which one can apply to overcome it before it gets overbearing. It is not difficult at all to learn how to manage stress, here are two effective techniques.

Meditation for Relief of Holiday Stress

Meditation is very powerful. Results are immediate, and it helps battle stress effectively in the long run too. There are many different forms of mediation, but the key to this approach is to breathe deeply by using your abdomen to get as much of oxygen possible. The more oxygen you inhale, the more relaxed you feel, and the greater the reduction in anxiety.

In order to be successful, you need to sit comfortably with your back positioned straight. Place one of your hands on your chest while keeping the other on your stomach. Breathe in through your nostrils. The hand placed on the stomach should rise whereas the other hand should slightly move. Exhale orally while you try to push out as much air as possible. Continue this technique, counting every time you exhale until you reach 50.

Muscle Relaxation Technique

In order to best manage stress, you’ll want to know a few different techniques. This is because everyone reacts to stress differently. Some individuals are mentally stressed out whereas others take on physical stress. Their muscles get contracted, causing them muscular pain.

This technique is geared towards the latter. Use the muscle relaxation technique if you have physical stress. The technique starts with the individual getting comfortable in their attire. Take off your socks, shoes, and change into loose clothes if needed. Take a few minutes if required in order to get in to a calm state of mind by breathing deeply.

Now, shift all your attention towards the right foot. Focus on the feeling, slowly, start tensing the muscles in the foot. Squeeze as tightly as you possibly can, count till 10, and then relax. Breathe deeply once again, and do the same with your left foot. Repeat with different parts of your body while working your way upwards.

Did your stress level go down as you tried these techniques?

Happy Relaxing Holidays from ActionCoach!

Stop Blaming Time

Mar 3, 2015 | Self, Time Management

Stop Blaming Time

How many times have you heard people say “I don’t have enough time to do …” or “If only I could find the time to do …” Or “I am too busy to do …” Perhaps the person you heard saying these or similar things is the same person who stares back at you every morning in the bathroom mirror. Well, it is time to stop blaming time!

Time is an absolute-there are 24 hours (1440 minutes, 86,400 seconds) in a day and that will never change. We cannot “manage” time. What we can manage is what we do during the next 60 minutes.

How we use time is one of the great determinants of how successful we are both as business owners and as individuals. Everyone from Bill Gates to the small business owner is given the same amount of time each day, 24 hours. Think of it like the auto races where they make all the drivers drive identically built and tuned race cars. The winner is then determined not by who has the fastest car but who can drive that identical car the best. Similarly in life the “winners” are those who learn how to drive their use of time the best.

So how do you take control of your time?

1. Accept that there is no such thing as too much or too little time. There is enough time available for you to be successful-others have been successful and they had no more access to time than you do. Take ownership of your situation. Be accountable for your results and your actions.

2. Decide what you want to accomplish. How do you define “successful”? To some it may mean making a million dollars, to others it may mean being healthier while others are looking to have better relationships with their family and friends. This is your goal. You must also understand the benefits to you of achieving the goal – how will it make you feel when you achieve it. Both the goal and your “why” must be written down with a timeframe.

3. Once you have decided the goal and your “why”, you must now determine the actions that will be necessary for you to accomplish that goal. What do I have to do? What time commitment will I make? What do I need to stop doing? What will I need to adjust/sacrifice/reduce/delegate in order to have the time to do the activities identified? Remember if it was easy everyone, including you would have already done it. What separates the successful users of time from the unsuccessful ones is the discipline and determination to obtain their goals no matter what. Winners never give up and they never quit on themselves.

4. Understand that life and business are about choices. You choose how you will spend your time – on what activities and how much on each. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Being successful in many different areas takes effort and time. Success comes from laser-like focus on one or two goals. Once you accomplish them, you move on to the next set of goals and focus on those.

5. Prepare your calendar each week by creating “appointments” to do the activities that you have identified. These are entered into your calendar before anything else. Treat these as if the appointment was with your most important customer. Would you easily change your Monday 2-3pm “meeting” just because someone asked for that time slot? No, you would negotiate – “I am booked at that time. I can see you at either 1pm or after 3pm, which would work for you?”

6. Be militant about your schedule. If you don’t care how you spend your time, why should anyone else? Learn to say “No”. In Stephen Covey’s book “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” he breaks activities into 4 quadrants based on Urgency and Importance. 1) Not Important/Not Urgent, 2) Urgent/Not Important, 3) Urgent/Important and 4) Not Urgent/Important. The danger for most people is the Urgent/Not Important category. This is when we are responding to other people’s urgencies, however the activity does not move us toward OUR goal – by definition it is Not Important. Beware of the time and effort devoted to those tasks. Conduct your own time usage study. Every minute that you can divert from ‘not important’ categories to the important categories will move you closer to your goal.

7. Review your successes/challenges in meeting your schedule each week and adjust where necessary. Be honest with yourself and continually reinforce your “Why” – what are you trying to accomplish and how important is that to you.

8. Find an accountability partner or mentor to help keep you on track. We can all use help every now and then – it is a strength to admit this, not a weakness.

In summary, stop blaming time, take ownership of your time and commit to the discipline necessary to win the race by being the best “driver” of time you can. If you are really serious, come to the next TimeWise seminar on March 13^th.

Time to Rest, Time to Play

Dec 22, 2014 | Self, Time Management

Time to Rest, Time to Play

It’s the holidays, and I thought I would give you a break from my normal ‘how to be a better business owner’ blog, and decided to instead adopt a piece written by John Niland about using your time outside of business.

Time to Play:

The quality of a business owner’s life and the success of the business is heavily dependent on sources of energy and inspiration outside the workplace. These activities and relationships are enjoyable in their own right, and are vital to maintaining physical, mental, spiritual and emotional well-being.

1. Do 20 minutes of physical exercise (swimming, cycling working-out, walking, running etc.) immediately after work. In a few weeks you will enjoy it, and it serves as a ‘switch-off’ from the working day and generates more energy.
2. Consider ending any relationship that is consistently keeping you awake, dragging you down or draining you. Seek professional help and advice earlier rather than later. Whatever you do, deal with it.
3. Always speak the truth as you see it. It never pays to lie or exaggerate.
4. Block out holidays and planning time in your calendar for the following year. We will only plan if we have planned the time to plan.
5. Unless repairing appliances is a fun hobby for you, do not waste weekends fixing things. Either replace appliances that do not work, or employ somebody to get them repaired.
6. Unless you love gardening, consider employing a gardener.
7. Rise at the same time every day – even during weekends. Eventually you will not need a wake-up call; and the extra time you have at weekends can be used for relaxation and play.
8. Eliminate from your circle of friends people who criticize, judge or try to change you. Trying to please others is a huge waste of time.
9. Avoid excessive indulgence in food or drink; this leaves you lethargic and hung-over, with less energy.
10. Spend some time every year writing / reviewing a mission-statement or life purpose. You will have more fun, make better decisions, and make much better use of time when you are clear about your personal and professional direction. When you love what you do, you will never have to work again.
11. Avoid idly surfing the internet. If you have to use it, consider keeping to a set of sites you want to visit, and then limit your time online. Many clients have saved an hour per day on this alone that’s five hours per week, over 200 working hours per year.
12. Get a swim-buddy or workout-partner so that your commitment to them will over-ride the temptation to stay on in bed or in the office.

Time to Rest:

1. Relaxation after a busy day is a real challenge for many business owners. Tiredness causes mistakes, inattention, frustration and disorganization; in turn prompting more long hours that exacerbate the problem. Business owners who are well-rested are not just more productive, they inspire better relationships with clients and colleagues.
2. Avoid invalidating a day off by opening a briefcase, checking business email, sitting down a computer, visiting the office or reading your calendar. The objective of a day off is to get totally away from the business.
3. Employ a cleaner so that your home is clean and tidy. Do not waste time off by doing chores. Similarly, can you delegate laundry, ironing and shopping?
4. When you want to switch-off, put the phone on voice mail and silence the ringer.
5. Go to bed earlier (or later) so that the timing of your sleep is ideal for you. Rather than compromise with other family members, ask for their support if necessary.
6. Prioritize the elimination of all debt, except that secured on property. Cut expenses if necessary to ensure that you live within your income. Financial worry is a frequent cause of sleepless nights.
7. Have regular checkups with your doctor, optician, audiologist and dentist.
8. Review the newspapers and magazines that you read. Are these really inspiring or relaxing, or are you bingeing on a diet of depressing material?
9. Avoid watching television, unless you have a specific program you want to watch. Random TV is ‘chewing gum for the eyes’, and contributes little to quality of life.
10. Clear the clutter from your life. Whether its old files or old clothes, it takes up space both in our heads and our lives. If you are in any doubt about this, just choose one room, clear it, and watch what happens!
11. It may be difficult to adjust to a vacation if they are too infrequent. Plan at least 4 weeks of holiday every year.
12. Make amends to anyone you have hurt, damaged or offended. This will allow you to reclaim the hours wasted on feeling guilty.
13. Spend at least 20 minutes every day in deep relaxation, meditation, or other peaceful or spiritual activities. These give perspective, and make all other activities more enjoyable.
14. Before settling down to relax or play, remove all traces of work from your lounge, bedroom, or other immediate environment.

This time of year is a great time to focus on relaxing and recharging and creating the energy to start the new year fresh and ready to make a difference.