Stress management – Paul's Tech Talk

Have you ever had a Monkey on your back?

I’ve had several monkeys on my back. Two of them are my children, they seem to like to climb on my back. ALOT! This brings me to something that is near and dear to my heart. Getting stuff done while having to handle those unexpected situations or as I call them monkeys!

When you get something unexpected how do you deal with them?

Most of us would argue that it isn’t the monkey but the stress that goes along with it.

Oh The joy of stress!

Stress is in all forms and shapes, it can be as simple or as difficult. It is however a way we are raised and thus we will all handle it differently. The problem with some people is they don’t know how to handle it and it becomes way to much for them. I’ve seen it happen and I thought this would be a great topic to talk about.

This isn’t going to my normal posts, it is going to be the one where you should sit back and think about how you would handle stress differently.

Faced with stress, too many people feel they have nowhere to turn to, that they don’t have access to the kind of friendships or communities where they can easily and openly share their problems and worries.

Daisaku Ikeda

Here are a few ways I like to take stress off and you might want to try them!

Pray

You know Praying seems to really help me when there is something that I don’t know how to deal with and usually Stress seems to be a big part of the dealing of what ever I am having an issue with. So why not just sit where you are and pray. It really couldn’t hurt, probably will help!

Go for a long nature walk

This is really good to do when you it is really nice outside. You can explore nature and see all the things that might interest you. I like to just explore the walk and see all kinds of strange and unusual things.

Watch a great Science Fiction Movie/Show

Hey, I’m an avid fan of science fiction and thus it will sometimes let me get my mind off the things that are bothering me. It also might help me think about the problem while I watch something that is unrelated to the problem and stress!

Read a Book

Although reading a book might sound like a way to avoid the stress, it can be very beneficial when you need to let your subconscious think about the problem at hand. I usually like to read anything Science Fiction or Technology related so it is a really big selection for me.

Listen to Music

Listening to music especially music that is up beat and makes you happy will do a lot to fight stress and maybe even give you the idea or the help needed to work through the problem. I’ve found music can help you clean or do other stuff when needed.

Lastly, Talk to my Friends or family!!

I know this one probably wasn’t on your radar but I have found talking to my friends and family about problems will help you deal with stress and maybe they can help you in more ways then one. So don’t be afraid to ask for help on occasion it doesn’t mean your weak but that you need help. How do you deal with stress?

Paul Sylvester

Image by danieljohnsonjr via Flickr

Your doing your usual stuff and the something happens. You really don’t know what to think or do. You could be in shock, or just disbelief. I have had that happen last week. I thought it would be fun to discuss this and give a few insights as to what I learned.

The back story

I was at work doing what I normally did to make the customers happy. My job was one of those really good jobs where you would have to always listen to the customer and try to help resolve their problem(s). It isn’t the easiest job in the world, and I bet most technicians would also agree that sometimes the customer can be down right mean or even rude to the technician just because they have no one else to yell at. Last week I lost one of my dearest and most paying contracts, it isn’t easy to just sit still and wonder how will I pay bills now without this retainer client. I bet Mike Smith has this problem all the time and probably worries about it every week when he losses a client like this. Some of things that I want to know is how do others deal with stress.

Stress is a killer

I know I am not the only one who has to deal with the stress. I do however wanted to come up with a way to help prevent some of the stress from happening. According to some places, Stress can be a great motivator and also be our downfall in the long. I say this not to scare people but to bring up some very important topics that I thought we should at least look at:

Stress is different for each person — Now I am not saying that some people don’t have stress but they do not show it very often if never. You may never know that some person you are talking to is having a stress full day because they may never show the signs of being under stress.

Stress makes you grow older quicker — Now this is something that I have felt in the past when I have more stress it makes me feel older and not like I used to be. This also can be a bad side effect, because it will sometimes send people into a depressed state.

Stress can give your High Blood pressure — I should know about this one because this has been my case for the few years. This is something that I have had to deal with because of what all stress has been put under my belt the last few years.

Fighting Stress

So you have thought about it and have come to the conclusion that you have to much stress in your life. You’re probably like me and want to reduce some of the stress that you are having right about now. I know I hate stress and what it does to my body. I wanted to share some ways to reduce the stress in your life so you can live a healthier and longer life.

Exercising — This is one of those many found truths that if you exercise everyday, either by walking or do aerobics you can decrease the stress in your life in one way or another. You should however do something once a day for at least an hour. I have found walking on paths to be my best way to relieve stress .

Journaling — I have found sitting down to blog to be a great way to reduce my stress in my life. If you don’t have a blog or know how to blog this is great time to start. You can start by creating your free blog at wordpress.com and not have to worry about any of the problems of hosting or domain services.

Find a friend — another great way is to talk to someone about your problems and your stress. Although some people will not do this it is however a good way to relieve or at least reduce your stress. Just talking to someone can help you live longer.

Praying — Yes You’ve heard me right. I have found this to be best way to reduce stress. You may not know this but I do believe in God and every time something happens, I ask God what to do. He has answered a lot of questions in his own way. God has been a source of strength and peace in my every day life.

Music — Find some uplifting music and listen to it. If you find music that lifts your spirit then you will reduce stress in more ways than one. I have found this to also help my stress. Most of the time I start singing and I feel my stress going away. I might not be the best singer but I do sing and it does help.

These are just a few but I will let you figure out how to fight stress. I’d love to hear how you fight stress and what has worked for you when it comes to relieving your stress. Please feel free to comment and help me make my life less stressful.