Top 10 of top 10s: Ways to de-stress, progress and relax.

The holiday season is here and the rush has started. Working overtime, speed shopping early, winter driving, among many other things has grasped the majority of America and it’s no secret the extra stress that comes this time of year. Of course, this list isn’t bound my season and is invaluable to everyone no matter the season. Here is compiled list of the top 10 ways from top 10 lists to having a more relaxed time day by day:

#10: Organize. By far this is the most difficult hurdle to jump. Compile your diet, job, hobbies and anything else you find necessary in your life. Make a list, set your priorities and stick to them. Create a flexible schedule just as if you were making a budget on your time.

#9: Remember the important things. It’s easy for any of us to become focused on the negative and other things we really don’t need to focus on. Get involved in helping people, there’s always someone who has it worse. One common viewpoint is “how can I help someone else if I can’t help myself?” when in fact, helping other people is helping yourself.

#8: Accept others. What someone says, the person they are and what they do are as important to them as who you are is important to you. Accept others for who they are, as well as accepting what someone does for you. There’s never any harm (except to pride) in accepting help or consolation from someone else, especially those who have been in a similar situation.

#7: Communicate. Keeping certain things bottled inside is not healthy. Some things need to come out, whether it be something as simple as wanting to share a new interest, a favored song or a deep issue you’re dealing with. Communication is the foundation of love. Tell your family and friend you love them, tell your employees and employer you appreciate what they’ve done to help you in your career and so forth. Just remember the classic phrase “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all”. Also, don’t let things sit. Time is of essence!

#6: Take care of your physical health. Maintain a diet catered to your needs; avoid high sugar foods for breakfast, high calorie foods for lunch and high fats for dinner. Upkeep your hygiene. Wash your hands when appropriate, make your showers enjoyable or take baths when you have time. Even a 30 minute work out a day, jogging around your block, 15 minutes on a bike or a few sets of push ups can boost your daily energy more than you might think. It’s a good time to reflect, listen to music (refer to this guide) or turn on the TiVo and kill two birds with one stone. Don’t spend most of your time vegging out.

#5: Take care of your mental health. Have a good laugh regularly. Humor and comedy is everywhere, television, newspapers, internet; your daily body pains can actually be healed by a good dose of laughter. Write down your thoughts and read them; with retrospective you may be reminded of things from your recent past you had opinion or feeling on that you otherwise may have forgotten and perhaps may now view as unnecessary or more valuable than you did at the time. Most importantly, be good to yourself, fight your mind to be confident about who you are. If you’re struggling, restart steps 10-6 and continue to try your best.

#4: Have a place to go to and escape. Your faith, someone to be with or a special exclusive location you can call your own, are all ways to distract yourself from daily stresses. Be careful not to become dependent. Remember you’ll have to face a lot of that stress eventually.

#3: Keep your family and friends close. Being there for them will make them want to be there for you. Do your best to tolerate the little things, we all know family can be irritating. Accept your friends’ differences without falling into peer pressure. They’ll have respect for you and you’ll feel much better about standing or yourself and your values.

#2: Channel your stress. Stress can be your biggest untapped source of energy. Use your stress to push you to exercise a little longer, to motivate you to finish that project. Try to avoid making your stress the topic of conversation in a social setting, stress is contagious. It’s very important to tell someone about the things you’re dealing with, however, passing it on to others at an unfitting time keeps the focus in everyone’s mind including your own further preventing you and others to having a good time.

#1: Stay consistent. Stick to your guns, work at keeping what you’ve done for yourself steady and constant. Leave plenty of room for spontaneity but maintain some sort of routine and make sure to write it down somewhere! Go through this list again, ask the people around you what works for them. Experiment! Try different things if something isn’t working – Einstein described insanity as doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results.

I hope you find this collective list to be useful to you in your endeavors. Feel more than free to leave a comment or e-mail me with whatever stresses you may be dealing with, whether it be a personal issue, social issue, even technology issues. You can reach me at theweeklygn@hushmail.com and expect a response in 24 hours!

Best wishes and God speed.

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[ Sources: WebMD top 10 ways to de-stress; About.com Effects on Stress; EzineArticles.com Stress and Your Immune System; Associate Content : College Essentials 101 Ten ways to relax this semester; EzineArticles.com Phew! 10 Quick Ways to Relax and De-Stress ]