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healthy habits: 7 sources of stress and how to manage them

Shari Smothers — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 15:02:41 +0000

This the 6th installment of the healthy habits for writers series.

The following are general life areas that very important. And they can bring to bear, a great deal of negative stress. Negative stress is the chronic, debilitating stress that threatens to block your productivity.

Stresses have threatened and succeeded in impeding my work on occasion. Still there are ways to manage them that can shorten their stay.

1. Health: Most of us get sick from time to time. But if you start to notice the same minor illnesses popping in often, it may be an indicator that you need to change some things.

Often times poor health is a result of missing your sleep, worry, and of poor diet. It may have been okay to lose sleep for days on end when you were young, in school, playing, but for work being sleepy can make you punchy and destroy your focus.

So, to help put off chronic, minor health issues, to think clearly and work most effectively, it’s important to get your proper rest and sleep. Worry can be alleviated by sleep, which points up how circular this situation can be. Worry can also be alleviated by keeping a journal, #7 below.

2. Diet: A healthy diet can affect your work day. There are many options to choose from and dietary suggestions are all over the internet, if you’re healthy enough to eat what you want. If not, consult your health care provider. Here are some suggestions that I followed that help me.

Eat fruit for breakfast.
Let your first drink of the day be water.
Eat light lunch to fuel your body without over filling.
Between meal snacks should be brain foods.
Dinner should be nutrition packed and not too heavy. If you eat before an evening workout, allow for that drain by having a healthy snack or juice after.

3. Tools: I have simple equipment to do my work. My tools need to work. Computer, external drives, scanner, phone. And I get a little bent out of shape when they don’t work.

When my external hard drive is really behaving oddly. It turns on and off as it pleases. Once for 2 days I fiddled with the thing, the outlets and the connections. I was about to pull it apart when I moved it to a different outlet on my surge protector, (again). A few seconds later, I heard the familiar whir letting me know it was booting up. Finally I called in because it made no sense. From my detailed description of my experiences and experiments, I was diagnosed with needing a new power cord. Since I replaced that I’ve had no more trouble.

Needless to say the experience of possibly losing my external drive gave me a lot of stress.

It’s not just backup, it’s also primary storage for many files
It’s larger than my internal drive, so it’s not like I could move it back to my computer at all
It was giving my problems at a time when I really wanted to focus on the project I was in the middle of

Make sure your tools are current and in good working order. Learn all you can about the tools you use, so that you can use them efficiently, without having to learn every time you use them.

Make sure you have the proper backup system for your needs. If you don’t have a backup system and you don’t worry about it, it may be because you never lost critical data. In that case, preempting such an experience will save you more than you know.

4. Family: My family will make demands from time to time, with no regard to my work or my plans. They make noise, ask questions, make plans, and assume I’m available.

Most times it’s light-weight stuff that I can easily counter. However, there are those times when the pressure to accommodate and comply is stepped up. You know when you can be available. When you can’t protect your space like your income depends on it—because it does.

Over time teach your family that your work and activities matter, even if it is work at home. Some people take it less seriously when you’re at home.

Keep a schedule that allows time for family and activities—unless that’s not part of your reason for working at home.
Have your boundaries of space and time set clearly for family members to see.
Leave home sometimes when there are unavoidable schedule conflicts. You don’t want to miss deadlines if you can help it.

5. Friends: My friends pressures are far different from my family. It’s passive rather than active, like with my family. They invite me to things, and the enticement takes on a life of it’s own. Once the invitation is received and the phone is hung up, I spend my time trying to make happen, whatever was asked.

I get caught up in the vacillation. Yes, I can go. No. I better not. But if I move this and hurry that, then I might just make it. But, wait! I can’t rush that; I’ll miss something.

If none of this sounds familiar, never mind. But, if you’re like me and have great friends that don’t push you into anything, only try to include you, then you know the pressure inherent in being included in fun stuff. This is just another area where self-discipline can see you through. You don’t have to be perfect, just good.

Schedule in fun activities when you’re not working.
Put your work first. If you can finish it, so much the better. If not, be aware of how much time you’ll need to get the job done and take that time.
Reschedule with your friends, if you have to. Friends will understand.

6. Community: We are social creatures. That means we require some measure of social interaction. If you work alone all day, and all night when you’re pressed, you need to find social interactions. It takes more than staying abreast of things by reading the news listening to the radio. Social interaction is how you keep your finger on the pulse of humanity. And isn’t that what you draw on to write whatever you write?

While this is less obvious for people who live with families, it can be a problem for them too. If you’re a writer, (1) you need to be able to communicate with an audience of at least one; (2) you need to be aware of topics and trends that proliferate the airwaves if you write time specific pieces; and (3) you need to network to get your ideas shared.

Talk to people online via social networking.
Get out and connect with friends and family.
Read blogs on topics that interest you and leave useful comments.

Find the fun side of participating. As people who write out of passion and drive, we do have a tendency to want to isolate. Often we feel that this is our more natural state and participation is purely an effort. (Maybe I’m just telling on myself.) In either case, it’s important to make that effort. Finding common ground with others can be a major source of positive reinforcement and knowledge. You’d be surprised at the many things you can learn from people.

7. Writing: It’s not just for work. Writing helps you to work things out, the list out your concerns before they become worries. Keep a personal journal for writing out your random thoughts. It can help you to organize your thoughts. Eliminating the chaos in your thoughts can make you much less stressful throughout your day.

Write in a notebook. The physical action of writing can help you connect more deeply to your quiet, nagging thoughts.
Write in private where you are free to be fully uncensored, and don’t censor yourself.
Think about the fact that you’re not writing solutions, but problems concerns and observations. Often the solutions will come.
Keeping a journal can also help you to be prepared for other eventualities that upset your balance.

So that’s it for these seven stress areas. I hope you got something out of some of them. There are other areas that can stress you, putting you out of balance, and making productivity very slow. Be vigilant and be pro-active to counter the effects of stress.

If you have stress areas, how do you deal with them?

healthy habits: rest well to work well

Shari Smothers — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:30:26 +0000

This is the 5th post from the healthy habits series.

You can’t Put Sleep Off Safely

It’s not because your brain turns off. Quite the contrary, in fact. Many people claim to need 3 or 4 hours of sleep and they’re fine. And, while they may actually be able to function, they are putting their bodies at risk by obstructing some very important activities. During sleep, your conscious mind shuts off and your unconscious mind gets busy. Your unconscious mind does some pretty amazing things physically and mentally.

Physical Regeneration

The health benefits of sleep should entice you to get the rest you need. Your body heals at an accelerated rate with the natural production of a proteins that help to repair the body. Proper sleep allows your body time to get rejuvenated from regular activities of life, as well as extra exertions.

Mental Regeneration

There is much that remains unknown about the way the brain works. What is known is quite interesting. When you dream, your brain actually works through events and problems. You may not recall the dream the next day. However, it may happen is that you discover you have a solution to a problem, answer to a question that had eluded you the day or days before.

What is Proper Sleep?

No, it’s not an official term. It speaks to what I’ve found to be optimal conditions for sleep for me. Say you’re tired, it’s been a long day. No way you won’t sleep. I’ve had nights when I know that I was asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow. But it takes more than a full day, tiredness, or even exhaustion to get your best sleep. To get the full benefit of sleep, it helps to get enough hours and be in a good sleep environment.

Enough Hours

You can push yourself relentlessly, trying to make everything happen when you insist. It probably won’t work: you could likely put everything and more in jeopardy. And you still won’t have your work done.

I tried to push myself to work until the wee hours of the morning, during the weekdays. Then on the weekends, I would sleep for most of the day. People call this make up sleep or some such thing. In the short-run, it works—kind of, temporarily. But, there are long-term dangers, including permanently disrupting your sleep pattern. You can see how that would interrupt all the other beneficial things that sleep does, right?

I can. And actually I did see first hand. I once met a lady who was hospitalized for hallucinations and odd behavior. The cause of her problems was prolonged sleep deprivation. Once you can’t control your sleep patterns, the problems can snowball quickly. At the time of being hospitalized, this lady’s sleep deprivation was about a week and it was a matter of not enough hours, not zero hours of sleep.

Find out how much sleep is optimal for you, and try to stick with that as often as possible. You can look it up and see what the accepted standards are. Then experiment to learn what works best for you.

Good Sleep Environment

There are things you can do while you’re awake, to improve your sleep time. Exercise and nourishment are very important to having good sleep. Here are some more things you can do to enhance your sleep environment.

Sleep in a dark, cool, quiet room. Other environments may cause you to wake in the night, or to sleep fitfully.
Sleep at night, when you’re naturally inclined to. Unless you work over night regularly, you want to sleep when your body’s internal clock dictates.
Sleep on a firm bed with good pillows. Firmness will support your back and spine, reducing the chance of soreness.
Sleep on clean, allergen-free bedclothes.
Try to only rest in your bedroom. By keeping your work in another area, you are conditioning your mind to go into relaxation mode when you enter your bedroom.
Put away your worries and stresses of the day. I add this especially for any who suffer from anxiety attacks like myself. Try meditation to calm your racing thoughts and put them aside until after you sleep.

Benefits of Getting Enough Sleep

So what are the benefits of sleep? We have deadlines to meet, titles to work out, topics to research, perspectives that we need to decide on, just to get started. There’s a better alternative to forging straight through: SLEEP when you’re supposed to. Take a look at some of the benefits of sleep:

Improved memory
Improved alertness
Improved creativity
Clear thought processes
More energy
Improved social experiences
Better digestion
Better work sessions
Greater resistance to getting sick
Less stress in difficult situations

It’s a fact that you can work through your day, better, when you’re rested. You’ll be alert to new ideas, making almost intuitive connections. And, really, it’s nice when you wake and have solutions and new, creative ideas. Now, isn’t that worth turning off the computer and putting away the puzzles of the day?

Try to get the sleep you need on a regular basis. Reschedule your tasks to fit your work into a work day. Make yourself content with accomplishing all you can in your work day; this will go a long way to preparing for sleep.

If you’re a skeptic, like I was, try it for yourself. Take one or two weeks off from pushing yourself to the limit. Get good sleep and see what changes for you. Please share it in a comment below. Or if it’s long, post it on your blog and leave the post link in a comment below. I’d love to read your story.

Further reading:

Sleeping Well: What You Need to Know
How to Get Better Sleep by Diana Rodriguez
While You Sleep, Your Brain Keeps Working

Related posts:

healthy habits: practice proper posture

Shari Smothers — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 20:12:17 +0000

This is the 4th installment for the posts from the healthy habits series. Even with the long pause between installments, I had to return to the set to share these things that have helped me.

Do you ever have trouble concentrating? Do you feel fatigued even when you’ve slept? Two hours ever feel like six? Have you considered it may be your posture that’s giving you a problem? Posture is important for everyone. If you think sitting to write daily gives you a pass on having good posture, you’re wrong. Consider your exertion:

Sitting up in a chair
Repetitive stress of typing
Looking at your monitor(s)
Concentrating on your topic

You spend your days working at saying things in just the right way. As soon as you finish one article, you can move on to the next in your list of projects waiting for your focused attention. The last thing you need is the distraction of poor posture and the complications it can introduce.

I learned the hard way about the importance of good posture and how it could improve my work life. I was reduced to severe headaches, neck pain, loss of focus, and muscle cramps before I learned that my posture was part of my problem. Then I learned to replace the bad habits with healthy habits of good posture.

Benefits of Good Posture

1. Good posture informs your disposition. Proper posture can call up a positive attitude. When you stand straight and tall, it is a more confident posture than to slouch. When I am upright, I feel more invested in my work, and more positive about it. Conversely, when I slouch, it feels like my heart is not in what I’m doing, and I can be easily distracted.

Also, your disposition informs your posture. You know how when you’re working on something and it starts to fall into place? Do you ever notice that you tend to sit up straight in those times? That’s an automatic reaction to your mental state of becoming more excited and engaged.

2. Good posture adds energy to your life, makes you more productive and more fun to be around.

I have bad posture in general. So, I have to practice at using good posture. And focusing on posture has made me notice my reactions to good and bad stances, physically and emotionally.

When you sit at your desk, do you slouch and stare at your computer? Or do you sit up straight and knock out tasks one after another? If you’re in the latter group, you are experiencing some of the benefits of good posture. You tend to be more relaxed physically, which affects your emotional state as well. You can be focused on work without being tense in general.

3. Good posture is attractive. When you walk straight and tall, your demeanor tends to match. It can help you to command attention when addressing an audience. Opposite to that is slouching, which can sometimes make you seem uncertain, unconcerned, and uninvolved.

4. Good posture tells others that you are self-confident, you matter to yourself, you are involved and present with what you’re doing. I tend to get a better reaction from people when my posture is good.

5. Good posture can help you to have a healthy working life. This is not to say that you should sit for hours on end, even with good posture. Quite the contrary; you should take breaks and stretch.

- Good posture improves breathing. And since most of us are shallow breathers, this is an important consideration. Good posture keeps the ribcage expanded which encourages deeper breathing. More oxygen gets into the blood which improves brain activity.

You are actually more energized when you breathe deeply. Your body runs more efficiently and your thinking is clearer.

- Good posture improves digestion. Using proper posture will allow your organs the space they need to function properly, instead of slouching which can compress your organs.

- Good posture relieves stress on your body. You won’t strain your muscles, bones and joints, so much when you practice good posture.

6. Good posture improves your rest at night. The best position to sleep in is on one of your sides, either will do, or your back. This keeps you from putting strain on your spine. Sleeping on your stomach can cause spinal strain. The key to any position you lie in is proper use of your pillow. Seriously. Your pillow should prop your head up so that it allows your neck and spine to be straight and not bent.

The Healthy Habit of Good Posture

You may have noticed that there are a lot of reciprocal connections. That’s why I tried to illustrate the connection in a circular connection rather than a straight line.

Let’s review the graphic starting with proper rest. Proper rest allows you to have proper posture, since you’re not drained and dragging. Proper posture will cause less strain on muscles and joints, giving your more energy and alertness in the day. Because you have energy and are alert, you can last longer throughout your work day. Stamina is needed for a regular work day, and a day when all your writing assignments are due. When it’s time sleep, you’ll be able to relax and get into a good sleep position, (lying on either side or back), and have better sleep. Better sleep means that your body will get the proper rest it needs to repair, rejuvenate and revitalize for the next day.

Full circle. And that is the nature of cycles in life and in our bodies. My posture is much better than it once was. Now that I make the effort to get it right, my body and brain function better and that changes my attitude. My attitude, my demeanor in life and work, tends to select my posture.

Using Proper Posture takes Work

Practice and relax into it. Learn what your body needs. If you’re like me and have a physical infirmity, then you may require a professional assessment. Otherwise, you need to get straight. It’s not a foreign thing. You need to remind your body of the proper posture that you had as a child. We do so well when we start out, and then later learn the bad habits.
Your spine is the key. To have a healthy back you need to stretch regularly and train your stomach muscles. Tone abdominal muscles work with your back muscles to give your frame the support it needs while allowing easy and relaxed movement.
Your sleep position matters. According to many articles, and my doctor, the best sleep position is on either side, or the back (with proper pillows), not the stomach. Remember to position your head so that your neck is properly aligned and not bent.
Your chair matters. There’s a great deal of money invested in the study of ergonomics. This is studied because taking care is a lot more cost-effective then repairing damages. And, sometimes the damages are irreparable.
Your work setting is critical. Along with your chair, the distance from you keyboard, the elevation of your keyboard and monitor all matter. Avoid positions that take your body out of it’s proper alignment.

Symptoms of Poor Posture

If you’re already noticing serious problems, you should talk with your doctor or chiropractic doctor. You want to replace your unhealthy practices with healthy habits before it’s too late. Because, poor posture can, over time, cause permanent damage to your body.

Symptoms can include headaches, back and neck pain, muscle aches and spasms.
Not-so-obvious symptoms can include digestive problems, shortness of breath, pinched nerves, sleep disturbance, and tiredness; things that people don’t readily attribute to poor posture.

There’s a wealth of information available on the internet, also. I want to bring up this really important thing that you can work on to have better health and a better writing life. It’s helped me and it may help you too. Read up, and take care.

Start now. Next time you’re sitting to work, fix your posture at the start. You may have to get used to it, but see if it doesn’t improve your overall performance. Come back and let me know. And, when you consider your posture, how do you interpret your own message to the public? I hope to hear back about your experiences.

Resources:

healthy habits: what is brain food?

Shari Smothers — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 14:22:05 +0000

I knew I was in trouble when I couldn’t focus on any thoughts. I seemed to be moving through a never-lifting fog. Only with the greatest effort was I able to hold on to thoughts long enough to complete them.

Once I learned I needed to take iron, and that was squared away, I decided to look for more information. I searched further to discover whether or not there was something I could do to improve my clarity and ability to focus. I learned some really interesting things about feeding my brain.

So, What does Your Brain Eat?

Scientists know a great deal about your brain. However, there is much still that is unknown about this organ that runs our autonomic functions as well as delivering the messages to our limbs when we think run.

Like many Americans, my eating habits leave much to be desired. I already knew that. What I didn’t know was the foods that could benefit brain functioning. What’s more, according to some research, without the proper fatty acids you are actually working against your intellectual ability.

Good food, foods with certain specific fats, vitamins and nutrients, can actually improve your brain’s functioning. From my experience I know that proper blood flow is critical to brain functions. What I learned was that beneficial fatty acids can improve your intellectual functioning. Your healthy diet should include the omega-3 and -6 fatty acids. Healthy brain functioning is only part of the benefits of omega-3 and -6 fatty acids.

Hara Estroff Marano brings up an important point that we generally eat and cook with the wrong fats for our brains; yet they’re generally considered heart healthy. Marano states that walnut and canola oils are good choices.

Dr. Edward Group III lists more foods that boost your brain power. They include berries, vitamin C and beta-carotene rich fruit and vegetables and other vitamins including B and E, and magnesium. Organic, live fruit, vegetables and nuts make great snacks and boost your brain functions. Foods rich in folic acid help your overall nervous system function as well as preserve the condition of your brain.

Things to Keep in Mind

Many people want to increase our intellectual power. After all, who doesn’t want more clarity and good moods. It is pretty much an imperative, then, that we follow these guidelines when you consider that doing otherwise actually works against your brain power.

Cognitive activities like writing and meditating are possible with your healthy brain. Your mental acuity can be greatly improved, and all you have to do is add specific foods to your menu. And when you use your brain, you help to keep it in good condition. Four things to remember when you’re out grocery shopping:

Choose from walnut or canola oil for your cooking needs
Be careful of the fish you purchase as toxins are generally high some seafood area. Check out other sources like flax seed if you’re not a fish person
Eat organic, locally grown foods whenever possible, for freshness and better digestion
As with most things, you can have too much. Don’t go overboard; talk with your health care provider because there’s no recommended daily amount for fatty acids so far. Scientists only know that your body benefits from it and can’t produce omega-3 fatty acids

Resources:

healthy habits: 5 lifestyle areas to review

Shari Smothers — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 03:30:01 +0000

This is the first installment for the post from the healthy habits series. Be sure to return for other entries in this set.

Do you know what to do when your health starts to flag?

You know how sometimes you get sick, your sinuses fill and apply pressure to your head to bulge, only there are no plates in your skull to allow expansion? Your eyelids want to shut but it feels like they can’t go over your eyeballs which are burning, itching, and stinging–even they feel swollen. Whoa, I had a flashback.

Anyway, it makes you wonder how you can avoid the next bout of flu or sinus infection. Or, you hear someone else’s story and you think it’s time you took stock. What do you do with that motivation? Start by reviewing some key lifestyle points. Thins often covers things that we overlook, underestimate or just let slide now and again, until bad habits are formed.

Often making simple, easy lifestyle changes can improve health, life and work. Following are five lifestyle areas that you can optimize with good, healthy habits.

1. How’s your diet? Your body is nourished by foods providing vitamins and minerals. I have a habit of letting many things get in the way of eating a balanced diet–until I get sick. Then I try to do everything right, to recover faster at least. In my search for good, healthy foods, I have discovered 2 things:

I could prepare some of the foods I eat differently, and get more out of them
My diet doesn’t include enough raw, live foods

Better eating habits can make you feel better and be more productive. In my next post I will share the dietary practices I am implementing, and why.

2. Are you drinking enough of the right fluids? Water is all your body really needs. Adequate amounts of water help to flush out toxins that can drag you down. It can be more refreshing than energy drinks, and it’s definitely safer—especially if you drink purified water. For example, did you know a cool glass of water can give you an energy boost.

3. Are you getting enough exercise? Enough is a term relative to who you are and what you do. But if you’re writing for a living, chances are you don’t get enough. Especially if you work from home. Showering, dressing and preparing breakfast before you sit at the computer probably isn’t doing all that your body needs. Adding 15 to 20 minutes of exercises to raise your heart daily is easier than you might think. Try dancing to your favorite dance music.

4. Do you get enough good rest? If you really love what you’re doing and are drawn into it, you may lose track of time. Doing this on a regular basis can cost you a lot for your health, and work. Develop and keep to your schedule. I find that my writing is much easier when I’m properly rested.

5. Can you identify and eliminate other stress? Many things can cause stress, besides a bad diet, dehydration and sleeplessness. And what gives me stress may not give you stress. Find out what causes you stress and work to eliminate it because prolonged stress can cause reactions like loss of focus, headaches and digestive issues.

Pay Attention to What Your Body is Telling You

When your health concerns become chronic, when they last for too long, you may need to see a doctor. You know your body. Be still and in your quiet times, attend to what’s going on that might be keeping you from your best health. If several symptoms happen together and persist for long, (in my case it was months), let your doctor check to be sure it’s not something serious. Assess your lifestyle, and begin to make changes.

Related entries:

healthy habits for writers

Shari Smothers — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:30:46 +0000

Lately, the topic of healthy habits as a writer keeps coming up. I needed a starting place to consider what I was going to change. I’ve been reviewing my lifestyle and my less than stellar habits. I sometimes take health matters for granted, and allow bad habits to stand. In part it’s because I’m writing; I think how much damage am I doing.

However, since I need to make a lifestyle change, I’m going to share some healthy habits that work for me and may work for you. As I do the research, I’ll link the collection back here for easy reference.

What Happened with My Health

Recently I began to notice that I was chronically tired, even after I cut back on my extended working hours. I reviewed all my poor health habits and decided to do things a little better. I slept more and ate a little better and . . .

I thought maybe I just burned my candle at both ends for too long. Nothing really was helping so I thought it was time to see a doctor.

What made me see the doctor?

it seemed like all I wanted to do was sleep all the time
my focus and energy had abandoned me
my memory was shot
I was feeling down and unsure of everything

You can imagine what an impediment this can be to writing. Going to the doctor was the best move; it turns out I’m anemic. Making just a few changes, has improved health symptoms and put me on the road to recovery. It’s really good to have my energy returning to me. Work (writing) feels like play again; I’m enjoying again the pleasure of the writing process and research too.

5 healthful changes I’ve made:

iron supplement added to my diet
juice regularly to drink with the iron
vitamin B12
vitamins and minerals
dancing (at home) to raise my heart rate

These practices I’ve put in place are working for me now. Of course my doctor only said to take iron. The rest was on the advice of others I trust including a man who also is anemic. We’ll see if I get any flack about taking initiative. And while I’m eating a bit better now, it’s only sporadic. It’s time for a diet makeover and to have that become my new eating habit. So, eating habits has made the list too.