Our fast paced lifestyle is catching up to us. More and more people are complaining of feeling exhausted all the time. It seems like more and more people also complain about how the old stress management or time management techniques of the last generation don’t seem to quite work anymore.
Our parents and grandparents lived difficult lives too surely. They’re challenges and sacrifices shouldn’t be unappreciated. But things were different. Their attention wasn’t constantly under assault as ours is today.
Just looking at the effect of cell phones, the internet, and email. While they help us out tremendously and allow us to do things we otherwise couldn’t, they also bring a huge amount of stress into our lives. Because of constant accessibility and contact, we never really get a break. And this comes on top of the mountain of other challenges we already face such as work, school, kids, extra curricular activities, bills, the mortgage, etc.
The first tip is to learn to work in smaller, more focused chunks of time. It’s too easy to get sucked into this constant sort of “grey zone” work all the time. You know the type where you are kind of a zombie and just get through your day.
Think about the typical person going to work at 9:00 and leaving at 5:00. Instead of doing a marathon through the day, break it up into 90-120 minute chunks of completely focused work. Then take a 10-15 minute break where you eat something very light and healthy. You will see an immediate boost in productivity, you will feel more alert, and you will have the staying power to last the day.
The second tip is to become aware of and become an expert at developing rituals. You already make them, but the ones you are developing automatically are likely not of much help to you. Its helpful to think of a high performance athlete like a world-class sprinter, or professional football quarterback. What do you think they do before a game? They have a set of routines or rituals that get them into “high performance” state. They then have a wind down ritual that gets them out of that state.
Just like it’s critically important to take the time to get into state, its also important to get out of state. You can’t stay in high performance state for too long or you burn out. To translate that into our lives, think of how you get in and out of state. Do you even get out of state ever? Are you bringing your laptop to bed or talking business in the bedroom? We need to learn to unplug.
If we learn to consciously develop a nighttime ritual, we will notice an immediate difference in the quality (which is just as important as quantity) of our rest. A typical nighttime wind down ritual may be to eat a light snack, drink some herbal decaffeinated tea, read a book, listen to some relaxing music, and turn down the lights. Make sure to turn off the TV and computer as part of this nighttime ritual. You will then teach your body that you are changing state from high performance, to deep and quality rest.
If you have a child you know what happens when they miss the window of opportunity for an afternoon nap. They likely become very cranky, hard to manage, and miserable. It becomes harder and harder to get them to sleep.
As adults we have that same window of opportunity. Too often we miss it and work passed it. We start behaving like a 1 year old who missed his nap and then complain that we can’t get to sleep or that we aren’t getting rejuvenated from our sleep. We need to learn to listen to our bodies when we get tired and stop everything to get to sleep before it’s too late.
If you keep up with health issues, you may have heard of adrenal fatigue syndrome. It’s considered by experts to be the “21st century stress syndrome”, a condition in which our adrenal glands get exhausted from constantly overworking them. The adrenals, which are largely responsible for the amount of energy you have and how you feel during the day, need rest too. But with our busy overscheduled lives we rarely give them a break.
If you find yourself constantly tired and wired and can’t seem to recharge even from a good nights rest you may be experiencing adrenal fatigue. However, the cure for it is to learn to manage your energy levels and do more adrenal/energy building activities. I promise you, you won’t regret it.
Similar Wikipedia Articles
Similar Products
 |
Fatigued to Fantastic Adrenal Stress End, 60 caps :: Amazon Fatigued to Fantastic! Adrenal Stress-Endsupplies the necessary nutrients to support adrenal gland function. The adrenal glands secrete sev |
 |
Science of Breathing & Glands: Sixteen Breathing Exercises to Promote Health of Body, Mind And Spirit (DVD Edition) :: Amazon This title features: Simple Breath; Vitalic Breath; Dynamic Breath; Lung-Strengthening Breath; Beauty Breath; Constipation Breath; Insomnia |