Self-Help Happiness Blog

Want to feel more energized and less stressed? Perhaps you spend a lot of time in front of the computer screen, the TV or some other screen. Here are a few ways to feel energized.

The most obvious is to stop spending so much time in front of a screen. OK, not always practical.

So get up during commercials or every half hour and stretch.

In fact, get up and do some aerobic exercise, even just for 30 seconds. Jumping jacks. Dance. Fast-paced push-ups. Skip rope. Anything.

Every few minutes move your eyes away from the screen. Roll your eyes up, to the left, to the right, but most importantly, focus them on something closer and also on something farther than the screen.

Force a yawn. Stretching your face will boost that energy and reduce that stress.

Energize!

Carl Honoré, author of In Praise of Slow, was a guest of Christine Louise Hohlbaum at the blog “The Power of Slow”.  Carl offered ten tips on how to slow down the pace of your life.  Here is that top-10 list: 

1. Downsize your calendar. 
2. Question your inner speed demon. 
3. Take up a slow hobby. 
4. Stop clock-watching. 
5. Rediscover the joys of the table. 
6. Take a walk. 
7. Meditate. 
8. Consider an alternative approach to your health. 
9. Vacation slowly. 
10. Turn it off.

It is comforting to know that I do about half of these. For more details on each of these points, you can read the interview here.

MEMORY

Are you frustrated because someone in your family keep forgetting
things or you information just does not sink in? Well, the more ways
you deliver the information, the more likely he or she will remember.

Tell him.

Write it down.

Send a follow-up email (Yes, intra-home emails!).

Leave a voicemail for her.

Show the situation so that she can act on what she sees, not just on
what you tell her you see.

Ask what he thinks should be done. He will remember the conclusion he
draws better than any solution you come up with.

If there is anything visual, such as a map, draw it.

So, “Honey, don’t forget to pick up milk”, “uh-ha”
becomes….

1. Honey, don’t forget to pick up milk.

2. Here’s a reminder note (a drawing of a carton of milk)

3. Come to the fridge. See, there’s just a couple drops left, what
do you think we should do?

No need to be frustrated when you can make sure that the forgetful
one remembers.

From today’s Daily Dose of Happiness…

HEALTH

If happiness rests on health, health rests on…four pillars.

1. Nutrition. How we choose to fuel our bodies very much effects our health, and certainly as we grow older it makes a difference how mobile and disease-free we feel. If we fill our bodies with sugar and artificial coloring, will that really make us healthy?

2. Fitness. As I watch family and others age, it is clear that nothing affects their mobility more than their level of fitness throughout their lives. It’s never too late to start, and it’s always too early to stop.

3. Stress. If we feel stressed all the time, it takes a toll on our bodies. We can’t always feel relaxed, but we can take control of our stress and just say “no”. Not always easily, but we can do it.

4. Sleep. Boy, am I in trouble. Sleep affects everything else, and I never get enough of it. When we feel fatigued, we tend to eat all the wrong things, skip the workout and create stress with people around us.

How are you doing with your four pillars of health and happiness?

 

This is not a new theme, the importance of sleep for happiness.  A well rested person thinks more clearly and is much less likely to react sharply at the slightest provocation.  A sleep-deprived person feels more stress and is less effective in everything he does.  There is a superb article with tips for getting a better night’s sleep.

Among the sensible tips:

• Avoid a nightcap - alcohol impairs sleep
• Don’t bring a TV to bed - for goodness sakes, is there no escaping that thing?!
• Go to bed earlier
• Don’t argue just before bed - stress makes for less “productive” sleeping

Good night. 

You have heard “A place for everything and everything in its place.”  There
is nothing more stressful than losing something when you are already in a
rush.  Things like glasses.  Things like car keys.

Create a specific place for everything and then discipline yourself to put
it there every single time.  Imagine the stress you could avoid if you never
had to scurry around frantically looking for something so basic that you
really can’t manage without it.