distracted – disturbed – dismayed

“Ten thousand flowers in the spring, the moon in autumn,
a cool breeze in summer, snow in winter.
If your mind isn’t clouded by unnecessary things,
this is the best season of your life.”
Wu Men

More and more people are feeling that they have extended their physical and mental resources beyond what they can sustain and it is resulting in greater stress, burnout and distress.   The demands for using every minute of time in some endeavor has robbed people from taking a moment to just step back and relax and recover.

Electronic distractions are so common place that it has become fashionable to always be connected to some type of media and that is disconnecting people from reality.   The window to the soul is clouded by the window of the always-on lure of technology.

Burnout, stress and malaise is increasing and more and more people are looking for ways to restore their vitality as the increased pace and demand for more being done is impacting physical and mental health.

How do you break free of the pattern of life and work that is creating more distractions and resulting in a more disturbed way of living?

1. Pause and breathe
2. Exercise, talk a short walk every hour, move.
3. Meditate, even for 5 minutes, breathe in and exhale slowly.
4. Sleep, getting enough sleep so that you can think and work effectively.
5. Take time out to do nothing.  Just observe, watch and reflect on something of beauty.
6. Slow down.  Eat slowly, drink slowly and experience eating.

Observe what your life is like.  Is it getting filled with more and more stuff?  Are you feeling strained to meet all the requirements of work and life?   Are you spending more time just watching TV and numbing the brain?

Turn off the electronic devices.  Create an electronic device free zone and time and start getting your life back.

Find a way to get more harmony and peace into your life so that you have a life.

one more thing

“Just for today, smile a little more. Just for today, ask someone how he or she is really doing. Just for today, remember, while some may have it better than you do, there are others whom definitely have it worse than you! Just for today, just let go, just for today….”
― James A. Murphy

MORE

That is the call of the world.  More of you.  More time at work.  More time for everything but you.   Have you felt like you have given all that you can give and there is no more to give?  If you have you aren’t alone.

If you stepped back and looked at your life how would you rate your sense of well-being on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 = Need Help Now, 10 = Living ideally)?   What is your score?   Are you living the life you thought you’d be living now?  Debt free?  Enough time to do what you love doing?  Finding peace and tranquility in your life?

Have you slipped into the exhaustion funnel and are slowly watching your life spin out of control?  Many people have and are deciding that working 12 hour days isn’t the kind of life they envisioned for themselves.

The CDC (Center for Disease Control) reports that job stress poses a threat to the health of workers.    Nearly 25% of employees view their jobs as the main stressor in their lives.  Health issues are increasing and they are being driven by on the job stress.

When job expectations are not in alignment with employee expectations stress will occur.   When managers expect more from people and use threats (and the fact there are many others seeking work) many employees feel powerless to ask for changes to be made.   Over time the stress leads to more illness, less productivity and more conflict.

Signs of stress include:
– Headaches
– Irregular sleep
– Short term
– Difficulty focusing and concentrating
– Upset Stomach
– Job dissatisfaction

What do you do if you find yourself at the limit and not willing or able to take on one more thing.

One way to combat the stress of work and life is to take time out of your day to do some mindfulness exercises.  Even five minutes of deep breathing every couple of hours can have a dramatic impact in reducing the level of stress  you feel.

– Stop and take a deep breath, count to six on inhale and exhale counting down from six.   Do that for 3 to 5 minutes.

Learn mindfulness  and learn how to reconnect with your feelings and become aware of your feelings, stress and anxiety , feel the sensations in your body and identify them.  What are you feeling and experiencing?   What emotions are most present?   Write down what you are sensing?

Can you let go of those feelings?
Will you let go of those feelings?

Let yourself feel a sense of calm and peace come to you.  Notice what it feels like.  Relax and let the stress go.

Take just a few minutes each day to let go of the stress, the anxiety, the worry, the fear and the noise.   Just let it go.

LESS 

Focus on fewer things in your life.  Let things go.   Turn off the phone, TV, radio and just relax for a few minutes.