Time for A Break - Guest Post

TIME FOR A BREAK

Ever hear someone quip, “I know hard work never killed anybody, but why take a chance on being the first victim?”

It’s good for laughs, but it’s based on false premises. Hard work has killed many people, and its typical murder weapon is a decade or two of emotional overexertion. Workaholics never stop running to keep up with little inner whispers: “Finish this… don’t forget the deadline… don’t forget the next item… get this right… you must… you have to…”

Your car wouldn’t tolerate being driven 24/7 indefinitely. Neither will your body. People who “never have time to rest” tend to eventually get their rest in the hospital—or the cemetery.

We all know as much, but our lip service to “time off” typically loses out to the idea that “the more I work now, the sooner I’ll build up a million-dollar retirement account—and then I can rest.” But once we get into the perpetual-motion habit, no amount of money in the bank ever seems enough. The time to rest is briefly but frequently—starting now.

To develop the frequent-rest habit without becoming lazy: 

•  Get up every hour for a five-minute break. Stretch, visit the bathroom, or look out the window.
• Go to bed seven to nine hours before you plan to get up—or take an afternoon nap.
• Practice deep breathing and other forms of physical and mental relaxation. A church or other religious center, or a yoga or meditation course, can provide guidance.
• Take one full day off every week—and use it for real rest, not for home maintenance (unless you find “handy” work genuinely relaxing).
• Take at least one full week of vacation—preferably two to eight—every year. And do leave home during vacation time, and don’t bring your laptop along.

Surprisingly, people who take frequent breaks are more productive. They rebuild depleted energy faster. They are less mentally distracted. And they dread their work less. (A frequent cause of working frantically, yet getting nowhere, is fear of starting the really important tasks.)

By all means, work hard. But don’t let it take over—and maybe destroy—your whole life.

For more information:

·        How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie, Chapter 23, “How to Add One Hour a Day to Your Waking Life.”

www.timeday.org
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Katherine Swarts is a full-time freelance writer specializing in articles, for business newsletters and blogs as well as magazines. (Visit her Web site at www.spreadthewordcommercialwriting.com) She lives in Houston, Texas. Her favorite spare-time activities are reading, bird-watching, attending community events, and writing Christian poetry (she maintains a devotional/poetry blog at http://newsongsfromtheheart.blogspot.com)

First Things First - Guest Post

I know I told you all I'd be having a short hiatus but in the interim I still wanted to provide you would some good quality information. That's why I have a guest blogger, Katherine Swarts who has been so considerate enough to share her insight on a couple of topics that provide direction to help you avoid stress.  So without further ado...

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Working on the Priority System

You’ve heard it before: If you fail to plan, you might as well plan to fail. That holds particularly true for home-office workers with no nagging supervisors and no paychecks during idle times.

And, too often, few rewards for busy times—because many home-office workers keep busy with the wrong things.

Letting the urgent crowd out the important is a habit almost impossible to overcome without planning. If you’ve been saying that “someday” you’ll learn social networking or build a long-term marketing plan, now is the time to turn “someday” into now.

Start by organizing your work days on a priority system:

·        Make a master list of tasks: things you know you should do; things you’re already doing regularly or have scheduled for set times; things you’ve thought about doing someday. Divide complicated projects (“earn a master’s degree”) into segments (“look up 20 schools”; “contact top 10 choices”; “send applications to top 3 choices”; etc.).

·        Assign a “priority value” to each task:

o       A: very important to long-term business goals.

o       B: pretty important to either long-term goals or effective daily operations.

o       C: might be helpful but can wait; or, won’t be important for at least a month. (Don’t use this category as an excuse to procrastinate on starting big projects. Assign A or B importance to whatever parts should be done now.)

o       D: nothing to lose by scrapping the whole idea.

·        Organize tasks within each category: A1 for the most important task, A2 for the second most important, and so on.

·        Most people spend an embarrassing amount of time on Cs and Ds. As the first step out of that habit, pinpoint what time of day your energy level is at its peak: are you a morning person or a night person? Start each day’s A1 task, followed by A2 and A3, when you’re physically and mentally at your best. Save Cs and low Bs for lower-energy periods.

·        Begin or end (whichever works best for you) each day by reviewing and reprioritizing the list.

·        Enjoy increased productivity and success!

For more information:

·        How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life by Alan Lakein

·        The KISS Guide to Organizing Your Life by Donald Wetmore

·        The Productivity Institute (http://www.balancetime.com/)

www.stephencovey.com
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Katherine Swarts is a full-time freelance writer specializing in articles, for business newsletters and blogs as well as magazines. (Visit her Web site at www.spreadthewordcommercialwriting.com.) She lives in Houston, Texas. Her favorite spare-time activities are reading, bird-watching, attending community events, and writing Christian poetry (she maintains a devotional/poetry blog at www.newsongsfromtheheart.blogspot.com).

Short Hiatus

Hi There-

I just wanted to let you all know that I'm preparing for two product launches for each of my websites so my posts here on the blog will be on hiatus until around November 15th.

I will be back with a vengeance though!

Michelle
www.stressreliefbyrv.com

Fall Aroma Scents for Stress Relief

It's officially fall out here in the East and winter is not far behind.  If you are under the cooling temperatures, popular fall scents will be most enjoyable for you during the holidays.

Imagine the scents of: Peppermint, Orange Clove, Cranberry Fig or Mulling Spices filling your home during the Holidays. Browse Scented Soy Candles available.

100% Soy Wax Candles Scented with Essential Oils promote relaxation among a host of other benefits.

No artificial colors or preservatives

Free of Lead and Zinc - Healthier for You to Breathe in than Paraffin Candles


Read About The Benefits of Soy Wax Candles

An Easy Stress Reliever

Believe it or not there are many ways that you can alleviate your stress. Some require spending a little money on items to promote relaxation.  Other ways are simple and straight forward such as..........

Writing for Stress Relief

• Writing down your thoughts is a great way to release tension
• Plann your days by writing your To-do's: this keeps you focused and definitely relieves stress.  Don't multi-task, you get less done and are frazzled by end of day
  

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Take care of yourself: Michelle Howard offers you and effective line of stress and pain management products. Shop for stress or alternative pain relief products for your special need.

Combatting Negative Thoughts with Positive Words

Your mind is the battleground for faith or for defeat.  When you have a negative thought that causes pressure to be applied to your flesh (stress), do you just let that thought fester inside of your head?  Do you try to just ignore the thought?  There's a better and effective way to fight negative thoughts that eventually lead to stress and defeat.

Fighting negative thoughts that lead to stress with positive words is your only solution to defeating those bad thoughts.  For the Christian, we fight negative thoughts with the word of God. God's Word is powerful and sharper than even a two edged sword. It's alive, powerful and can defeat any negative thought that comes across your mind.  I've experienced this in my own life.

Besides, isn't it better to focus on words that speak life versus words that speak defeat, depression, debt, and death?  I was about to go on a roll with the bad "d" words but I think you get the picture.

The next time you have a bad, negative, stress inducing thought, open your mouth and speak against it -  preferably with God's Word. Don't allow negative thoughts to control your emotions which is then lead to making bad or negative decisions.
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Michelle is the true to life resource for satisfaction guaranteed stress and alternative pain relief products. Get on the path to wellness and SAVE when you purchase one of her already low cost Stress Relief Products with discount code: REVIVE.

"When life throws lemons, make lemonade!" - Unknown

Negative Words vs. Positive Words

Did you know that your negative words can talk you right into stress, depression or any other negative emotion?

The Bible says, "Life and death are in the power of the tongue and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof." Proverbs 18:21

When you grumble, complain or murmur, you negatively affect your spirit, causing negative emotions to arise.  Those negative emotions will then eventually cause you to  make negative decisions and negative decisions will cause negative actions.

Watch the words that come out of your mouth, the negative words.  Just as you can birth negative results in your life by speaking negative words, you can birth positive results in your life by speaking positive words.

Monitor the words of your mouth for your desired outcome in  life.
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Michelle Smith can help you to relieve stress on a practical level. Sign up for her highly-acclaimed and miraculously free Stress Less Newsletter and be kept informed of alternative ways to reduce stress and ease pain without medication.

Ponder These Before You Allow Stress To Consume You

Stress is a very serious matter worth addressing head on.. I hope you have been informed, refreshed or enlightened some these past few weeks and I would love to hear from you.

I want to wrap up my mini-overview on stress with some powerful quotes to really get you thinking, "Is it worth it?"

"Stress is nothing more than a socially acceptable form of mental illness."  *Richard Carlson

"Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. Nothing is that important." *Natalie Goldberg

"Adopting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into a positive one." *Dr. Hans Selye

"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody." *Bill Cosby

"Sometimes it is harder to deprive oneself of a pain than of a pleasure."  *F. Scott Fitzgerald

"Gray hair is God's graffiti." *Bill Cosby

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Michelle Howard Smith is a stress and pain relief professional helping individuals to address health from a natural perspective. Subscribe to The Stress Less newsletter to receive valuable information on stress and pain management monthly.

10 Ways to Identify Physical Stress

Stress brings with it a number of physical and emotional symptoms. Physical symptoms are your body reacting to the stress. Really, your body is in defense mode. Physical symptoms of stress include but certainly are not limited to:

  1. Upset stomach
  2. Unexplained indigestion
  3. Headaches, Back aches, shoulder pain
  4. Muscle Spasms
  5. Skipping monthly menstrual periods (women)
  6. Constipation
  7. Diarrhea
  8. Hyperventilation (shortness of breathe)
  9. A rash/rashes on the skin
10. Weight loss (including lack of eating)

The American Psychological Association reports, "One-third of Americans are living with extreme stress and nearly half of Americans (48 percent) believe that their stress has increased over the past five years."

What's Your State's Stress Level?

Have you ever stopped to think about the fact that us individuals are not the only ones to experience stress? On the contrary, whole counties, states and nations also experience stress and are susceptible to high stress levels.

Yahoo recently released results from Associated Press' Economic Stress Index. Scores are calculated from 1 to 100 for counties within a state and factors such as unemployment, foreclosure and bankruptcy rates have the biggest impact. Counties within a state are considered under high stress levels when its score exceeds 11.

I was quite interested in this due to the fact that I live in New York, working in New York City.  People always think that New York City is one of number one states with the highest stress levels.  Well, you may be pleasantly surprised by the results.

Previously Nevada (21.32), Michigan (17.59) and California (16.31) topped the list of the most economically stressed states.

The most stressed counties were Imperial County, Calif. (31.83); Yuma County, Ariz. (27.58); Merced County, California (24.28); Lyon County, Nevada (24.02); and Lauderdale, Tennessee (23.56).

The states with the biggest year-to-year increases in economic stress in August were Nevada, Oregon and Michigan.

Isn't that something?  Who would have thought that these states that you don't hear much from were higher in stress levels than the famously fast paced New York City.  That gives you something to think about.
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Michelle Howard Smith is President of Reviyve LLC, a distributor of stress and alternative pain relief products. Subscribe to the Stress Less Newsletter receive stress management tips, alternative health info and exclusive offers for subscribers only.

The Number One Reason People Get Stressed

The number one reason people get stressed out is money problems.  Financial problems are not the actual cause of stress but more the result of actions that led to the pressure behind the money  problems.

When a person mismanages their finances for whatever reason, that leads to money problems which then lead to stress. So the actual cause of the stress is not the money problems but the mismanagement of the money.

Read about ways to prevent stress.

3 U's that Cause Stress

It's hard to believe but the TRUE causes of stress are not what you read in the papers or what you hear in the doctor's office while laying down on his or her couch. If the causes of stress that you are used to hearing about were really the root causes, don't you think that you would have eliminated those causes by now?  Many people can't form into the words why stress is such a big problem.

Ok, so what are the causes of stress?

Summarized in three little words that begin with U (no, not YOU): Uncertainty, Unrealistic Expectations and Unresolved conflict.

That's it.  No, it's not money.  Money problems stem from one of the three U's.
Let me explain:

Uncertainty
The uncertainties of life will cause you stress if you allow yourself to worry about them continuously. Some things you can control. Others you can't.  With a firm faith in God and relationship with Him, you can be certain that He will take care of all of your needs.  You won't need to stress because you believe that God is your source and will supply of whatever need you have.

Unrealistic Expectations
Comparing yourself to someone else, what someone else has or what someone else can do is a major cause of stress.  You set unrealistic expectations when you do this because you can not  guarantee that your success, physical appearance, bank account or whatever will match that of what you are comparing yourself and ultimately your life to.  That's not to say that you should not set goals.  However, you must be content in the state that you are in before you can climb higher.

Unresolved Conflict
Holding on to unforgiveness or bitterness against another will causes unresolved conflict in your life.  This unresolved conflict will cause you stress because because it will affect your sleep, your thought life and your overall demeanor.  While you are replaying the offense or problem over and again in your head, that person is going on with their life or the situation remains unchanged.   Deal with any conflict in your life as soon as it arises, forgive and move on.

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Michelle Howard Smith is a stress and pain relief professional helping individuals to address health from a natural perspective.  Subscribe to The Stress Less newsletter to receive information on stress and pain like that in this post.

These Behaviors Identify Stress

In further examining stress and it's effects on life, it's important to identify certain behaviors that could potentially identify stress in your life:

1. A lack of concentration
2. Anger
3. Irritability
4. Insomnia / sleep disorders
5. Nervousness
6. Fear and phobias
7. Eating Disorders 
8. Erratic behavior (ex: crying for no reason)
9. Taking drugs, drinking, illicit sexual activity
10. Feelings of betrayal
11. Feeling ashamed
12. Guilty feelings
13. Loneliness
    

If you can identify with these behaviors that may indicate severe stress in your life, don't ignore them.  Seek professional help and look for ways to practically reduce stress in your life.  My Learning Center has a number of stress management articles available to help assist.

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Michelle Howard Smith is a stress and pain relief professional helping individuals to address health from a natural perspective. She distributes Young Living essential oils under distributor # 1066504. Subscribe to The Stress Less newsletter to receive information on stress and pain management.

Stress - Things to Consider

As a stress and alternative pain relief infopreneur, I thought it befitting to do a series on stress and pain relief.  I won't make each post very long, just long enough for you to digest the points and ponder them over until the next point.

Starting with the topic of stress, there are some things that you really need to know.  Some of them you may already know.  Others may be an eye opener or even a refresher.  In any case, if you are going to be successful at managing your stress levels or meeting stress head on by using some techniques I'll share down the line, then you must first be armed with guess what? INFORMATION.  Yippee my favorite word.

Let's get started.  What is Stress? 

A simplified yet very practical definition is: Stress is physical, chemical, or emotional pressure causing your body or mind to experience tension that may result in disease or illness.

Now that's a pretty serious definition.  Think about it for a while.  I'll be back in a couple of days to build upon it.

Pain and Stress are brothers

I started to say that pain and stress are sisters but hey I'm a woman. Why would I equate two such annoying and disturbing conditions with women? Nope. The men can have those titles (sorry fellas).

Anyway, I've been really busy for the last week or so. I've been promoting my beauty brand, Blended Naturals and also attended a beauty tour and blog summit. That's why I haven't had as much time to devote to writing here and dumping my brain with topics on stress and pain.

While I will say that stress has been a close companion this last week or so. It's mainly because I have so much to do with not enough time. I have to evaluate a number of beauty products and brands, write reviews and also work on my search engine optimization for my websites. I am a one woman show so some things have to wait.

What I wanted to give you today is more of a nugget to chew on and think about:

"If you stop to think, pain that is caused from an injury, illness or surgery can result in tremendous levels of stress. Even if all is well in your world, if you are in pain your mind and emotions can be overwhelmed. Stress and pain are brothers!"

Think about that. Mull it over and let me know your thoughts. I'll start writing more in the next week or so. I'd also like to know what topics you would like for me to write about. Share!

Detox Your Mind for Stress Relief

I'm off the organization kick and on the detox kick now. There are so many ways for you to find stress relief that I am going to share as many as I can find and share them with you.

Today I want to talk about detoxing your mind with aromatherapy for stress relief.

There are ten key therapeutic essential oils beneficial for detoxifying your mind:

Atlas Cedarwood
Chamomile
Eucalyptus
Geranium
Jasmine
Lavender
Lemon
Lime
Rose
Ylang-ylang

These therapeutic essential oils are very potent and can be administered for stress relief in 3 main ways:

• Diluted with a carrier oil such as almond oil followed by a full body massage
• Added to bath water for a relaxing soak that allows the oils to penetrate your skin, traveling through your bloodstream for natural wellness
• Added to steaming hot water for inhalation
  

In a few days I will talk about another way to help ease stress...Relaxing breathing techniques

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Michelle Howard Smith is a stress and pain relief professional helping individuals to address health from a natural perspective. She distributes Young Living essential oils under distributor # 1066504. Subscribe to The Stress Less newsletter to receive information on stress and pain management.

The Easiest Way to Organize Your Closet

Last week I started on this organizing kick to help avoid the stress of disorganization. One of the most stressful encounters can be when you get up in the morning and can't find a thing to wear! That's when you know it's either time to go shopping for a new wardrobe because you've outgrown the old one or maybe you just need to do some good ole closet organizing.

Let's say you have put on a little weight. That doesn't mean everything you have doesn't fit. However, it does mean you need to organize your closet and get rid of some things. Not only clothes either. Maybe your shoes and purses are no longer in fashion. You need to work through those as well.

First, to organize your closet start by working on different things at a time. Some will say you should empty out the entire closet but let's make it easier. Rather than empty it out and make a bigger mess, start with the floor. Pull out all those shoes, boxes, falling bags and whatever else may be hiding amongst the dust bunnies. Go through those items and dump or give away what's no longer fashionable, can't fit or damaged beyond repair.

Second, tackle your closet shelves one at a time. Backtracking a bit, if you don't have them already, pick up some plastic shoe boxes and/or hat boxes to help you organize items such as purses and hats! Yes, and of course other things that you have hidden away up in the top of your closet. You can hang your purses by size smallest first - if you have hooks

Lastly, it's time to go through your clothes. Pair up shirts, blazers, skirts and pants together that match. This way you won't have as much difficulty finding a complete outfit each morning. Another way is to put all the shirts together on one side of the closet, followed by the blazers, then the pants, then the skirts and dresses (assuming you wear them). It's all about your personal choice. Just make sure you give away or throw away anything you can't fit or haven't worn in at least 6 months. You probably won't ever wear them again.

Send clothing that needs to be repaired (if you still fit it), or cleaned to the cleaners and when you pick them up, always take the plastic off. The chemical residue picked up at the cleaners is not good for you to inhale.

Now, I want to hear from anyone else who has organizing tips. Organizing helps avoid stress. Of course, not major stress but hey. Address the things you can control. Don't just leave it up to fate. You'll have plenty of other things that you can't control. 'Toodles and til next time....

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Michelle Howard Smith is a stress and pain relief professional helping individuals to address health from a natural perspective. Subscribe to The Stress Less newsletter to receive information on stress and pain management.

Increase Energy and Improve Mood

A new all natural product that is supposed to increase energy and improve your mood is in pre-launch to be launched this weekend to the public. I came across this information in one of my professional groups on Linked-In.

For 1 week samples will be offered at http://www.StressFreeHomeBusiness.com. It has been reported that over 80% of participants are seeing results the very 1st week and over 95% the second week. I don't have the details on this but since the product is all natural perhaps you'd be interested in checking it out. If you are feeling Tired, Stressed, or Depressed visit http://www.StressFreeHomeBusiness.com today to sign up for the free trial.

For therapeutic stress relief products that are not ingested such as massagers, aromatherapy and alternative pain relievers, visit http://stressreliefbyrv.com

Why Go Green with Eco-Friendly Products?

Your decisions and actions affect not only yourself, but others. Many people are so focused on what they want and need that they forget the impact these decisions have on other people as well as other things.

Reducing your consumption and making "greener" choices with respect to your personal care, household and other items will not only help you, it will help protect our planet and reduce your negative impact (carbon footprint) on our environment.

Looking for a major source for your eco-friendly products? You have a number of greener eco-friendly choices for yourself and your business:

Organizing Ideas for Your Undergarments

For some reason I'm stuck on the whole clutter thing. I guess it's because clutter can cause undue stress. There are too many things in the world that cause stress that we can't control. You may as well work on the things you can control. That's why I'm going to continue offering organizing ideas that will help reduce clutter and ultimately your stress levels.

Today's post is especially for the ladies. I want to teach you in 4 simple steps how to organize your undergarments. Sounds fun right?

For starters, let me point out that when I say undergarments, I am referring to it all...your bras, panties, pantyhose, girdles, slips, and SEXY lingerie. Now let's get organized:

1. If it doesn't fit or is worn out, toss it. Maybe buy some more like the ones in the image (courtesy of Victoria's Secret)
   
   
2. Now, separate your undergarments by type. In other words panties with panties, bras with bras, handcuffs oops not that....all together.
   
   
3. Now fold your bras in half, tucking in the straps. Fold panties and other items tucking in corners and any hooks. We don't want any accidental snags.
   
   
4. Finally, assign each item type a drawer. If you don't have enough drawers then combine two item types that go together in one drawer. For example, add bras and panties to the same drawer or add slips and girdles to the same drawer. Tip: get a plastic divider to put in your drawers to help keep items organized and separate

So, now that we've organized our undergarments, let me think about what else needs organizing to reduce clutter. I'm thinking the junk drawer, closets, desks and you guessed it....pocket books! If you have any organizing ideas, please feel free to share.

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Michelle is President of Reviyve LLC, an online stress and alternative pain relief resource. Michelle conducts regular research related to alternative health and has helped many to achieve stress and natural pain relief. Subscribe to Michelle's monthly Stress Less newsletter for stress management and alternative health information.