The constant barrage of stress eventually takes its toll on us. In our fast paced and hectic lives we end up exhausted and gasping for breath. It seems the old set of stress management techniques no longer works; we need to instead focus on energy management.
Our generation in particular is facing increased difficulties. That's not to say that those that came before us faced only good times. But things are quite a bit different, and because of these different challenges, we need a different set of skills to face them.
Look at technology alone. Sure it brings to us tremendous advantages, but at the same time it brings increasing stress over a constantly ringing cell phone, an unending string of emails, and the luring distraction of the internet. Even just deciding what to watch of TV can be a challenge because of the abundance of choice. These challenges are just piled on to the already existing challenges of work, school, kids, school activities, bills, 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.
The typical workday may start at 9:00 in the morning and end at 5:00. Often phone calls and emails start the day earlier and end the workday later. Instead of sitting down at your desk and doing a marathon through the day, you might consider breaking your day into small chucks of 90-120 minute blocks of time. Focus for 90 minutes then take a 10-15 minute break where you completely disengage. You will start to feel your energy levels surge.
The second tip is to develop rituals, particularly a nighttime bedtime ritual. Rituals get us into state through a variety of physical and mental actions. Think about a professional basketball player getting ready to step onto the court, or a concert pianist about to take the stage. What are your rituals to get you out of the "work" state and into the nighttime "I need to rest" 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 you take a moment and develop a nighttime ritual, a deliberate set of steps to instruct your body that it is now time for bed, you will notice an immediate difference. Eat a snack, read a book, listen to some soothing music, dim the lights, turn off the TV. You need to instruct your body that it is now time for rest.
Any parent knows what happens to a child that has missed its window of opportunity to get a nap in. The child may transform from an otherwise delightful and playful kid into an absolute terror. Often they become very cranky, whinny, difficult to deal with, even mean. And to make matters worse, even though all they need is a nap, it becomes harder and harder to get to sleep.
As adults we face the same thing. Often we push ourselves too hard, to far past our "window of opportunity" for rest. We then complain that we have sleep problems, or that we aren't getting rejuvenated from our rest. However, the challenge in most cases is not "sleep problems", its that we don't know how to listen to our bodies and get to sleep.
Adrenal fatigue syndrome is showing up more and more in health media. It has been called the "21st century stress syndrome" by experts and occurs when our adrenal glands get overworked. Even with their extremely small size relative to other organs, our adrenals are responsible to how we feel, and the energy stores we have to use. If they get overworked, you will start to feel lethargic and lacking in energy.
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. - 29964
Our generation in particular is facing increased difficulties. That's not to say that those that came before us faced only good times. But things are quite a bit different, and because of these different challenges, we need a different set of skills to face them.
Look at technology alone. Sure it brings to us tremendous advantages, but at the same time it brings increasing stress over a constantly ringing cell phone, an unending string of emails, and the luring distraction of the internet. Even just deciding what to watch of TV can be a challenge because of the abundance of choice. These challenges are just piled on to the already existing challenges of work, school, kids, school activities, bills, 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.
The typical workday may start at 9:00 in the morning and end at 5:00. Often phone calls and emails start the day earlier and end the workday later. Instead of sitting down at your desk and doing a marathon through the day, you might consider breaking your day into small chucks of 90-120 minute blocks of time. Focus for 90 minutes then take a 10-15 minute break where you completely disengage. You will start to feel your energy levels surge.
The second tip is to develop rituals, particularly a nighttime bedtime ritual. Rituals get us into state through a variety of physical and mental actions. Think about a professional basketball player getting ready to step onto the court, or a concert pianist about to take the stage. What are your rituals to get you out of the "work" state and into the nighttime "I need to rest" 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 you take a moment and develop a nighttime ritual, a deliberate set of steps to instruct your body that it is now time for bed, you will notice an immediate difference. Eat a snack, read a book, listen to some soothing music, dim the lights, turn off the TV. You need to instruct your body that it is now time for rest.
Any parent knows what happens to a child that has missed its window of opportunity to get a nap in. The child may transform from an otherwise delightful and playful kid into an absolute terror. Often they become very cranky, whinny, difficult to deal with, even mean. And to make matters worse, even though all they need is a nap, it becomes harder and harder to get to sleep.
As adults we face the same thing. Often we push ourselves too hard, to far past our "window of opportunity" for rest. We then complain that we have sleep problems, or that we aren't getting rejuvenated from our rest. However, the challenge in most cases is not "sleep problems", its that we don't know how to listen to our bodies and get to sleep.
Adrenal fatigue syndrome is showing up more and more in health media. It has been called the "21st century stress syndrome" by experts and occurs when our adrenal glands get overworked. Even with their extremely small size relative to other organs, our adrenals are responsible to how we feel, and the energy stores we have to use. If they get overworked, you will start to feel lethargic and lacking in energy.
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. - 29964
About the Author:
Gerry Geneva is an energy management expert that works with professionals on restoring full function of the adrenal glands through natural methods. He runs and operates My Adrenal Fatigue which is a resource for those suffering from low energy levels and in particular adrenal fatigue.
