Stress and Your Health

In my last article, I talked about "stress stupidity" and how it causes us to make mistakes and lose time. It actually does more than that:

A recently released Yale University study, published online the week of January 9, 2012, in the journal Biological Psychiatry, shows that stress causes the brain to shrink because the stress hormones eat away at brain tissue, literally making holes in your brain.

One highly-stressful episode, such as our remote ancestors suffered when they ran from ravenous beasts, doesn't necessarily produce the "holes in the brain" phenomenon. Instead, it's the steady daily diet of stress with which many people live in the 21st century that causes the problem.

This steady onslaught of stress, which may be low-level but persistent, is similar to drops of water dripping onto stone: a slow wearing down.

Lack of focus, concentration problems, inability to set priorities, and difficulty in making decisions are more behavioral signs that signal the presence of "stress stupidity." The very qualities that we need in order to be successful in life are impaired; you may come to believe that there is no way out of your stressful life.

Dr. Martin E. P. Seligman describes this psychological state as "learned helplessness"; the inability to find the "way out" of your dilemmas. Not only do your problem-solving skills suffer, but so does your motivation.

The dogs in his initial experiment, who were given shocks that they could not escape, and were then put in a box where there was an escape route, failed to see the escape route, even when shown! They simply lay down and absorbed repeated shocks.

"Learned helplessness" has been identified as a psychological pattern associated with many of the most severe illnesses. It does not start as a result of the illness; it is in place years before the illness develops.

Here are some ways to avoid developing learned helplessness.

Take frequent mini-breaks during the day during which you take a deep breath and ask yourself, "In the long run, what really matters here?"

When you make mistakes, learn to laugh at yourself instead of getting more stressed. Use the phrase "Stress makes you stupid."

And when you feel blocked, say to yourself, "There is a solution. I just can't see it right now."

Then take a break, take a walk, talk to a friend, spend a few minutes planning to do something special for yourself later on. Because a brain is a terrible thing to lose.

Lynette Crane, M.A.(Psychology) and Certified Life Coach,is a Minneapolis-based speaker, writer, and coach. She has more than 30 years' experience in the field of stress management. She currently works to provide stress and time pressure solutions to harried women, those women who seek "Islands of Peace" in their overly-busy lives. Her talks to groups of what she calls "harried women" are receiving rave reviews. Visit her website at http://www.creativelifechanges.com/ to see more in-depth articles and to view her programs.

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Stress Relief Online Games - The Best Way to Burst Stress

In today's world stress has become part and parcel of everybody's life. It is creating a lot of mental and physical problems. Unfortunately, most of us are not able to control our daily stress levels. If you are also one of them, I have some good ideas for you. A lot of things are available to relieve stress but best of them is playing stress relief games. This is the easiest and the most entertaining method of managing stress and anxiety.

So many techniques can be used to relieve stress such as comic shows, laughter therapy, jokes, indoor games, outdoor games and computer games. One thing you must keep in mind is that these games should not be played with the spirit of winning or losing. You should play with the goal of reducing your stress and anxiety.

All games are good stress relievers but computer games are trendier as we are getting more digitalized day by day. There are countless stress relief games available on the internet.

One of them is Stress Reducer Desktop Destroyer. This is the simplest, oldest and the most popular game. In this game you can choose any one out of the nine weapons (shooting, burning, smashing etc.) to destroy your computer desktop. This game is a good antidote for stress. After relieving your stress you can go on with your daily tasks.

One more game that you can choose to control your stress levels is the Sudoku Online. The internet offers a wide range of Sudoku puzzles; you can choose any one according to your interests. Definitely it will help you to reduce your stress to a great level. Sudoku is the most popular Japanese Mind puzzle game all over the world.

Another stress relief game is Paintball Online. You can play it as an outdoor game also but everybody is so tensed and is not interested to play it as an outdoor game. Everybody prefers to play it online. Playing it online is cheaper and time saving. With Paintball Online, you shoot your rivals until your stress is relieved. It relaxes your mind for the time being. It will divert your mind from the strains you have to face regularly.

Apart from these you can try many other stress relief games for a relaxing and wonderful day. Attempt the different games and choose the best to suppress your stress. So, play and enjoy.

If you are looking for more information regarding Stress Relief Games then feel free to visit Desktop Destroyer

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5 Tips for Preventing Social Media Burnout

Making the decision to add social media to your marketing plan was a good one. There's no question that it's a smart, cost-efficient method for creating awareness, attracting a loyal following, building a solid customer base and boosting sales. Businesses everywhere are quick to attest to its success. But now that you've jumped into the social media pool with both feet, how do you keep from getting overwhelmed by the added responsibility of maintaining your calendar and keeping your content both current and effective?

Take a deep breath and discover these five ways to maintain your focus and keep from getting stressed out about your social media schedule.

1. Less is more. There are many social media networks out there and the numbers are growing all the time. Choose just a few based on your audience and your business goals. Managing a couple of networks on a regular basis is much more effective than spreading yourself too thin - or even worse - quitting because you simply can't keep up.

2. Create a content calendar. Planning a social media calendar helps you feel better organized and more in control of your publishing efforts. Don't try and plan months in advance. Every two weeks is more easily manageable and won't force ideas that might be off-topic or bring no value to your audience.

3. Utilize the tools of the trade. Discover social marketing tools that allow you to manage multiple networks simultaneously. HootSuite and TweetDeck are just a couple of tools that were designed to help you create efficiencies and provide an analysis of the effectiveness of your efforts.

4. Get away from it all. Maintain a healthy social media balance by not becoming an online junkie. You'll keep your message content fresh and more relevant when you take a few steps back and stay open to new ideas.

5. Have fun. Social media allows you to make an impression through your insights, connections and offerings. When you look like you're having fun, people will gravitate to your message and success will follow.

Watch how your contemporaries are managing their social media presence, too. You may want to model your strategy and style after other businesses and organizations you admire. Just remember, not every message you deliver is going to result in a home run. But as you become more and more familiar with the medium, you won't feel so overwhelmed by the process, and soon you'll discover that being social is really a great way to do business.

© 2012 Holly Anthony

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Holly Anthony is the founder of Office Moxie, a company dedicated and passionate about helping clients create an online presence through social media, email marketing, WordPress Websites and blogs. To learn more about how Holly and the team at Office Moxie can help you make the most of your online marketing strategy, visit their website and sign up for the free Office Moxie ezine at Office Moxie.

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