1. Get up fifteen minutes earlier in the morning. The inevitable morning
mishaps will be less stressful.

2. Prepare for the morning the evening before. Set the breakfast table,
make lunches, put out the clothes you plan to wear, etc.

3. Don?t rely on your memory. Write down appointment times, when to pick
up the laundry, when library books are due, etc. ("The palest ink is
better than the most retentive memory." - Old Chinese Proverb)

4. Do nothing which, after being done, leads you to tell a lie.

5. Make duplicates of all keys. Bury a house key in a secret spot in the
garden and carry a duplicate car key in your wallet, apart from your key
ring.

6. Practice preventive maintenance. Your car, appliances, home, and
relationships will be less likely to break down/fall apart "at the worst
possible moment."

7. Be prepared to wait. A paperback can make a wait in a post office
line almost pleasant.

8. Procrastination is stressful. Whatever you want to do tomorrow, do
today; whatever you want to do today, do it now.

9. Plan ahead. Don?t let the gas tank get below one-quarter full; keep a
well-stocked "emergency shelf" of home staples; don?t wait until you?re
down to your last bus token or postage stamp to buy more; etc.

10. Don?t put up with something that doesn?t work right. If your alarm
clock, wallet, shoe laces, windshield wipers ? whatever ? are a constant
aggravation, get them fixed or get new ones.



11. Allow 15 minutes of extra time to get to appointments. Plan to
arrive at an airport one hour before domestic departures.

12. Eliminate (or restrict) the amount of caffeine in your diet.

13. Always set up contingency plans, "just in case." ("If for some
reason either of us is delayed, here?s what we?ll do?" kind of thing.
Or, "If we get split up in the shopping center, here?s where we?ll
meet.")

14. Relax your standards. The world will not end if the grass doesn?t
get mowed this weekend.

15. Pollyanna-Power! For every one thing that goes wrong, there are
probably 10 or 50 or 100 blessings. Count ?em!

16. Ask questions. Taking a few moments to repeat back directions, what
someone expects of you, etc., can save hours. (The old "the hurrieder I
go, the behinder I get, " idea.)

17. Say "No!" Saying "no" to extra projects, social activities, and
invitations you know you don?t have the time or energy for takes
practice, self-respect, and a belief that everyone, everyday, needs
quiet time to relax and be alone.

18. Unplug your phone. Want to take a long bath, meditate, sleep, or
read without interruption? Drum up the courage to temporarily
disconnect. (The possibility of there being a terrible emergency in the
next hour or so is almost nil.) Or use an answering machine.

19. Turn "needs" into preferences. Our basic physical needs translate
into food, water, and keeping warm. Everything else is a preference.
Don?t get attached to preferences.

20. Simplify, simplify, simplify?

21. Make friends with nonworriers. Nothing can get you into the habit of
worrying faster than associating with chronic worrywarts.

22. Get up and stretch periodically if your job requires that you sit
for extended periods.

23. Wear earplugs. If you need to find quiet at home, pop in some
earplugs.

24. Get enough sleep. If necessary, use an alarm clock to remind you to
go to bed.

25. Create order out of chaos. Organize your home and workspace so that
you always know exactly where things are. Put things away where they
belong and you won?t have to go through the stress of losing things.

26. When feeling stressed, most people tend to breathe in short, shallow
breaths. When you breathe like this, stale air is not expelled,
oxidation of the tissues is incomplete, and muscle tension frequently
results. Check your breathing throughout the day, and before, during,
and after high-pressure situations. If you find your stomach muscles are
knotted and your breathing is shallow, relax all your muscles and take
several deep, slow breaths. Note how, when you?re relaxed, both your
abdomen and chest expand when you breathe.

27. Writing your thoughts and feelings down (in a journal, or on paper
to be thrown away) can help you clarify things and can give you a
renewed perspective.

28. Try the following yoga technique whenever you feel the need to
relax. Inhale deeply through you nose to the count of eight. Then, with
lips puckered, exhale very slowly through your mouth to the count of 16,
or for as long as you can. Concentrate on the long sighing sound and
feel the tension dissolve. Repeat 10 times.

29. Inoculate yourself against a feared event. Example: before speaking
in public, take time to go over every part of the experience in your
mind. Imagine what you?ll wear, what the audience will look like, how
you will present your talk, what the questions will be and how you will
answer them, etc. Visualize the experience the way you would have it be.
You?ll likely find that when the time comes to make the actual
presentation, it will be "old hat" and much of your anxiety will have
fled.

30. When the stress of having to get a job done gets in the way of
getting the job done, diversion ? a voluntary change in activity and/or
environment ? may be just what you need.

31. Talk it out. Discussing your problems with a trusted friend can help
clear your mind of confusion so you can concentrate on problem solving.

32. One of the most obvious ways to avoid unnecessary stress is to
select an environment (work, home, leisure) which is in line with your
personal needs and desires. If you hate desk jobs, don?t accept a job
which requires that you sit at a desk all day. If you hate to talk
politics, don?t associate with people who love to talk politics, etc.

33. Learn to live one day at a time.

34. Every day, do something you really enjoy.

35. Add an ounce of love to everything you do.

36. Take a hot bath or shower (or a cool one in summertime) to relieve
tension.

37. Do something for somebody else.

38. Focus on understanding rather than on being understood; on loving
rather than on being loved.

39. Do something that will improve your appearance. Looking better can
help you feel better.

40. Schedule a realistic day. Avoid the tendency to schedule
back-to-back appointments; allow time between appointments for a
breathing spell.

41. Become more flexible. Some things are worth not doing perfectly and
some issues are well to compromise upon.

42. Eliminate destructive self-talk: "I?m too old to?," "I?m too fat
to?," etc.

43. Use your weekend time for a change of pace. If you work week is slow
and patterned, make sure there is action and time for spontaneity built
into your weekends. If your work week is fast-paced and full of people
and deadlines, seek peace and solitude during your days off. Feel as if
you aren?t accomplishing anything at work? Tackle a job on the weekend
which you can finish to your satisfaction.

44. "Worry about the pennies and the dollars will take care of
themselves." That?s another way of saying: take care of the todays as
best you can and the yesterdays and the tomorrows will take care of
themselves.

45. Do one thing at a time. When you are with someone, be with that
person and with no one or nothing else. When you are busy with a
project, concentrate on doing that project and forget about everything
else you have to do.

46. Allow yourself time ? everyday ? for privacy, quiet, and
introspection.

47. If an especially unpleasant task faces you, do it early in the day
and get it over with; then the rest of your day will be free of anxiety.

48. Learn to delegate responsibility to capable others.

49. Don?t forget to take a lunch break. Try to get away from your desk
or work area in body and mind, even if it?s just for 15 or 20 minutes.

50. Forget about counting to 10. Count to 1,000 before doing something
or saying anything that could make matters worse.

51. Have a forgiving view of events and people. Accept the fact that we
live in an imperfect world.

52. Have an optimistic view of the world. Believe that most people are
doing the best they can.

53. Batteries.

ROFLMAO.......


SOOOOOO good....I have # 53

OMG

Hiya Tom!! Kewl list!!

Batteries!! for what??

Stress reduction. Batteries operate a number of tools.

........and or gadgets

YEA!! Biggest things, my mouse & keyboard...
So I have 2 differnt sets of rechargables..

Hiya Puff!

Where's my all time favorite, stock up on choclates?

too long.

shorter lists is the most effective stress reliever.

Lisa...

How you doing honey??

READING LONG LISTS STRESSES ME OUT...

put a lighter perspective on life :)

AWWW I thought this was a poker thread or 52 card pick-up