Take Time Out from Your Work Day to Lower Stress!

Do you feel like some days you’re just more naturally focused and productive than others?  It’s human nature.  There are days when we feel more alert and energized, and then there are days when we just can’t seem to get with it.  On those unfocused days, do you just grit your teeth, tense your shoulders, and give yourself a stern talking-to, with the hopes that you’ll be able to “just get whatever it is that you need to do, done?”  If that’s your standard coping mechanism, you probably find yourself feeling increasingly more stressed by the minute!

I was having one of those mornings today, when I just kept getting distracted.  Sometimes distraction can be a good thing!  Today, I kept wandering over to Twitter, to see what was happening in my Twitter community.  On one of my trips over there, I saw a “tweet” by Lisa Braithwaite, Santa Barbara’s wonderful public speaking coach.   She wrote that she was about ready to head out for a workout.  I have a lot of respect for Lisa, and I thought maybe I should pay attention to the choice she was making about how to use her time.  It struck me that I hadn’t gotten outside to do anything active yet today, and maybe that would be helpful.  I decided to take my camera and head out for a neighborhood walk, to see what I could find.  The picture above is of some beautiful iceberg roses that I saw while I was out and about.  I didn’t go for a long walk, but when I got back, I felt so much more relaxed and ready to focus on the task at hand — which just happened to be this blog entry that you’re reading right now.  I would imagine that Lisa’s workout was much more intense than mine, but I think the results were probably similar.

Taking time out to get some exercise, breathe fresh air, and see different scenery can allow us to relax our whole being, mind, body and spirit.  It’s a really good use of time!  When we come back to the task at hand, we will probably find that our stress is gone — or at least significantly lower, and we can be much more productive and focused.  Give it a try!  Let me know how it works for you.

Until next time,

Linda