All stressed out and nowhere to go?
From a friend and fellow Weighting Game poster: "How about doing a blog about balancing a stressful career with taking care of yourself? I need to hear how other people deal with this. I've been so stressed at work that I've been pounding the chocolate and crashing at home."
Can you help her out? I've managed to work myself into a tizzy between writing (I swear, I'm juggling double-digit assignments right now), travelling, shelling out $700+ for new breaks (Carlos, you're KILLING me!), and trying to find suitable anniversary presents for my parents, in-laws, plus Father's Day gifts and, oh yeah, 8 bazillion family members have birthdays in the next three weeks, including my husband, father, and two grandfathers - one turning the big 9-0! Mostly it's the work that's got me all wonky, thinking Tuesday is Wednesday and locking my car keys in the car on Sunday night at the gym, 10 minutes before the Sopranos series finale was about to start and kicking off a three hour ordeal extraordinaire that I may blog about at a later date, if I'm not too embarrassed by my own stupidity (it gets so, so much worse.)
When I get stressed, I get pimply and cranky and tend to dive into the peanut butter, emerging sticky and covered in a thick layer of regret. Sometimes I need to sequester myself in a room and watch TLC Property Ladder or something equally zone-worthy. If I've had caffeine, I can go for a run and pound it out, hip hop blasting through my iPod. A really good, hard sweat always de-stresses me. So does a good shtup, but my mother is now visiting the site so I need to be careful what I say.
What do you do? Scream into a pillow? Write in a journal? Take a bath? Shop? (Oh, yeah, I do that big time. I can track my stressful days by impulse buys...like little crumbs following me home from a bakery...)
Help my friend, help me, help each other. Stress Busters 101 starts now.
Comments
Pollyanna was obnoxiously upbeat with that "Glad Game," but she was onto something. When something stressful happens, I try to think of reasons I could still be happy. For example, when there was a traffic jam on the freeway this morning because of an accident, I thought, "I am glad that I'm not in an accident, I'm glad my car even started this morning, and I'm glad I have a job I enjoy going to." It definitely helps cut down stress.
So, with buying the birthday presents, be glad your family members are around for you to appreciate, or if you have a ton of work to do, tell yourself that's a good thing! If your boss didn't have anything for you to do, you wouldn't have a job to begin with.
I promise if you try this, it becomes a habit after only a couple of weeks. I really recommend it. :)
Nikki, I love your glass-half-full attitude and you're absolutely right...I am SO lucky to have work pouring in and phenomenal loved ones to celebrate with. That is a great approach and I am going to start adopting it - I usually think of myself as an optimist, but sometimes stress gets in the way.
Thanks!
xxo
Logically, I KNOW that the best stress buster for me is a good run on the lakefront. BUT, even though I know that, sometimes a doughy blueberry scone and a latte works even better. I know that I shouldn't use food to medicate myself when I get stressed out, but sometimes a tasty treat does wonders. So does writing and screaming and punching imaginary objects :)
Keep the suggestions flowing, girls. I'm suffocating from PMS and feel like diving head first into an Olympic-pool-sized hot fudge sundae. I have nothing to contribute right now, but am sponging up your ideas.
Go for a walk a window shop (I only bring $5 with me and no checkcard so I'm not tempted); Sit in a corner of Barnes and Nobles with a pile of gossip and travel magazines; Watch a few episodes of Scrubs or the Cosby Show (I have both on DVD); Spend an afternoon with my cookbooks planning menus for dinner parties I'll never throw.
My stress buster is a shot of Grey Goose Mandarin vodka in the evening. I have a high powered job in Manhattan, commute 1 1/2 hours each way, take care of my honey, my son, my 91 year old aunt, keep tabs on my aging folks and less than normal sister, have a puppy, 3 cats, and 2 new rescue kitties, am involved in my local synagogue, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Should I lose a few pounds? Yes. Should I sleep more? Yes (that's where the commute comes in handy). But I'm happy and don't regret any of it. Besides the vodka, my stress buster is living every moment to it's fullest. Live, ladies, live. We all support you.
What a wonderful thing it would be if someone would say to us, "Good job. Now take plenty of time and be good to yourself. Take time to play, to pleasure, to relax. You will still get the things done that you want to accomplish."
Well, most likely someone is not going to say those things to us, but we can say it to ourself.
When we commmit to be our own best friend, we are also committing to put work in its healthy perspective.
You know, I've gotten caught up on work binges in the past and some of my feelings were: productive,guilty, shame, and frustration.
It's not lost on me that being productive and accomplishing something are not always one and the same. Our society breeds busyness. We've become human doings rather than human beings.
I've found that many times subtle or not so subtle feelings of inadequcy: not enough, less than, not equal propel us into self-destructive behavior. Awareness is the first step to change.
Plant a mini garden in a huge flower pot or listen to your heart.
what wonderful and wide-ranging ideas! I love sitting in B&N with a pile of mags and just soaking in all the stuff, and Scrubs makes me shoot water (ok diet soda) out of my nose. As for the vodka shot, I'm slightly wimpy and have a hard time throwing back shots, but there are definitely days where I see the appeal of unwinding with a glass of Riesling (the more it tastes like white grape juice, the better). AmesMom, you make my schedule seem like a playground! I think CoachDoreen has a really interesting point, tho - I love your phrase "Human Doings." I do find myself making these long to-do lists and sometimes the tasks include things that could easily wait: "Revamp resume"; "Pitch a new story to Editor X" (when I'm already working on 4 stories for her!); "Call [insert friend from first grade]." Yes, we're always on these "work binges"...I may have to borrow that phrase from you, Doreen!
