Benay Informer 04/06/2022

Do you know the number one thing people look forward to in retirement? Less stress!

I bet you’re thinking, Dawn, are you sure about that? Truthfully, no. Not really. But what I do know is that stress is the leading cause of many ailments, and it is one of few things we have a bit of control over in our lives; the way you respond to the ups and downs of life can have a positive impact on your business and quality of life.

It sounds like a good thing to practice this month. After all, among other things, April is National Stress Awareness Month.

I, for one, wish the answer was as easy as hiring a personal masseuse to sit behind me to rub my shoulders and remind me to breathe deeply. Like many skills, it is not that simple but worth the effort you put into it. Learning the following strategies to use as needed in the office (or anywhere in life) will allow you the mental space to make better decisions, boost your focus, create time to learn new skills, and possibly even bring back a little joy to your day-to-day activities.

First, I’d like to point out three basic levels of stressors. Perhaps tackling many at the lowest level will create change. Or maybe you’d rather deflate the impact of a single significant issue. It’s totally up to you. These levels are meant to give you a tool to gauge the severity and, therefore, the urgency of your attention.

Acute/short: small events that have lasting effects

Episodic: regularly occurring situations that build on each other

Chronic/ongoing: seemingly never-ending friction that has consequences beyond our psychological level, rising to show physical symptoms

Once you have identified the situation or occurrence, you can do a few things to get ahead of or calm yourself. Once you have read through these suggestions, try implementing one, maybe two, this week. Adding in minor changes to your routine can lead to better outcomes. Changing too much too fast can create overwhelm, which is the opposite of what we want to achieve here! If you’re looking for more options and details on this list, follow us on social media or check out the links below.

Organized starts lead to fewer hiccups and calmer projects. This applies to projects, tasks, and the beginning of your day. If your day starts in chaos, it is often difficult to reign in wandering thoughts and the ability to practice resiliency in the face of the unexpected. Like having a great morning routine that sets you up for a successful day, making a plan before beginning a new project is a good idea. Gather research to find out what obstacles are generally presented in similar situations, write out a timeline and clear expectations for an outcome to work toward through each step.

Say goodbye to multitasking. The only true multitasking happens when you run your laundry, the dishwasher, and cooking dinner simultaneously. Even then, each piece is being focused on by a single appliance/person. Contrary to popular belief, focusing on a single piece of a project at a time actually gives you clearer focus and faster results.

While there are plenty more we could suggest to you, the last piece of advice for today is:

Listen to music on the way home (or on a walk between work time and family time if you are working from your home office). Often, playing an upbeat song series can help raise your joy level, put you in a better mood, and allow you to “shake off” the day’s stress so it does not manifest further as the evening progresses. There’s a reason pro-athletes have their headphones in before and after a game. The effects of music on the human brain are quite astonishing!

I’m curious to know what sort of tactics you use throughout the day and would appreciate you sharing them with me.

As always, remember that if and when your workload or specific financial or administrative focus task is the culprit causing stress in your day, you can reach out to me to coordinate the efforts of the experts at Benay to help you replace stress with success.

Until we connect again, have a beautiful day!

Dawn

Ways to improve your office life this week!

As the leader of your organization, you have the opportunity to make changes that will lower the stress of all involved.

Just like at home, plants and refreshing scents can reduce stress. Plus, a few other tips.

Breathing correctly and rhythmically can help to change your mindset under pressure. Go ahead, try it.

Break up your day with a stress-relieving activity. Here are some ideas.

Bringing your lunch to work can lower the “what’s for lunch” discussion time and ultimately act as a stress-lowering activity.

Easy, healthy lunches are an integral piece of a balanced lifestyle. This wrap sounds delicious.

Hours in front of the computer don’t need to lower your health score. Ideas to stay in good graces with your MD.

Starting your day happy is never a bad idea.

The truth about multitasking in real life.

Great leaders can do more than lead projects and generate ideas; they can help keep stress levels low.

Knowing the three levels of stress can help you address their severity and create a plan to solve them.

And, just for fun. Here are 101 interesting facts that have nothing to do with each other but might just brighten your day.