Defeating Overwhelm

Posted on July 23rd, 2007 in Tips, Health, Organization by admin

Overwhelm can be an absolute drain on your life. If you let problems pile up, the results can be disastrous. Overwhelm can actually shut down your life, when the problem gets bad enough. Productivity comes to a halt and nothing gets done. It’s a terrible feeling, but it’s not an inevitable one.

In my life, I have had many issues with overwhelm. More often than I care to think about, I was overwhelmed with everything going on in my life. It still happens to me today.

But over time, I’ve learned to overcome - and defeat - overwhelm. I use these techniques every day, and especially during extremely busy times in my life. Life has a way of piling up problems on top of you…if you let it happen. Here’s how to prevent it from bringing you down.

Stop. When you start to feel overwhelmed, the best thing you can possibly do is stop everything you’re doing. Immediately. Why? Because when situations begin to pile up in your life, they have a way of commanding your attention all at once. Suddenly, each situation bears the same amount of importance in your mind. This will cause you to spread your efforts out among each situation/problem…and none of them will ever be solved completely. You can’t let this happen…so once you start to feel overwhelm coming on, stop. Then move on to the next step…

Breathe. This step is extremely important. For the next 2 to 3 minutes, do nothing but breathe. Close your eyes, if you want to. Don’t think about your problems…don’t consider which problems to tackle first. Just breathe. This action requires you to calm down. Don’t worry about wasting time…you’ll actually make up for the 2 to 3 minutes of quiet time later. In fact, you’ll make it up tenfold or more. So just breathe…don’t think about anything. Just relax. Then you can begin to tackle the problem.

Think. Here’s where you’re going to solve your problems. Now that you’ve cleared your mind and took a breather, it’s time to make your “plan of attack”. Understand that you’re being attacked by overwhelm…and don’t allow it to beat you. Take out a pad of paper and a pen. Begin to write down everything on your mind…all of the situations that are commanding your attention right now, all the problems, and any other ideas you may have. This is called a “Brain Dump”.

This list shouldn’t be a numbered list…just a bunch of phrases/ideas on a piece of paper. Once you get everything down, take another minute or two to breathe and read what you’ve written. Once you’re ready, look at each of the situations individually. Chances are, even though you shouldn’t have consciously ordered this list, the most pressing issues on your mind will be at the top of the list. But don’t worry about that…just take each item one at a time.

Look at each situation, and think about what you need to do to fix the problem or accomplish the goal. Make notes on that same sheet of paper. When you stop the exercise, you will have everything - all the problems and possible solutions - right in front of you. Take comfort in that…the hard work is over.

Now, you need to implement your solutions.

Start. Your solutions are there…now you need to begin to tackle the problems. One at a time. Attack one situation or problem, implement your solutions, and move on to the next one. This lets you move smoothly from one situation to the next, shrinking your “to-do” list with every one.

Using this method, I’m able to eliminate the worst part of overwhelm…fear. Fear of not knowing HOW to fix your situation. By putting the solutions right in front of your eyes, you don’t have to worry about forgetting them. It’s then as simple as following instructions, as opposed to just “making it up as you go”.

I use this method every day. If you try it, I promise that you’ll find that it does much more than just “help” with overwhelm. It literally defeats it. And that can be life changing. ;-)

Bad Back? We’ve All Been There…

Posted on July 21st, 2007 in Tips, Health by admin

Sometimes topics for blog posts come from current life situations…like this one.

Two nights ago, I threw my back out. Yup…I’m only 23, and I’ve always had a bad back. I can exercise my back like crazy, but I always seem to have problems with it. Must be just one of my “lots in life”.

But I’m taking the opportunity to share some ways that I’ve found can really help me with my back problems, when they happen. Of course, the best way to heal a bad back is to keep it healthy in the first place. But that’s another day, another topic. For now, here’s how to reduce the pain of an aching back:

  • ROTATE ice and heat applications. Both have beneficial effects on a bad back (which is usually just a straining of the muscles in the back, as opposed to the injuring of the spine itself.) Use the ice for 20-30 minutes in order to reduce swelling to the injured muscles, followed by heat for 20-30 minutes, which will encourage bloodflow to the injured area, speeding up the healing process.
  • Use acetaminophen and/or ibuprofen, as per directions on the package. Try to use the maximum allowed dosage, as this will maximize the results. Of course, take the advice of your doctor over your blogger. :-)
  • Utilize relaxation techniques. This will help to distract your brain and help to make the pain less noticeable.
  • Get a nice, long massage…this is my favorite tip on the list! Of course, this can be a bit on the expensive side, but the massage techniques not only FEEL great, but they also help encourage bloodflow to the affected area.
  • Give your hamstrings a good stretch. Tight hamstrings will put unnecessary pressure on your lower back. While it’s best to do this as a preventative measure, it can also help during back spasms and/or injuries. Of course, do this with caution, and under advice of a doctor as well.

And of course, if none of these techniques help to improve your back pain, it’s time to get to the doctor, ASAP.

Tip of the Week: Clean Off That Desk!

Posted on July 18th, 2007 in Tips, Organization by admin

This week’s tip is all about organization and de-cluttering your life. There are few places in our homes which are better magnets of clutter than our desks and/or work-areas. Here’s what I recently learned about getting these spaces clean and organized…

In order to start the cleanup process, remove everything from the desk and put it on the ground.

I learned that tip a while back, and I use it every time I need to clean an area in my home. Whether it’s the table next to my bed or my work area in my home office, I remove everything from the area before I start to organize it. This method works because it re-establishes a clean, clear surface for you to work with. THEN you can begin to organize everything into piles. Of course, the goal is to throw away as much “stuff” as possible. If it’s been buried at the bottom of a pile for 3 months, chances are that you won’t be needing it anytime soon.

Of course, some people thrive in their own “comfortable” mess. But for most of us, spending 30-60 minutes getting an area clean can breathe new life into our daily routines.

Keep your eyes open for a new weekly tip! :)

Driving Healthy

Posted on July 18th, 2007 in Tips, Lifestyle, Health by admin

It’s something most of us do every day. With the pace of today’s world, we need to drive. Whether we want to or not.

But I bet you’ve probably never thought about driving healthy, have you? Do you pay attention to your posture? How close/far are you from the pedals? How well is your back being supported? Here’s a quick list of some tips to improve your days while you’re in the car. I’ll start out with the proper setup:

1. The height of the seat should be started at the lowest position, and then raised until you have a fully comfortable and unobstructed view of the road.

2. The seat should be moved forward so that you can fully depress both pedals, comfortably of course.

3. Avoid pressure behind the knees, and try to have the thighs fully supported by the seat cushion.

4. Adjust the lumbar support so that your entire back is equally supported. The support should not cause an unnatural curve in your back…it should simply “fit” your back.

5. Adjust the steering wheel so that it is as far backwards (toward you) and downwards (toward your legs) as is comfortable and safe. Be sure that the wheel clears your thighs and that you can fully see the display panel.

6. The headrest should be behind your head in order to support it in the case of an accident.

Once you’re all set up with the proper seat position, you’re ready to drive. But even while you’re driving, you can find ways to improve your health. Here’s a couple of ideas…

  • At red lights, lightly press your head against the headrest and hold for 3 seconds. Repeat this until the light turns green. This will act as exercise for your neck muscles and actually help your posture!
  • If your car doesn’t have a lumbar support feature, you may try rolling up a small towel and placing it behind your back while driving. The proper lumber support will help relieve stress from your back, and keep you healthy.
  • While driving, do your best to keep you shoulders in the “back-and-down” position. Pull your shoulders down and backwards to the point of comfort. This will relieve stress from your neck and shoulders.
  • And finally (and maybe the most difficult), try not to let that idiot who cuts you off…tick you off. Relax out there…your body will thank you for it.

To-Do Lists 2.0

Posted on July 16th, 2007 in Tools, Organization by admin

I know that many of you may have already learned the many ways to make your life easier using webtools…but I just love this stuff, so I’m going to bring it to everyone’s attention again! If you’re like me, to-do lists can either make your life easier or literally drive you crazy.

Nozbe The internet has given these time-tested tools of productivity a new lease on life. When you can, check out Nozbe and/or Simple GTD. These web-based tools will help you to organize your life, become more productive, and even help you to get more out of every day.

And just FYI…I’m more of a fan of Nozbe…it’s got a great interface and is really easy to learn.

Coming VERY Soon…

Posted on July 11th, 2007 in Announcements by admin

A little sneak peak into my newest project…keep your eyes open!

Optimize U

Lessons by Music Video

Posted on July 3rd, 2007 in Inspirational by admin

As this website progresses, you’ll come to notice that I am a HUGE fan of music. Almost any kind of music, in fact. And I love it when music does a large part of the “teaching” for me!

Now, I personally am not a fan of the band Nickleback…but that doesn’t mean that I can’t appreciate their music. And I sure do appreciate this music video. I hope that you will too. Be sure to watch until the end of the video…it’s great.

And yes, I know that this video/song is pretty old, but I still love the message. Let me know what you take away from it in the comments!