Round 7 - Stress Free Zones

Our staff room can be a stress free zone. We have a puzzle going all the time, unfortunately I find this stressful as I want to play with the puzzle and almost forget to come back from break. One day I missed eating my dinner because I was doing the puzzle. We have a CD player with several new age CDs nearby to play for a calming effect. Some people take their breaks with subdued lighting which quiets the mind. When we were migrating to Horizon we also had electric wind chimes and aromatherapy. This greatly reduced the stress of learning a whole new system.
My garden is another stress free zone. I have water features and soft lighting that help me to meditate and release the thoughts in my mind. Add some liquid fermented fruit and ahhhhh.

Round 6- Stress Therapy

I love yoga for stress therapy. I am trying the yoga at your desk since I can't seem to find time to do it at home. I also keep a yoga mat in my locker for lunch hours, it is very calming to do this before returning to work. Another of my favorites is walking the labyrinth. We had one here at Stafford in the meeting room for a while. I have one set up in my yard, made up of rocks. I love to do that barefoot, walking on the nice, soft grass.

Round 5 - Workplace Stress

I often feel workplace stress. I know sometimes I am over committed, like now with Polaris. I want to experience working through a system migration, but am also committed to developing a sytem-wide mentor program. In addition, I am continuing my regular duties as a circulation supervisor. Prioritizing and time management help with getting the work done, but when there is a deadline the stress naturally increases. I had to say, "no" to a training project I really wanted to work on so I could work on a training project I really wanted to work on. Both projects took place in the spring and it was not possible to do them at the same time. I have had to give up my exercise routine again to concentrate on graduate work at home, so I'm losing an important method of stress relief. If I indulge in anything, no matter how small, I feel like I've lost valuable time to get something else done. I really have to work on this, and get back to my exercise routine. The one thing I do now is to go to my bedroom an hour before I want to go to sleep so I can quiet my mind. I watch TV, but it just drones as I'm not really listening. This way I am able to put all my loose thoughts together and sleep more peacefully.