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Current and Breaking News for Professionals, Consumers and Media |
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| Current and Breaking News for Professionals, Consumers and Media |
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I am going to focus on one of the greatest sources of stress—time management. Our time used to be scheduled for us—by our schools, workplaces, retail shops, and so on. Now, however, our time isn't managed for us. Yet, it isn't our own either. We work at night and on the weekends. We shop online in the middle of the night. Friends and family call us while we're driving, and text us when we're at work. Using your time the way you want to use it requires self-discipline and goals. But first, you need to see where to put your focus. Try this two-part exercise. It may very well change your life; it did mine. For part one, write down the seven greatest sources of stress in your life. List #1: The 7 Greatest Sources of Stress in Your Life __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ Stress—and what's causing it for you—is an important aspect of your life that you need to understand, because it is a risk factor for heart disease and cancer. Stress increases inflammation, which scientists now know is the culprit behind heart disease, cancer, obesity, diabetes, Alzheimer's, and other killer diseases. Stress has been shown in many studies to decrease immune system function, increase blood pressure, increase depression, and lead to temper-control issues. Stress has an eroding effect on three of our pillars that support optimal health—reducing risk factors, rest, and mental and spiritual health. Not only does stress harm our health, but so do many of the ways people choose to cope with it. Some of us respond to stress with isolation, anger, or impulsive behaviors. Appetite changes are common: Some people lose their appetites during stress while others cope by compulsively overeating. Others turn to alcohol, smoking, or other mood altering drugs. Now for part two of the exercise. Please list the seven most important things in your life, in order. (Ranking them may take more reflection than naming them.) Write these seven items below. List #2: The 7 Most Important Things in Your Life __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ Now compare the two lists you have made. Notice anything interesting? For most people, the two lists are very similar. (If yours are not similar, your path is easy. It means you have a lot of unimportant things bothering you. Just get rid of them.) When the two lists are similar, it means that the most important things in your life are also causing you the most stress. Therefore, when people tell you that the way to handle stress is to just let go of it, they are really telling you to run away from the most important things in your life: your family, job, finances, and so on. Here's the deal. A weekend away or a golf game may help in the short term. But your problems are always there when you come home. If someone were to observe you for a week—as if you were the star of a reality show—would they be able to accurately determine the seven most important things in your life? If not, then you are living in conflict with your own goals and values. This is what I mean by time management. You are not managing your time—which is in essence, your life—so as to do what is most important. When you do not live your daily hours according to your internal priority list, you will experience internal conflict and stress. This is what happened to me a few years ago. Anyone looking at my life 12 years ago would have figured that my occupation, medicine, was number one on my list. I was at the office all day every day. And when I got home, I brought my work home with me. I knew my work and home life were out of balance, and I struggled with how to get my life in line with my priorities. Finally, I realized that I had to change my approach to my work. I had to make other changes too. I moved to a rural area in order to reduce my cost of living, so I could cut back on my work. I was at home a lot more, and spent more quality time with my wife, and more time playing with my young children. I ended up selling my medical practice to a large corporation, which freed up even more time. With this extra time and more natural surroundings, I made my health a priority. Getting my life in line with all seven priorities on my list took years to accomplish, but the process has worked amazingly well. I urge you to take a look at your own life. As you start to actually manage your time so it is aligned with the people and things that are most important to you, you will start to feel calmer, happier, and more serene. And the physical symptoms of stress on your body will start to go away naturally. Once you achieve a low level of stress in your life, you are more likely to be healthy and energetic long into old age. Duke Johnson, MD, is an internationally known medical researcher and authority on chronic diseases, a health educator and speaker, and author of The Optimal Health Revolution: How Inflammation Is the Root Cause of the Biggest Killers (BenBella Books, 2009). He has been Medical Director for the past 12 years at Nutrilite Health Center (www.nutrilite.com), a prominent medical institution in Southern California, where he practices preventive medicine. www.HealthNewsDigest.com Top of Page 
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