by Hope Staton, CMT

Co-Owner of Integrative Health Therapies

No matter who you are, what you do, or even how old you are, stress is something that we all have to deal with. We hear about it on TV, read about it in magazines and experience it on an almost daily basis. So what is stress? How does it affect us? And what can we do about it?

Physiologically, stress is the body’s reaction to external forces to return a sense of balance. The reason we have the capacity for stress is very simple…it’s there to keep us alive. At one time or another we have all had that “adrenaline rush” feeling. That is the start of the stress response pattern.  The Stress Response Pattern consists of three phases: (1) Alarm, (2) Resistance and (3) Exhaustion. You may have heard the Alarm phase termed “fight or flight”.

Throughout human history, the Stress Response pattern has been vital to human survival. The Alarm phase would allow immediate response to a sudden life or death situation. However, in modern society we have a problem. Our stressors today can be brought on by sudden events, but are far more likely to be ongoing situations such as our work, schedules, money, disorder and even our families. While our Alarms tend to be less frequent, we seem to be stuck in the Resistance phase.

The Resistance phase is what keeps you going during a stressful event and past the initial Alarm phase. If we stay stuck in this phase bad things happen. We get grouchy, short tempered and have lapses in memory and judgment. This is because our bodies are paying an even higher price by releasing chemicals to help combat stress and not absorbing the chemicals we need to maintain a healthy body. The Exhaustion phase follows that and probably need’s no explanation.

Scientific study is beginning to show what we have known for a while that our stress response effects more than just the mind. Some people have even gone so far as to claim that stress causes disease. This is not correct. Stress does not cause disease outright. However, chronic stress does exacerbate per-existing conditions, making them worse; and stress lowers the body’s immune system making it harder to fight things off and much more likely that a person will get sick in the first place. So, while stress does not cause disease or illness outright, it does create the perfect conditions for them to happen and thrive in.

One of the greatest difficulties in finding a specific answer to stress relief is that our perspective influences the magnitude of the stress response. In other words, because people see the world differently and respond to situations differently, what triggers a stress response in them will be different as well. When one person is faced with a room full of people they have never met before they might respond with excitement over the possibility of meeting new and interesting people, while another person is intimidated and nervous by the exact same scenario.

As if our natural differences didn’t make stress complicated enough, there is also the fact that our individual perception varies as well. On a week when things are going pretty well, having a computer printer go down temporarily in the middle of a project is mildly annoying, but on a week that has been difficult and already full of stressors it can be the last straw that breaks us down. The way we perceive a stressor at any given moment can greatly impact how strong our stress response is to any situation.

The good news is that we know the two major factors that can influence and reduce stress. The bad news is that it will take some work because they have to be personalized to your life. There will always be stressors that surprise us, but more often than not, you are already aware of the events, situations or scenarios you personally find stressful. The first step in reducing stress in your daily life is acknowledging what your individual stressors are then applying the two factors that most influence stress:

1) Successful Prediction

2) Perception of Control

The challenge is that just like trying to build any good habit, reducing the impact of stress in your life can only happen through a lifestyle change. It means we have to make a conscious effort to apply the principles of Successful Prediction & Perception of Control as often as possible in our daily lives. When we are able to predict stress, when we know a stressful event is going to happen in our lives, we are better able to prepare for it and therefore it will cause a much smaller stress response. When you are faced with a busy week full of activities and obligations, you can have a stress response before it even gets there by just dwelling on it. But by Predicting what your week will be like- if you plan your meals for the week, decide which day you need to do laundry, and what day you need to clean what room, you give yourself the Perception of Control that allows you to focus on the other events in the week that really do need attention. Successful Prediction, or planning ahead, will give you the Perception of Control that you need to navigate through any week with less stress.

Learning time-management and organizational skills are great ways to reduce unnecessary stress, because repetition of using Prediction and Perception of Control techniques actually shortens our stress response pattern over time. When practiced over and over the very skills and methods we use to prevent stress also help us cope better with unexpected stressful situations in general.

Developing the tools to reduce your daily stress will not come quickly or easily but will pay off in your life, not just giving you more emotional and mental peace, but also helping your overall physical health as well.

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Step1: Get A Kit of emergency supplies.  Basic Kit:

• Water (one gallon per person per day)
• Non-perishable Food (at least a 3 day supply)
• Battery powered or hand cranked radio or NOAA weather radio w/tone alert and extra batteries
• Flashlight and extra batteries
• Whistle to signal for help
• Filter Mask or cotton t-shirt to help filter air
• Moist Towlettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for sanitation
• Wrench or Pliers to turn off utilities
• Manual Can Opener
• Plastic sheeting and Duct Tape
• Important Family Documents
• Items for unique family needs (medicines, baby formula, diapers, etc,)

Think about 2 kits: A big one for your home and smaller version for your vehicle

Step 2: Make a Plan:
Develop a family emergency plan and practice it.  Who is going to do what and where when disaster strikes.  If you have family or friends that live far away from you, consider using them as the contact person everyone needs to contact because it can be easier to contact them than within your own area.

Step 3: Be Informed about what might happen:
Make yourself aware of what can happen in the event of a natural or man made emergency

Businesses need to be prepared also.  If you own a business, you need to have an emergency plan for your employees.  Prepare a written plan, give them each a copy and personally go over it with them explaining to them that in the event of an emergency, who is in charge (chain of command), how do they communicate with you and what is their expectations in helping to get the business up and running again.  People often want to get back to work because getting back into the routine of work provides them some distraction from outside stressors and gives them the comfort of a paycheck to fix any problems they may have.

You can find tons of useful articles, tips and products at  www.ready.gov,  www.thereadystore.com and www.redcrossstore.org

Recommended products:

1. Family Life Organizer and Planner 2009
2. Organize for Disaster: Prepare Your Family and Your Home for Any Natural or Unnatural Disaster
3. Jakoter Medic Tag: Programmable Flash Drive/Key Chain
4. Locket Personal Management Info System – a system that gives you control of your most private documents that is easy to store, compact and portable, all on a 1GB thumb drive.

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Well, you are not alone!  It is a extremely common problem facing most
of us on a daily basis due to the fact the most people do not have a
clear reality of how long it actually takes to do a task.

For
example: I had a client who had a full time job from 8 a.m.-4 p.m .  She was
the stress-out mother of two elementary school aged children, a boy and a girl. When we met for her organization planning session, she described her weekday morning routine.

I get up at 6 a.m., go downstairs and turn the
coffee on. I turn around and go back upstairs so I can wake up my husband.  I go back downstairs again. Then I start making the kids lunches, straighten up the den, and grab my
coffee. Now I trudge back upstairs  and pick out clothes for my husband.  Did I mention that I am usually ironing his clothes at this point?  Now I can finally get ready for work from about 6:30-6:50 a.m.  Between
6:50 to 7:30 a.m. I focus on getting the kids up and dressed for school. After getting them downstairs, they get a bowl of cereal while I load their backpacks.  We head out the door at 7:30 a.m.  I’m exhausted every morning.  I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up without going bonkers.

“How would you like your mornings to run?” I ask.

She said that she would relish having 10 minutes of quiet time.  Enjoying a cup of coffee would be a luxury.  It would be a miracle not having to rush getting herself, husband, and children ready for the day.   Eating breakfast?  Now she eats a breakfast bar on the run.  Would it be possible to eat at the breakfast table every morning?

Your “In A Snap” Solution: Knowing how many tasks are in a project and how long each task takes.

Step One: I had her write down every single task that she did in the morning.  Beside each task, she had to write how long she thought it took to do it.  Next she added up the total time for all her morning tasks. Her first list did not include every single task because
she still kept lumping things together.  She combined her shower time with dressing, hair drying, and make-up time.  I had her break out her list in detail.  She added each individual task.

Step Two: I then asked her to write down a new list.  For the next 4 days she was to write down how long it actually
took her to do each task.  She quickly realized that she was trying to
do way too much in the time she allotted herself.

Step Three: I sat down with her.  It was time for making a few tough decisions. With gentle coaching, we walked through the
process of deciding
what she could do the night before : Straightening the den, packing the
kids lunches, preparing their backpacks and sitting them beside the
door, having the kids help her pick out their own clothes, and setting
the timer on the coffee maker.  Then I asked her what could she delegate to someone else (her husband).  He could wake himself up, pick out his own clothes, and make sure they were pressed.  This allowed her husband to lend a hand with the morning routine.

Step Four: After giving her new routine a test run for just one week, she was de-stressed! She was thrilled, her kids were less moody, and her husband was able to lend a helping hand.

The morale to our organization story: Are you setting the stage each morning for a positive day or a rushed, stressed out day?  Let Clutter Conversions in control..Organized Living in a Snap!

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Disorganization can lead to:

Medical Mistakes and Errors such as grabbing the wrong chart or wrong medications, poor communication.

Physical stress on the body, Increased blood pressure and Heart rate, Decreased immune system (more colds and flu’s).  When you need something right away and you have to dig through the piles on your desk, floor or drawers to find it, physically your heart rate and blood pressure increases and you begin to panic.  Your body is in the “Fight or Flight” mode and if this happens frequently, your body stays in that mode and cannot relax.  Studies have shown that this leads to ulcers, high blood pressure and other chronic conditions.

Unprofessional =  Missed Appointments and Project Deadlines.

Clutter can lead to:

Depression and Isolation = Some people get so caught up in “their stuff” that it takes over their entire life.  The items that surround them become like a security wall in which they find comfort but at the same time they become isolated because they will not invite visitors into their home because they are ashamed and that can lead to loneliness and depression.

Increase in Weight =  When you walk into the kitchen and you have to move items off your counter to prepare the meal or the kitchen table is piled with mail, magazines and the kids book bags, it is easier to pick up the phone and call for food delivery.  Check out the book, “Does This Make My Butt Look Fat” by Peter Walsh.

Sickness and Disease = Most people do not pay attention to or know the expiration dates on many of the products they have in their homes.  For example, make-up and make-up brushes will begin to carry germs after 2 months.  Another item that most people frequently forget to check the expiration dates on is medications (headache powders, contact solutions, laxatives, antacids, creams, etc).

Allergies = Having a lot of clutter sitting around collects dusts and it is hard to clean all of it weekly.

Energy = Owning a lot of “stuff” demands your time and energy!!!  You spend a lot of money buying all of those items and now you have to spend a lot of time maintaining them and keeping them clean which also takes your energy!!!

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