I find that adjusting my attitude towards these things can help. Sometimes I focus on just being grateful for having a job in this economy, and then the stressors don't seem so bad.
In the future I will eliminate my stress by sharing with a friend or relatives. I will let go of friends and family that cause me unnecessary stress.
I believe I should take the time ask other instructors for their course material. Getting to know and exchanging information with other instructors could benefit my students.
It is amazing how things work in our lives. Two weeks ago a friend of mine had a free pass to the gym. I figured I had not worked out for awhile and decided to take advantage of it. I enjoyed myself so much going and exercising that I decided to join the gym. Even if I can not stay and do a complete workout I still go and do something and what a relief I feel when I leave to head home. God truly does work in mysterious ways because I know I needed this. I will tell anyone the best way to deal with your stress is to do some type of exercise it makes you feel great.
James Libell
1. I will start going to bed earlier so that I get enough sleep - that way I can start the next day off on the right foot.
2. I will start exercising again. I used to do this and felt great. Slowly, the time that was scheduled for exercise was reallocated to get stuff done around the house and with the kids. I am going to take this time back for myself.
Tina,
I also think exercising is a good start. I like your idea of using a journal to vent instead of expressing this to a friend. I am sure at first my friends would not mind, but if it were a routine conversation I am sure they would start to avoid my calls. Who would blame them?
I think I will share my stress with a friend. Who knows maybe they will have a good idea of how to reduce some of my stressors. I would also like to make time to exercise at least a couple times a week. I could ease tension and also lose a few pounds at the time same, what a win/win situation.
Haha!
I need to get through this first term and then breathe!
I don't really have a lot of stress as there isn't a lot that bothers me as I find it's just self management.
There are three key coping mechanisms that I believe I will utilize in order to help me cope with the various stressors in my life. I am not very effective the day after I have not slept well. Compound this with stressors and the day becomes all the more challenging. If I have enough sleep - somewhere in the ballpark of 7 to 8 hours, I will be more effective the next day. In addition, I believe that striving for a few days that include about a 45 minute - 1 hour walk would be very effective as well. This will help me to step away from the stressors for at least a brief amount of time and focus on some positive type of activity for me - both physically and mentally. I am fortunate to have a few individuals in my life who I can share some of my concerns and challenges with. I will definitely continue to utilize this support system in order to cope with any stressors that cannot be eliminated or reduced.
That's interesting Gardner. Just goes to show that there are individual differences in the kinds of things that help people reduce stress. Yours is rather unique, but it's a good thing you identified it.
I really like your philosophy of a health and fitness triangle. I think we could all use one of those. Thanks for sharing Adrienne.
What's great about exercise is that it fosters good health and decreases stress. So if you are doing it for health, you may begin to realize other useful benefits.
I just started to excercise (for personal reasons) so I will make sure that is available to me if stressful times arise
In the future, I plan to continue to eat right and exercise on a regular basis. I plan to go on a 10 minute walk on my treadmill or in the park, if I cannot go for my usual 20 to 30 minute walk. I learned that doing 'some' exercise is better than none at all in relieving my stress. I have a gym membership and I plan to continue using it at least 2 to 3 days out of the week. The gym has an exercise cinema room with bikes and treadmills that make it a movie theatre experience without the popcorn. They have popular movies showing all day. The gym is a 'get away' stress reliever for me. I will continue taking hot salt baths in the evening on nights when I do not have live chats. I will also make sure that I get 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night. I had begun slipping down from that amount. Sleep is a very important part of the 'health' and fitness triangle (diet, exercise and rest).
Good healthy meals and some interesting reading to take your mind off stressful things. I read biographies of past presidents that I find fascinating.
1. Get enough sleep and not watch TV late into the night.
2. Walking. Walk no less than 2 miles per day.
3. Resist over eating.
4. Do aerobic exercises.
5. Do breating exercises.
Think about the stressors in your life that cannot be eliminated or reduced. Based on what you have learned in this module about healthy coping mechanisms, what will you do in the future to cope with these stressors?
Well, I know I will implement more exercise into my regiment. You know, every semester, I do a life management schedule and this semester I did not. I can tell a HUGE difference. Now, don't get me wrong, the schedule is made for me not vice versa, but it really does help seeing it on paper, partly because I am a visual learner. Even if I do not DO every activity every minute of the day as it recommends, at least when I do feel discombobulated, I can take a gander and see what I should be doing if I want to get back on track. What a huge help that is! So, I will implement that again, in addition to more exercise.
Technical difficulties can be a pain, particularly for online instructors. Developing a backup plan is a great way to reduce stress when technical challenges arise.
Since most of my stress cannot be eliminated I will use techniques such as stretching and exercising to cope.
Thanks,
Amy Ng
One of the stressors that I can eliminate is the technical difficulties of the CTU server. Sometimes it is slow and may go down during a chat session. If see that the server is slow, I let the student know what is the backup plan.
