Tech For Life

What a week! My day job has been sucking me dry these last few days, and it feels like Christmas never happened, or at best is a very dim and distant memory. How about you? Feeling those New Year Blues?

Well it could be that there is more to it than just being upset that the parties are over for another year (Or at least until you can find another good excuse…). Over at Dumb Little Man, they list 10 reasons why you might be feeling run down, depressed, short fused etc, and some suggestions on how to beat it. Here are some highlights, but you should really pop over and check out the whole thing.

1. Lack of Sleep - this is a biggie. It’s fairly common knowledge that we are grumpy when we dont get our full quota of sleep, but what can you do about it? I like Steve Pavlina’s tip on how to work out how much sleep you need. Set the alarm for the same time each morning, and vary when you go to bed. Note how tired you feel each morning, and when you wake up feeling refreshed and ready for the day, that’s enough. Simple, but effective, just my kind of tip.
2. Caffeine - OK hands up, who drinks too much coffee? I know I do. It’s just so warm, and comforting, and invigorating. Well, there are a bunch of reasons why it is worth doing your best to break this particular habit, and Dumb Little Man covers them pretty well, so scoot on over to take a look.
3. Stress - Another obvious one, but there are a few little tips to help. First and foremost, and a trick that I learned only a few years ago, is to learn to say No. Not all the time, and always in the right way, but learning to let people know that their request just isn’t possible right now is one of the biggest keys to reducing stress. Another often overlooked stress-buster is meditation, by which I mean quiet contemplation, prayer, or simlar. Just going somewhere quiet, by yourself, and emptying your mind of as much as possible for 10 or 15 minutes can make all the difference.

There are 10 possible sources of Negative Energy in the article, and some great links to more articles that suggest ways to help you climb out of the Negative Spiral Trap and start radiating positivity again!

Personally, I am going to try meditation, and cutting caffeine. Well, cutting caffeine a bit…it can’t hurt that much…can it?