How Stressed are you?

How Stressed Are You?

Is your life hectic, fast-paced and fraught with deadlines and crises?
When you live a hurry-up, not-enough-time existence, you trigger your body's natural response of adrenalin release. You know that feeling? The heart quickens, the senses become more alert and the tension in your muscles is increased. It is the caveman "fight or flight" response. What you probably aren't aware of is that you can become addicted to adrenalin.
The danger is that you become dependent on the adrenalin to fuel you and get you through your days. Like a rubber band that resumes its shape after being stretched, your body is designed to use the adrenalin rush for emergencies - allowing you to get by with less sleep and be super-alert and then return to a natural calm state. If, however, that rubber band is continually stretched, there is a point where it begins to crack and then breaks. Your body is no different. The adrenal glands, as a part of your immune system, are designed to work on keeping you well and healthy. If you continually divert them and use them for fueling your energy, you will notice you get sick more. John Wanamaker said," People who cannot find time for recreation are obliged sooner or later to find time for illness."
The adrenalin response can be intensely pleasurable and we can begin to "crave" it or structure our living so that we leave things to the last minute, counting on that "doing our best work under pressure" response. If you live this way long enough, it starts to feel very uncomfortable when it isn't coursing through your veins. Eventually, however, you will pay the price.
Here are some questions to ask:
• Do you overpromise and then rush to get it done at the last minute?
• Do you drink coffee or other caffeine-filled drinks to keep going?
• Do you react strongly to the unexpected?
• Do you drive five mph or more over the speed limit, tailgate, and become impatient with other drivers?
• Do you tend to run late?
• Do you feel an inner rush or lack of calmness most of the time?
• Do you talk a lot, even when people have stopped listening?
• Do you find you attract more problems or upsets than you deserve?
• Are you constantly thinking about work, even when you are home or on vacation?
• Do you have your pager and/or phone on all the time?
• Do you usually pull things off right at the last moment?
• Do you have a compulsion to always "be doing" something?
• Do you feel guilty when resting or relaxing?
• Are you irritable and easily aggravated?
• Is there a vague sense of depression when you aren't working?
If you answered yes to five or more of these, you are probably using adrenalin as your energy source.
If you are ready to slow down, enjoy the moment and not push so hard, the first step is awareness. You can then decide what behaviors are you going to change. Identify your triggers that initiate the adrenalin rush and start eliminating them. Here are some triggers and solutions:

TRIGGER SOLUTION
Overpromising Results Deliberately underpromise,regardless of the other person's reaction
Arriving just in time or late Leave 15 minutes earlier for every appointment
Involved in lots of projects Pare it down by 50% or no more than 3
Continual use of caffeine Cut it out (expect withdrawal symptoms)
Having lots of incompletions Start completing everything 100%
Letting people walk over you Expand the boundaries you set with others
Driving too fast Drive at the speedlimit or 5 miles under
Should's & Have to's Get rid of shoulds - live your OWN agenda
Putting up with & tolerating things Get it done and tolerate NOTHING - re-educate others
"Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer. Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance and a lack of harmony and proportion is more readily seen." - Leonardo Da Vinci
Be willing to feel bored. It may take three to six months before you stop craving the high. You will eventually find a new energy source kicks in - your natural passion for what's important and what is truly valuable to you.
Life is too short to hurry. Living an adrenalin lifestyle robs you of the enjoyment and appreciation of the present moment. It is always nicer for others to be around someone who is not stressed and hurried. You'll find you attract more "nice" people to you. It could be the best thing you do for your business and yourself this year.
Copyright © 2000 Realty Times. All rights reserved. 7/14/00