How Often Do You Allow ‘Time Out’ for Yourself?

The pressures of modern-day living, with responsibilities for your children, your spouse, or elderly relatives never mind your work colleagues or those that you manage, can often mean you get very little ‘time out’ for yourself.  The chance of some peace and quiet is minimal and the impact on your stress level is huge. 

It’s not just the quality of your work that can suffer if you’re stressed because you’re working under time pressure.  Stress is a killer.  Some of the ill-effects of stress on health include anxiety, depression, poor digestion, heart disease, loss of sleep, tension headaches/migraines, weight gain from poor food choices, and impaired memory/concentration.  Sometimes you may not even be aware that you’re damaging your health, but the effects of stress can be cumulative.

Over the years as a business coach and now a nutrition and health coach, I have often spoken to clients about ‘Time Out on the Subs’ bench. In a game of basketball, its fast and furious with little or no respite. Players rotate and frequently get ‘Time Out’ on the subs bench. When you need to come up for air, take a 5-minute break and sit on your own ‘subs bench’ to relax. Do some deep breathing, close your eyes and get your stress under control.  Practice this routine, multiple times each day and reap the benefits.

What do you do to keep your stress under control?