Are you avoiding something? You should be...

In a recent study of 3,304 diverse people published in Scientific American Mind magazine they found that, on average, people get a grade of F when it comes to managing stress in their lives.

They then looked at a variety of techniques traditionally used for managing stress, and although most people don't receive formal training in stress management, many people do practice things like yoga and meditation.  These are not nearly as effective as most people think...

Stress has such broad and far ranging effects in our life - from our health, to the way we treat others, the success of our relationships and our overall quality and satisfaction with life to name a few.  In the frenetic, invasive world we live in today, you would think this is a skill that would be taught starting at a young age.  Rather, society treats it as something you're just supposed to know how to "deal with".  Well, I'm here to call shenanigans on that!

The study showed that the best way to deal with stress is to start showing it who's boss before it gets any big ideas...nip it in the bud...a stitch in time saves nine...an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure...

Here are a few ideas - all of which I practice in some form or another in my own life, which in general, is pretty stress free...and not because I'm not out there living - I race cars, yachts and throw knives for fun...I'm a CIO...I beat up a mugger once...I live in two different places (part time in Brooklyn)...I enjoy backwoods trekking in the winter in the Rockies...you get the idea...

• Devote time to identify stressors in your life and devise a plan to deal with them.  This could be as simple as a few minutes while lying in bed in the morning.  Does clutter on the dining room table bother you?  Make a plan to keep the table set at all times to prevent other things from collecting there.  Buy a book about how to declutter.  Just come up with some sort of action to start to take back control.  It can be as simple as taking the first step by committing to get rid of 5 pieces of mail from the table that day.
• Focus on positive ways to release tension.  It's so easy in our culture to turn to alcohol, overeating, drugs, TV watching, World of Warcraft...you get it...all kinds of escapism to deal (or not deal) with stress.  Find ways to reward yourself with pleasurable incentives instead of using them as an escape.  For clearing the mail off the dining room table give yourself an extra hour of gaming time...or crystal meth or something.  
• Keep lists.  Yes, this may sound a little simplistic and dorky, but with so much going on in our lives it's so easy to walk into a room, the grocery store or sit at your desk and have no idea what you were about to do / buy there.  I swear by having a place to write things down when I think of them (usually in my iPhone) and then I can forget about them until I need them called up in the right context.  This way, if I'm choosing to be a slacker and ignore my responsibilities, at least I get the satisfaction of knowing exactly what I'm ignoring.  :-) 

If anyone besides me is reading this, I'd love to hear what stresses you out.  It would also be interesting if you would share your ideas and tips for how you deal with / avoid those things.

I have more of these sorts of strategies, and they're not always easy to do (real change rarely is), but in my experience, it's worth it in the long run.  However, it would be stressful for me to spend the time to write them all out right now...so in order to practice what I preach...ciao for now! (I'll share more in the days to come...)