Getting Hired (Part 2)

Continuing 5 days on the subject of getting hired.

Let's start with that first job and a story about one of my kids who told me that she couldn't find a job.

She was in high school and we took a drive with a piece of notebook paper and a pen.

I told her to number each line on the paper and then we were going to drive around as she wrote down names of businesses that she would later contact to see if they were hiring.

She felt a sense of accomplishment when she filled up that sheet of paper, then she scowled at me when I told her to turn it over and we were going to do the same on the other side.

When we got home she had over 50 businesses to contact by phone that week so she could see which ones were hiring and she could go apply.

The next afternoon she called me excited because she had some leads of places that were hiring high school students and she was going to apply.

Before the week was over, she had 2 or 3 job offers to choose from.

These were not perfect jobs, they were money jobs, jobs you work to earn money, not necessarily to change the world.

If you are unemployed, are you doing the real work to get a job to earn money?

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Getting Hired (Part 1)

This week at this time each afternoon I'm going to address the unemployment/employment issue.

First off Words of Wisdom from Harvey Mackay:

Harvey Mackay's Column This Week

Look beyond human resources to find a job

By Harvey Mackay

A big stack of my mail comes from frustrated people who have tried very hard to find jobs without success. With the slow economic recovery, it's still mighty tough out there.

As I researched my last book, Use Your Head To Get Your Foot in the Door: Job Search Secrets No One Else Will Tell You, I frequently heard concerns from people who were upset at human resources departments. One person said that of the more than 300 résumés he's sent out for jobs for which he was qualified, he's only heard from 17, positive or negative. He was hoping for some better feedback so he could improve his employment odds.

HR people don't deserve the bad rap. Let me shed a little light on the subject. First, you have to realize that human resources is not a profit center and because of that, they will often be short staffed. When cuts occur, human resources is among the first to be hit.

For example, here at MackayMitchell Envelope Company, we have one HR manager to service our three plants. Our company recently received 900 applications for one position. And that was through e-mail alone. There were hundreds of applications sent through the mail as well.

Being an envelope guy, it pains me to say this but my advice is to always e-mail your résumé. It's much easier to get a response. You will seldom get a response if you mail your résumé. Don't sabotage your chances, because the amount of paperwork that is handled by human resources is astounding.

Be aware that big companies have software that scans résumés for key words, so use language that computes. Use key words in your résumé that tie in with the requirements of the position. You may need to tailor your résumé for each job. Be specific and clear about your credentials. Don't send out résumés blindly. Write to make sense to both the software and a human reader. At some point you will need to win the hearts and minds of real human beings.

Always try to differentiate yourself. Don't be boring. Don't be predictable. Don't be just another candidate. Stand out. Be different. Use a little creativity.

Your résumé has one purpose: to win an interview. Focus on the employer's needs, not yours.

If you are fortunate enough to get a job interview, pay particular attention to how your résumé is read and physically handled by an interviewer.

• If the description of a particular phase of your career or some other section of your résumé is constantly being questioned, you almost certainly need to improve the statement. Listen carefully. It's not enough to know that something is troubling people. You need to find out what in particular is bothering them.
• Do readers find it hard to follow the organization of your résumé? Are they constantly jumping between pages or paragraphs when they read it?
• Do interviewers find the language hard to penetrate? In an interview, are you constantly being asked to restate what you are saying? In particular, do they take your description of a position and restate it in terminology which uses more mainstream language?
• Is the information clearly laid out and presented in an appealing and inviting way?

If you lose out in a search, find out as much as you can about the person who won the job. Perhaps HR staff or a recruiter will be willing to share the qualifications of the successful candidate.

The great dilemma is that you are unlikely to find out you have a poor résumé because -- if it's bad -- you won't get an interview in the first place.

In addition, in these times HR staffs are overwhelmed with requests from people who are just looking for jobs to meet unemployment requirements. HR personnel want serious candidates who meet the job criteria.

Remember too that HR departments have many other functions besides screening and hiring candidates. They must also focus on benefits management, staffing issues, compliance with state and federal rules, among other duties.

My #1 piece of advice is to try to find the person doing the hiring in the company and contact him or her. You will still have to eventually go through HR, but if you can get someone to shepherd your application/résumé, you have a much better chance of landing the job.

Mackay's Moral: The purpose of your résumé is to enable you to resume work.

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Wrapping down Media Monday over the next 4 weeks....

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Leadership is Not A Title

So don't let the lack of a "title" hold you back.

Unless you are a high school drop out wanting to be a surgeon. Please get that Doctor title first!

From the DLM blog:

7 Simple Tips That Will Turn You Into a Powerful Leader

Posted: 14 May 2011 06:50 PM PDT

You don't have to be in a position of authority to be a leader. Conversely, just because you have authority doesn't mean that people will follow you. You must be a leader to get others to follow you.

There are many books on leadership. They can have lots of great examples and in-depth explanations, but sometimes you just need something simple to help you focus on the essentials. This article intends to do just that. These are the habits that will help you and your team achieve great things if you focus on them.

1. Goals
   Make it simple and easy for your team to understand the mission and to understand their part in achieving it.
   
   • Concise Goals. Keep them simple and easy to understand.
     
   • Focus your team on as few goals as possible.
   • Communicate the team's goals often and through various means (team meetings, individual meetings, emails, posters, slogans). And then do it some more.
     
   • Track progress on goals.
   • Involve team players in tracking the goals so that they own the results.
     
   
   
2. Motivating People
   What you reward gets done. It's that simple.
   
   • Incent team players to do the tasks that are most critical for reaching the team's goals. Make sure the rewards are meaningful to people. Understand each player and what they want from their job and in life. That's how you'll know how to reward them.
   • Praise, Thank, and Recognize big and small contributions by individuals. Do this often and then do it some more.
   • Set High Expectations. People will live UP to or DOWN to the expectations you set. Set them high and you're saying, "I believe in your ability to do great things!"
   • Empower people by delegating responsibility.
     
   • Celebrate team accomplishments often.
   • Encourage Fun. Make the work place a fun place to be. Yes, work needs to get done but short fun breaks can make all the difference in the culture of your team.
   • Pride. Foster a sense of pride in your team. As a team you could establish a mascot, create a team chant, and have a meeting that is focused solely on each individual's strengths and the team's overall strengths.
     
3. Walk Your Talk
   You need to practice what you preach. This is how you establish trust and credibility.
   
   • Model the Way by participating in the team's tasks as much as your position allows.
   • Be Honest. Deliver on your promises. Actions speak louder than words.
     
   • Challenge Yourself. Do your best (and then some) just like you ask your team to do their best.
   • Speak Up. Just like your team members sometimes need to let you know what they've done in order for you to be able to recognize and praise them. They, in turn, need to know what you've been working on and what you've accomplished. So find ways to communicate this, modeling this key behavior.
     
   • Stay Sharp. You need to be competent for others to follow you. If you're not improving, you're falling behind. Always be learning and keep on top of the latest skills, technology, and knowledge in your field.
     
4. Inspire through a combination of
   
   • Unwavering Positive Future Vision
     
   • Commitment to Improve things along the way that will make that positive vision a reality.
   • Ability to Bootstrap as necessary when resources are tight.
     
5. Process Power
   Good process is like having a high performance machine. Sloppy process makes things fall apart. So be sure to establish these key habits with your team.
   
   • Establish Routines. Do this for the team and also work with each individual to come up with their own high productivity routines. These are routines that dictate what work is done when.
     
   • Establish Processes for all the tasks that are done repeatedly. It takes time to set up at first, but after that it will pay off in saved time and less errors. Processes describe how work is done and might involve systems for doing the work.
     
   • Task Assignment. As much as possible, assign tasks according to the strengths of each teammate.
     
6. Change
   Embrace change by seeking it out. This will tread a path for your teammates to follow.
   
   • Change Routines Quarterly. Look for better ways to achieve the team's goals.
   • Take Risks. Don't be afraid of failure. No one ever reaches great heights without a few failures.
   • Learn. Learn as a team from failures. "How can we improve it the next time?"
     
   • Encourage team members to take smart risks too by making it safe to fail. Focus on learning from past experiences and building upon them to find better solutions.
     
7. Advocacy
   Support your team and they'll support you.
   
   • Promote your team members. Make sure others outside your team know about the individual team members' successes. You want your team members to excel and even graduate away from your team possibly. Don't worry. If your team is great there will be plenty of others who will want to join! This natural turnover of team members is like the renewal of cells in your body. It is necessary and healthy.
     
   • Promote your team. It's your job to market the great accomplishments of your team in order to get the rewards, recognition, and resources that your team deserves.
   • Fight for the most important resources and changes that will benefit your team and the organization overall. Remember to pick your battles wisely.

What else do you think is essential for a good leader? Got a good story? Please share in the comments. We'd love to hear from you!

Written on 11/7/2007 by K. Stone, the author of of Life Learning Today, a blog about daily life improvements. Republished on 5/14/2011.

Photo Credit: The U.S. Army

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Saturday Night Classic Music Video

They are from Chicago:

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20 More Frugal Friday Tips

The past 4 Fridays I posted 80 tips on how to be Frugal.

Today, I have 20 more ideas from the DLM Blog:

20+ Ways to Get Rid of Your Debt for Good

Posted: 12 May 2011 05:44 AM PDT

This is not a step-by-step guide to reducing debt. Rather, it is a collection of a lot of the wisdom I have read so far on this topic and a list of some of the things that worked for us.

As you go through the list, I would recommend sorting it out into things that will definitely work for you and things that could possibly work for you. Start implementing the things that will work for you right away and start working on incorporating the others when possible. Believe me, soon it will become an obsession (if it already isn’t!) and slowly but surely you will be free of debt. And that feeling is worth any short-term pain you have to go through.

1. Stop adding more debt
   Duh. No kidding right? Well, if it's so simple why aren't you doing it? Think of your debt as a small hill of dirt in your back yard. To get rid of that dirt hill, you need to dig out a shovel at a time. Now imagine for every 2-3 shovels of dirt that you dig out, you toss 4 shovels back on. How long will it take to get rid of that little hill? Piling on more debt while you are trying to get out of it doesn’t make much sense either.
   


2. Get rid of your credit cards
   One of the biggest down falls that most of us have is the reliance on credit cards. Unlike spending real cash, when you charge it to a card you don’t feel the burn. So if you cannot control how much you spend on your card, then cut up your cards, leave them locked up at home, freeze them or bury them until you are out of debt. (Note: Don’t close the accounts since that can result in reducing your credit score!)
   
   

   When I was in college, I went a little wild with student credit cards. I learned the hard way that I needed some control, so I froze the cards in a large pan of water. If I wanted or needed something badly enough to wait for the cards to thaw out, then it was probably worth purchasing. If not, I saved the dough. My mom still laughs about this, but I saved thousands in forgone impulse purchases. -- Kelly Colucci, Cumming, Ga. - quote source: Kiplinger
   

   
   
3. Change your attitude
   Like everything else in life, getting out of debt is heavily dependent on your attitude. Switch to a “Can Do” attitude. Stop giving into the victim mentality or self-doubts of whether you can do it. Start attacking debt and don’t stop until its all gone.
   


4. Stay busy
   An idle mind is a devil’s work shop and a retailer's dream. If you go to the mall just because you are bored, you are bound to end up buying stuff you likely don’t need. If you laze in front of the TV doing nothing, then the advertisers are bound to instill a yearning for something that you wouldn’t have wanted otherwise. Throwing away money to keep yourself entertained when you could be using that time a lot more productively just won’t cut it if you are serious about getting out of debt.
   


5. Change your spending habits
   Do you always plan before you buy something or do you just pick things up? Do you ask yourself if you really “need” it, or justify your “wants” and keep indulging yourself? Do you spend an excessive amount of money on showing off to your friends? Take a long hard look at your spending habits and fix any short comings that you see.
   


6. Cut your spending
   Can you still save some money after all of your bills are paid? For instance when you look at your groceries, can you replace some brands with generics so you can save some cash? Can you stock up during sales to save some money? How about making sure you use your utilities wisely to save on water, electricity and gas bill? Look at all aspects of your spending to pinch some more money out that you can throw at debt.


7. Embrace a simple, frugal lifestyle
   We are in a land of excess. We believe that we need a lot of things to survive. But in reality we can get on by with very little. The more of the excesses you can trim out the sooner you will be out of debt. Yes, life will seem a bit drab without some of the indulgences you are used to. It’s your call which one you like more – temporary indulgences and sleepless nights worrying over debt, or a few sacrifices now to be free of debt issues for the rest of your life!


8. Always lookout to improve your current income
   The more the money you make, the more you will have left over to throw at your debt. So always look for opportunities for picking up tasks with higher commission, or over time pay or something that will result in a bonus. Take your job seriously and work hard everyday, at some point it will pay off for you.


9. Create additional sources of income
   Sometimes it is not easy to simply increase your current income at your day job. If that's the case, look at means to create additional sources of income. Do you have a hobby that you can monetize? Do you have skills (musician, carpenter, writer, etc.) that you can use to get some part time gigs? Do you have computer knowledge that you can use online? Creating additional sources of income not only helps you get out of debt but provides you with better cushion to survive through primary job loss.
   


10. Build an emergency fund
    As you attack your debt, remember to put away a small amount for the rainy day. If something unexpected comes along or if you are forced to borrow money again, you will have a rough time getting out of debt. So stash away small amounts of money in an emergency fund, and make sure you use it – well, only for emergencies!
    


11. Avoid paying fees when possible
    Get organized. Make sure you are paying your bills on time. There is no point in paying fees in addition to interest! Also, look out for other options where you can save on fees – for instance, going into a bank to withdraw money may seem like a hassle, but is it really worth spending $3 in ATM fees every time you withdraw money? Booking your movie tickets online may seem convenient, but is it really worth paying an extra dollar for the ticket?
    


12. Use balance transfers
    Call up every single one of the credit card companies and ask them if they can lower your interest rate or offer you special interest on balance transfer. Repeat with all the credit cards you have, and consolidate your loans onto the cards that offer the best interest rate. Watch out for the “balance transfer fees” and make sure you are really coming out ahead. Again, do NOT close paid off credit cards because it will lower your credit score!
    


13. Make a budget
    A budget is not really that difficult to make or follow. You don’t need fancy software or tools, just a simple notebook and pen, or a trusted spreadsheet program. List all your recurring bills like rent/mortgage, groceries, utilities, bills and put a limit on it. Then create a category for miscellaneous expenses to cover what you cannot plan for and an indulgence category. If you don’t have enough for paying towards debt, tweak and tune these categories, until you find enough.
    


14. Reuse and recycle
    Reuse and recycle whatever you can. I never buy garbage bags. Instead I have small waste bins in my kitchen and bathrooms that I line with grocery bags. I don’t care if someone thinks that is cheap – it saves me money and is a small way to reduce my environmental footprint. So why should I bother about what snobs think. And since they are smaller waste bins, they get cleaned our more regularly, reducing the possibility of stench in the kitchen. You will be amazed at how many different places you can apply the reuse and recycle principle to save a few bucks!


15. Make your intentions public
    When you start digging into your debt, make your intentions public. Say it out loud - maybe to your spouse or your family or friends. When people know that you are tackling debt, they will give you dirty looks and lectures when you slip up :) It may be an unsavory experience, but if it keeps you on track and gets you out the hole faster, why not? Maybe it will also stop them from enticing you to eat out or buy that new pair of pants!
    


16. Start a blog about your effort
    If you are not comfortable about sharing it with the people you know, share it with strangers! The internet makes it so easy to have an anonymous public image! Use it! Create a blog and chart your progress. You can create free blogs using software like blogger - it is fairly easy and you don’t need to be tech-savvy to be able to do it. Nothing makes you obsessive about getting rid of your debt like encouragement from a bunch of strangers whom you have never met! Besides, depending on your success, you may be able to monetize your blog and make it an additional source of income. Here are a few blogs to get you started Blogging Away Debt, No Credit Needed, The Simple Dollar. A simple search for “blog debt” on Google will show you many more if you are interested.


17. Surround yourself with the right type of people
    If you are surrounded by people who keep spending, then it is difficult to get out of the consumerist mentality and slip into the more sensible mentality of living within your means. This may mean changing friends or keeping your distance from those that influence you negatively. It is a very difficult tip to follow, but a necessary one, if you want to really get out of debt.
    


18. Move!
    Drastic times require drastic measures! If you are really deep into debt you might want to consider more drastic steps like moving to a city with lower cost of living, to a smaller house, to an apartment with lower rent etc.
    


19. If something is available for free, don’t pay for it. Throw the money at your debt instead!
    If you can take public transportation to get around, skip the driving. Better yet, ride your bike and get a little workout at the same time. At the end of the month you may have used one less tank of gas. Make sure you bump up your debt repayment by that amount. It may not seem like much, but over a course of time, this can add up beautifully to free you from debt a lot sooner.
    


20. Always pay more than the minimum payment toward your debt.
    If you only pay minimum payments, you will be old and gray before you pay off a the debt. Here is a calculator that shows the true cost of paying minimum. For example, if you only pay the minimum payment on a credit card loan of just $1000, at an APR of 18%, then it will take you around 13 years to pay off that debt. In that time you would have paid $1,115.41 in interest. That is more than the principal borrowed! Imagine how much worse it is with larger loans. So always try to make more than the minimum payments if you are serious about getting rid of debt.


21. Don’t hesitate to take help from loved ones
    When you are down and battling with debt, if loved ones offer to help don’t hesitate to accept. This could be in cash or kind. For instance, can your mother baby sit your kids so you can save some money that is spent on daycare and apply it to your debt? Can your parents loan you some money at low or zero interest that will help you reduce the amount you pay in debt? If you are just starting out, can you move back with your parents for a few months and throw the rent money towards your debt? These may be very tough but they can save you several years of slaving to pay off your debt.
    


22. Make it automatic/manual
    I know that’s ambiguous, but pick what works for you. If it hurts you every month to go over the bills and make the payments, then just set up automatic payments so that a fixed portion of your income goes towards paying debt. Your sole responsibility then is to make sure that your bank balance stays above the required amount and to avoid overdraft fees. On the other hand, if it gives you pleasure to watch your debt shrink and motivates you to keep at it, then make it manual. Pay your bills by yourself each month.
    

Ultimately, getting rid of debt is like going on a financial diet; it is not easy and the temptations to give in are high. There will be that tiny voice in your head that says, “what’s the point of money if you can’t enjoy life?” But if you are in debt, and constantly worrying about it, you are in fact enslaved to your financial miseries. Unless you make some sacrifices, it is unlikely that you will be able to get out of it. Not all of these tips will work for you, so pick what does and stick to it!

Written by ispf of Grad Money Matters.

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Are You A Spud?

from the DLM Blog:

Five Ridiculous Reasons Why You’re a Couch Potato

Posted: 26 Apr 2011 09:18 AM PDT

I’m pretty good at making excuses – and I expect you are too. It’s all too easy to come up with a reason not to do something if we’re feeling a bit tired or lazy.

Now, we all know that we should be exercising. We’ve heard all the benefits – lifelong health, weight loss, more energy, fewer illnesses – but we’re great at finding ridiculous reasons not to get moving. Do you recognize any of the below ones?

#1: “I Don’t Have Time”
I’ll bet you’ve said this before – I know I have! It’s so easy to think I don’t have time to exercise. But is that really true?

Sure, you might not have three hours to go to the gym every day. I don’t either. But you do have twenty minutes to go for a brisk walk in your lunch hour. You can squeeze in some sit ups during the ad breaks on TV in the evenings.

The truth is, we all have enough time to do enough exercise to stay healthy.

#2: “I Hate Exercise”
When I was a teen, I was convinced that I hated exercise. I was overweight and pretty uncoordinated. I dreaded gym class at school because I got bullied by my classmates.

Maybe you’ve had similar experiences – and maybe you associate exercise with being unhappy and uncomfortable.

It really doesn’t have to be that way. There are hundreds of different types of exercise: you certainly don’t have to jog around a school field or fail to climb up a rope. How about:

• Housework – you can burn calories by vacuuming, cleaning, even ironing
  
• Walking – a leisurely walk in the countryside can be very relaxing
  
• Swimming – if you hate getting sweaty, then exercising in a pool is great
  
• Fun! I’ve surprised myself by enjoying activities like trampolining and fencing
  

You’ll probably find that there are certain sorts of exercise that you hate. But saying “I hate exercise” is just as silly and childish as saying “I hate vegetables.”

#3: “I’m Too Tired”
When you get home from work, you probably feel like slumping on the sofa. You certainly don’t feel motivated to go jogging or to do an exercise DVD. You might even worry that if you do, you’ll be even more exhausted.

Tiredness can actually be caused by insufficient exercise. If you get up and move, you’ll probably find your energy returning. Often, saying “I’m too tired” really means “I’m too lazy” – but once you get started, it’ll get much easier.

If you really struggle to exercise in the evenings, how about fitting in a short workout in the morning, or during your lunch hour? If your workplace is within walking or cycling distance of your home, you could even have an active commute to and from work – a great way to de-stress at the end of the day.

#4: “I’m Too Fat”
I do have some sympathy with this excuse. I know how shy I felt when I was overweight, and how much I hated exercising in public.

Whether you’re just a few pounds overweight or seriously obese, the thought of exercise can be terrifying. If you’re very out of shape, you might struggle to walk for more than a few minutes.

Exercise doesn’t need to be strenuous in order to be beneficial. If you can only walk round the block, do that – each week, you’ll find yourself able to do a little bit more.

If you hate the idea of anyone seeing you exercise, then don’t force yourself to go to a gym or jog outside. Look for some cheap equipment that you can use at home – like hand weights, a jump rope or DVDs.

#5: “I Don’t Wanna!”
I think this is what all the other excuses add up to: what we’re really saying is “I don’t want to exercise!”

You might think that’s true. I know that I have days when I feel like the last thing I want to do is get on my elliptical trainer. But every single time, once I get past the first few minutes, I find myself enjoying it. And I’ve heard lots of other reluctant exercisers say the same.

Of course it’s easier to stay on the sofa. But once you get up, put on your workout gear and get moving, you’ll be glad that you did.

So – what’s your ridiculous excuse for not exercising? And how can you get over it, this week?

Written on 4/26/2011 by Ali Luke. Ali writes a blog, Aliventures, about leading a productive and purposeful life (get the RSS feed here). As well as blogging, she writes fiction, and is studying for an MA in Creative Writing.

Photo Credit: gLangille

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7 Ways to De-Stress

I have just gone thru what most likely will be the most stressful month on 2011.

Especially the past couple of weeks.

We had my step-daughter Abby graduating from Purdue University followed by a couple of small graduation dinners for her and the family; her future mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law in town for her bridal shower, and then a semi parked in our driveway as she and her Dad and fiance prepared to move her to Nebraska. (That wedding is in August).

We also just completed the wedding of my oldest daughter, Rachael, a few days ago with all the dinners, tuxs, dancing, speeches, and now I get to take care of their cats (that's the easy part) while they are gone for a few days.

In between those two daughters events, my youngest daughter Tiffany and her husband Jon were expecting their first child and when the due date passed we were wondering when Calvin would make his debut.

I am so thankful for my family that I only had to play a supporting role in all of these events and now all is calm for a few weeks except for some home repairs I need to do before the August wedding.

I've had to learn a few tips on how to de-stress, and here's some ideas from the DLM blog:

Seven Ways to De-Stress Instantly

Posted: 22 May 2011 02:42 PM PDT

Imagine it’s Monday morning. Over the weekend, you had a major argument with your partner (and you’re both still sulking), your alarm clock fails to go off, you try to get your usual breakfast only to find that the cereal box is empty and the milk’s gone sour, and then the car won’t start. By the time you get to work, you’re already feeling frazzled – and then your boss dumps an “urgent” project on your desk. You know you’ve got a backlog of emails to deal with from last week and you can feel your stress levels and blood pressure going through the roof.

Now, it’d be nice if you could de-stress by following some of the great advice you’ve no doubt already heard. You know, take a long bath, have an afternoon off, enjoy a long weekend’s vacation, go for an hour-long jog, etc. Unfortunately, you can only afford five minutes. Can you de-stress in five minutes? Yes, you can; just try one of these.

1. Go For A Quick Walk
   Even if you can only spare five minutes, go for a walk (it might just be to the water cooler and back). The aim here is to get yourself away from the immediate source of stress and to calm down. A few minutes to gather your thoughts is all you need to get some perspective.


2. Read Some Fiction
   If I’m seriously worked up, upset or stressed, one of the best things I can do is to grab a book. Fiction is ideal (especially anything funny or uplifting). Reading fiction takes you out of the here-and-now and into a different world. You can forget everything that’s troubling you, for just ten minutes, as you concentrate on the story.


3. Meditate or Pray
   Often, the best thing we can do to instantly de-stress is to simply stop. Many life coaches and stress advisors recommend meditation: there’s no mystery to it, just sit and try to clear your mind of thoughts (perhaps concentrating on a calming image or a word or phrase, if that helps you). I also like to pray – if this suits your religious/spiritual persuasions, it can be a very powerful way to get outside of your own head and call on a higher power for some much-needed help!


4. Watch A Funny Video
   I don’t know about you, but I just can’t stay stressed out when I’m laughing. (It’s like trying to pat my head and rub my tummy at the same time...) If you have a favorite YouTube clip, or if LolCats make you giggle, then give yourself five minutes to indulge. You’ll find that you return to your work – or whatever the source of the stress is – feeling much better equipped to handle it.


5. Make A Herbal Tea
   If you’re feeling uber-stressed, caffeine isn’t going to help. A warm, soothing mug of herbal tea might, though. The act of making yourself a drink can be calming: it gets you away from your desk, and it gives you a chance to concentrate on something physical. You’ll probably also feel a psychological boost from doing something positive and nurturing for yourself.


6. Punch A Pillow
   Depending on where you are when you’re feeling stressed, and on your personality, throwing a few punches at a pillow might help. Think of the stress leaving you through your fist with every punch. (If you’re in the office, please don’t be tempted to use a co-worker as a substitute pillow ... even if said co-worker has caused your stress.)


7. Take Slow, Deep Breaths
   When we get stressed, we tend to breath more quickly, taking shallow breaths. Concentrate on your breathing (you might want to do this in conjunction with meditation or prayer). Imagine breathing from your stomach, not your chest. Take slow, deep, fulfilling breaths. Calming your body down physically in this way is likely to have a knock-on effect on your frazzled mental state.

Do you find yourself getting overly worked up on a regular basis? What are your instant fixes for when you’re feeling stressed?

Written on 5/31/2009 by Ali Hale. Ali is a professional writer and blogger, and a part-time postgraduate student of creative writing. If you need a hand with any sort of written project, drop her a line (ali@aliventures.com) or check out her website at Aliventures. Republished 5/22/2011.

Photo Credit: stuartpilbrow

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