{"id":6562,"date":"2009-12-14T04:45:36","date_gmt":"2009-12-14T09:45:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/horizonsmagazine.com\/blog\/?p=6562"},"modified":"2009-12-14T04:45:36","modified_gmt":"2009-12-14T09:45:36","slug":"at-the-computer-247-emergency-remedy-mode-for-stress-relief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/horizonsmagazine.com\/blog\/at-the-computer-247-emergency-remedy-mode-for-stress-relief\/","title":{"rendered":"At the computer 24\/7? Emergency Remedy Mode For Stress Relief"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whew, I just finished laying out the January Horizons Magazine<\/a> and it\u2019s going to press at 8:00am.\u00a0 I usually have a week off in between each monthly issue, but in November and December, due to the holidays, the press schedule changes.\u00a0 That means the magazine is due to press a week earlier, which means no time off in between issues.\u00a0 This past week I\u2019ve been glued to the keyboard almost every waking hour.\u00a0 That\u2019s usually fine, I really dig my work \u2013 but my body likes to move around more than it got to do this week!\u00a0 The usual dozen+ calls a day doubled as last minute ads came in, as well as friends wishing happy holidays.\u00a0 I knew I\u2019d finish and go to press on time because, well, I had to <\/em>and I\u2019ve never NOT finished on time.\u00a0 But I felt the stress and got to make some interesting observations.<\/p>\n

I have very little stress in my life.\u00a0 I have no ongoing irks with cranky relatives or neighbors or co-workers. I live a fairly worry-free life. I enjoy my home environment.\u00a0 I have lots of friends.\u00a0 I\u2019m healthy.\u00a0 I\u2019m satisfied with my personal appearance.\u00a0 I have very little debt, my work is fun and fulfilling.\u00a0 But from time to time stress comes up, like this past week being on publication deadline.<\/p>\n

Being stressed is interesting from an observer point of view. My mind wasn’t freaked out. I felt mellow as usual, but the body began hot flashing like crazy.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t been flashing very much the past month, so it was very noticeable.\u00a0 Fan on, fan off, hair up, hair down, fuzzy socks on, fuzzy socks off.<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s a big stress going on such as having to deal with an emergency, say avoiding a car accident on the highway, I typically experience the stress as a participant and not as an observer.\u00a0 So it was interesting this past week to experience the stress as an observer.<\/p>\n

When I lay out the magazine each month, I work between several programs: Microsoft Word, Windows Explorer, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, Mozilla Firefox, AOL and my bookkeeping program.\u00a0 I am in and out of these programs all day long, so periodically one will crash out.\u00a0 But it\u2019s usually a quick recovery after rebooting.\u00a0 But this week, Windows Explorer and Photoshop both kept going down and staying down.\u00a0 Likely a corrupt dynamic link<\/em>, said my computer dude.\u00a0 So I had to work between two computers when I was already cutting it close with deadline.\u00a0 And already feeling the stress.<\/p>\n

As soon as I became aware of the hot flashes, I knew they were an indicator that my body was stressed.\u00a0 So I went into my emergency remedy mode for final layout stress relief:<\/p>\n

I switched chairs and work stations every few hours.\u00a0 I am in a computer chair so many hours a day that swivel rockers are a must.\u00a0 That keeps my body flexible when I can\u2019t take much time for stretch breaks.\u00a0 One less body stress.<\/em><\/p>\n

I drank some of my different teas.\u00a0 I typically just drink water all the time, so the tea was a double break: once when I got up to make it and again as I drank it.\u00a0 Plus it kept me extra hydrated. One less body stress<\/em>.\u00a0 Stress used to be an eating trigger for me, so I prepare by having lots of fresh veggies and fruits and soup ingredients on hand.\u00a0\u00a0 I eat a little lighter during final layout, just for one less body stress.<\/em><\/p>\n

Oh, I should mention that \u2013 all the above stress?\u00a0 I\u2019m the one who puts myself through it.<\/em> As an observer, it\u2019s easy to see that and I have to laugh.\u00a0 Because the fact is I\u2019m the boss and I make the schedule and I create the deadlines.\u00a0\u00a0 I even set the print dates.\u00a0 During the holidays, I take my print job in a week earlier to make the schedule easier on the printer. To give them one less stress during their busiest, most stressed time.<\/p>\n

And so, as an observer, I can see that where there\u2019s stress, I do it to myself.<\/em> And, seeing that, that makes me laugh and that releases some body stress, too.\u00a0 The more I can make myself \u2013 in stressful times \u2013 become the observer, make myself become aware in the moment of the stress, the more readily I\u2019m able to take steps to dispel it.\u00a0 Try it the next time you are stressed out – cultivate seeing it as an observer, stay hydrated and active.\u00a0 I\u2019d love to hear your observations about it.<\/p>\n

After I\u2019d done the final proofread yesterday, I defragged<\/a> by going to sleep in my comfy bed for 6 hours in a row.\u00a0 I felt just like when I shut my computer down each day.<\/em> I have a program called www.ccleaner.com <\/a>and I run it at the end of my daily session and it removes all of my temporary files, as well as adware and cookies that build up and slow a computer down.\u00a0 It usually removes about 30-70mb of junk, but one day last week it removed 528 mb.\u00a0 Wow!\u00a0 A lot of stress had been built up in my computer, too. <\/em><\/p>\n

If it\u2019s true that everything around us mirrors our life, this was just another example.<\/p>\n

Chuck my computer magician comes over tomorrow to update my system and begin with a fresh slate.\u00a0 Ah\u2026 one less stress<\/em>!<\/p>\n

\ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

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