last few days of Dublin

Tags

busy, Dublin, masters, stress, time

One, two, three – three full days left until I leave my home for the summer and I am starting to panic. Between the making lists of what to take and what to do I find that I all I want to do is curl up and read a book.

But since beaming hasn’t been invented yet and I don’t have staff to whip my the house into shape I will just have to bite the bullet and try and get everything done.

It isn’t so much the dread of packing for six weeks or the fact that I have to clean, which I hate, but that everyday life just keeps moving on, chewing up precious time. Today I am meeting my prof to talk about my masters, and I am truly dreading it as I am so behind, tomorrow I need to do some test editing for a really exciting job opportunity and then there is a meeting that I need to prepare for as it is about a project I will be working on while away.

As my stress levels rise the only thing that is keeping me sane is the fact that I know that while I only have three days left, it will also be over in three days too!

My 1960s wall-clock reminding me of what time I have left

waking up with a headache

Tags

headache, health, migranes, quote, stress, types of headaches, work

From time to time I do get headaches, like any person I presume. However waking up with one is  a very rare occasion. So when I woke up this morning with a slow thudding vibrating through my head it was very surprising and extremely unpleasant.

There are many types of headaches: cluster, migraines, rebound, ice-cream and ictal but most of us only really experience tension headaches. And since I’ve recently had so much going on I think it is safe to assume that holding all my stress in my shoulders may have something to do with why my head is giving out.

With several pages left to read and still a good few things left to do on my list a headache really didn’t fit into my scheduling plan. However I am also not a fan of ‘little helpers’.

So, I decided to wait it out, maybe the more painful way of dealing with a headache but after a cup of tea, some food, a long hour of doing nothing, naught, nada the thudding began to subside, and I am quite sure that wearing my glasses added to lessening the strain.

Now with most of the morning gone I can only hope that the headache will keep slipping away and maybe, just maybe I’ll find the time for a relaxing walk to make sure that all my stress doesn’t end up in my head again.

A great wind is blowing, and that gives you either imagination or a headache.

Catherine the Great

 

back-to-school: stress or excitement?

Tags

back-to-school, John Irving, quote, quotes, stress, work, writing

my small pencil collection

The summer has it’s seven mile boots on and is striding towards it’s end. I can’t believe that in two weeks time I’ll be back in lecturer mode.

As a child I loved the back-to-school excitement, I loved buying new pens, pencils and notepads, new stationary has always tickled my fancy. I would colour-code my folders and pack and repack my school-bag, loving the sensation of a purpose.

Now, with time sprinting through my hands and my “still-need-to-do-list” is not getting any smaller, I am looking towards my back-to-school moment with a little sense of stress. And I don’t even have new pens, pencils or notebooks to sweeten the deal.

But while I know that my summer is quickly fading I do have to admit that a small part of me is looking forward to a routine, time-slots that punctuate the days and weeks, like beacons, guiding me through the autumn and winter, all the way up towards the new year.

However, this also means that I’ll have less time to work on my book. And while I have been trying to finish the first draft in time for school, the days are quickly fading and my typing fingers and imagination are struggling to catch up.

I only hope that the next two weeks allow me enough time to spend with my manuscript, to at the very least be able to see “The End”. But with college scheduling meetings and other friendly projects littering my inbox I am unsure how many minutes will be mine.

So with this cocktail of emotions and thoughts my back-to-school sensation lingers somewhere between stress and excitement, and my promise to myself for these next two weeks is to try and use every second as well as I can.

With every book, you go back to school. You become a student. You become an investigative reporter. You spend a little time learning what it’s like to live in someone else’s shoes.

Author John Irving 

taking a break

Tags

brain, brain functions, breaks, health, life stress, mental health issues, mental-health, miscellaneous, random, stress, stress research, well-being, work stress

It’s only been six weeks since the Christmas holidays but I need a break. I find myself yearning for a few lie ins, yearning for time to myself, visions of beaches flitting across my mind and daydreaming of running away and leaving my day-to-day behind.

Luckily for me next week is reading week, breaking up the term into two and giving me a week to catch up on corrections and de-stress for a few days. However I may only be swapping work-stress for leisure -stress as I will be off to Germany for a few days on Friday.

But even though I will be exchanging running from class to class to running from relative to relative and entertaining students to entertaining my one-and-a-half-year old nephew, I am removing myself from my daily routine, distracting myself from my work-life stress.

And while I still will be  daydreaming about a sunny isle and a cocktail with and umbrella in it, I am giving my mind a much needed break from dealing with my every-day stress. Funnily enough this is not only important for our well-being but for how we cope with stress.

Research has shown that our brain functions better when we allow it to relax after work. This is down to something called hormesis, a term used to describe the correlation inducing stress and then allowing an adequate time to relax. In sport this means you workout, put stress on your muscles followed by a period of rest, allowing your muscle to grow and strengthen.

The same thing applies to our brains. Studies have shown that neurons, those tiny building blocks that make up our nervous system, become more resistant if we apply the same idea. Periods of stress followed by periods of rest allow them to strengthen and help them ward of diseases like epilepsy, migraines and even dementia. Interestingly the thing that puts stress on neurons is something we do anyway, to more or less success, THINKING.

But to encourage the hardiness we need we also need to take breaks. Of course the most desired way of doing so is to pack a bag and fly away but since we don’t have enough possibilities to do so we are often left with more  affordable mini-break options. Sleep is one of them, since when we wander off into dreamland our brain can relax and recharge, but even reading a book, watching a film or investing time in our chosen hobby gives  the brain enough distraction from stress and strengths our nervous system. We just need to remember to keep taking those all important breaks.
So with Friday only two sleeps away I will just hold on to my tea-breaks for now and hope that my week long break will be enough to gear me up for the rest of the semester. With the words of the Roman poet Ovid

Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.

work and play

Tags

brain, celebrate, dance, Germany, labour day, may day, maypole, play, rest, stress, Tanz in den Mai, traditions, work

On the first of May Germany celebrates International Workers’ Day, funnily enough by staying home and not working at all. But the much nicer tradition the busy German worker bees observe is “Der Tanz in den Mai” (The Dance into May).

On the eve of May first there are parties everywhere and people dance around bonfires, drink copious amounts of alcohol and welcome the warmer time of year back into the world. This pagan festival is also where the raising and dancing around the maypole comes from. There is also another lovely tradition which allows young virile men to vandalize the woods and neighbourhood gardens, by digging up small birch trees and then planting them outside the window of their beloved.

As this week has been quite busy for me and although I stayed at home on said day it was to work and not play, a proper labour day. And every time I look out my window no lovely little birch-tree reminds me that I am loved, not even a branch telling me I’m liked. Sadly playing has to wait for a while, I even had to move my flight to Hamburg from yesterday to Saturday morning, and work is the what I have to do from morn till night. But as I sit at my desk and pretend to be a grown-up I can’t help my mind from straying and wanting to bunk off.

We all know that it is important to take a break from work and recharge our batteries, but few of us really understand why. The brain is a muscle and like any muscle it needs to work out (think/stress) to get stronger but it also needs rest to be able to grow (sleep/breaks). An interesting study even shows that a brain that is put under periods of stress with adequate times of rest in between seems to be better at fighting off dementia, epilepsy and migraines.

But what is adequate rest? The right amount of sleep is really important, however a vacation for more than a week helps the brain forget about the daily stress and relax even better. But a good distraction like an engaging book, an entertaining film or a challenging hobby can give our brains the rest we need to be able to let our minds deal with work. Even as little as five minutes away from the desk, doing something completely different, helps the brain refocus and see new ways of doing things, mini-vacations to de-stress if you will. That is why those daily coffee-breaks are so all important, not just for all the smokers out there but for everyone.

As I am under time-pressure and my deadline is looming I can’t afford to kick-back and take time to sit and read for hours and escape into the fictional world of books, or flit down to the cinema and watch a film and flying off to Germany is more of a family visit than a much needed Holiday. Even my sleep time has been reduced down to the maximum minimum. But I do litter my day with spontaneous breaks in which I dance to music in my living room, read a short magazine article while drinking a cup of tea or make a quick moany phone-call to a friend to vent.

So back to work I go, hi-ho, and play will have to wait for another day, or at least till my desire for tea drives me to the kettle or a good song on the CD makes it impossible for my feet to stay still.

time-less

Tags

health, miscellaneous, musings, random, stress, thoughts, time

Time is money people say but I think time is worth a lot more than just a few colourful notes that fit neatly into your purse or you store away in your piggy-bank. Today I just want to hit pause and store up time as I have too much to do and very few hours to do it in.

Sadly life didn’t come with a remote control and no matter how hard I look I just can’t seems to find the manual on/off button either. So as I type this, one eye on the tiny clock in the corner of my screen, I can’t help but think about all the things I would rather be doing this weekend than spend time stuck behind my desk working.

In a world where you can’t have lunch without people making business deals on their mobile phones and laptops seem to have invaded our homes and leisure times, even food is fast and blouses non-wrinkle it doesn’t surprise me that we all live with stress as a constant companion.  His heavy breath on our necks as we jog from one appointment to the next, his impatient foot-tapping ringing in our ears when we stop for an unscheduled ice-cream, the big frown on his face constantly reminding us of time running out and the way he pulls and pushed us to get things done. Stress even slips into bed with us sometimes, reducing our hours of rest by tossing and turning and setting the alarm early. The funny thing is, we sometimes even help create our own stress, and I am always guilty of that.

I spent the week pushing somethings I have to get done around my desk, never quite making eye-contact and always focusing on more enjoyable tasks.  Sadly the time has arrived where I can push no more and stress is no longer a kind little man but a big angry giant. As the minutes tick by I have less and less time to do what is needed but my my mind is still putting up a fight sending me images and ideas of much nicer pastimes.

So with a big sigh I acknowledge I no longer have the luxury of leisure and can only dream of a day, sometime next week, where time is mine again and I can do as I please, even if it is just watching the hands on the clock move as Stress stomps around with nothing to do.

Stress: it’s worse than you think

off to brunch I go

Tags

brunch, fun, miscellaneous, random, shoes, smile, stress, thoughts, weekend

After a lovely night at the movies and a cocktail nightcap, today is starting out with brunch and friends. If the last 12 hours or so is anything to go by this weekend is looking good. And even though my to-do list is accusingly staring up at me I have decided to ignore it for the morning and re-enact a Sex and the City moment with girl gossip, fancy shoes and scrumptious food.

I love those weekends that are filled with play, happy things and bright memories. A real time to just be, relax and have fun. And it is no surprise to me that people, no matter how high-flying their job or how smart they look in a suit, are happier at the weekend. It is not only a time to let go and de-stress but important for all those social bonding moments with others.

Funnily enough the study also shows that we feel more competent during the weekend then when we are actually at our desks pushing those pencils, adding up figures or typing calluses onto our fingertips. The reason for this is the correlation between well-being and the sense of greater autonomy. Basically if you let me do what I want to do I feel good about myself and do much more.

With that in mind and the weekend stretching out in front of me I can’t wait to be my better self and have fun. And even if I do need to squeeze in a few hours of work (something does have to pay for all those shoes) I will make sure that leisure trumps labor and fun prevails over frustration.

Now all I need to do is slip on those heals, clogs, boots or what ever footwear takes my fancy and let them carry me of to brunch and a beginning of a fun-filled, happy weekend. Who knows what lies ahead and  with excitement bubbling up inside of me and a grin spreading over my face I am hoping the sun will show her pretty face.

Weekend Effect

POST (traumatic stress) Syndrome

Tags

enjoyment, family, freinds, friendship, letters, love, post, post-cards, smile, stress, trauma, writing

My day started with a lovely surprise, waiting for me on the mat below my letter box sat two unexpected  packages and a card. They were sitting there patiently, waiting for me to find and retrieve them.

Like most people, I love receiving letters, parcels, cards anything that isn’t a bill and when I saw the small little pile of goodies a big grin spread across my face, my heart skipped a beat in anticipation and the day was off to a great start.

Most days I don’t have any post at all, or it’s a sad looking white envelope with a coloured logo in the corner signaling me another menacing bill has found its way into my home. Not a joyous occasion and sometimes even a little frightening, traumatic even. But because I can go days on end with the postman ignoring my lonely little letter box  I often wonder, when watching American sitcoms, how they always seem to have piles of post ready for them to flick trough. Where do all these letters come from? In the day and age of technology most people write emails and texts, so shouldn’t we be hearing their mobile phones “ping” in irregular intervals, interrupting the conversations and see them checking their “inbox” on their laptops and smartphones?

As much as I enjoy a long email or a text from a friend nothing can beat the feeling of receiving a real letter. One that someone actually took the time  to sit down and write, pen and paper in hand, and then even found a moment to wander down to the post and send it.  The fact that they bought a stamp is an additional small sign of how they value you.

Sadly writing letters is a dying art-form (along with good spelling and “popping in for a cuppa”) and I admit I am just as guilty as most. However I do take the time every now and then and send friends and family a little envelope of love or a funny card I saw that made me think of them. A little token that out of sight is not out of mind.

I also enjoy the fact that letters take all the stress out of communication, there is no expectations for you to reply at once as everyone knows letters take a few days to travel. Email and texts have an inbuilt stress factor, we are expected to answer straight away, everything is urgent, nothing can wait and so your stress-levels rise with each ping or buzz alerting you to the fact that someone, somewhere is needing an answer RIGHT NOW.

It really is unsurprising that studies have shown that as a positive psychology intervention, gratitude letters “work” 99% of the time. A gratitude letter is a hand-written note you send to someone who you want to thank or even just tell that you love them, it can be a friend, family or even a mentor or teacher. And not only do the recipients enjoy them, feel touched and treasure these letters of love but the person who writes them feels good about themselves as expressing what you feel evokes positive feelings and thoughts.

Of course many of us send postcards from trips away or the occasional greeting card to random occasions, but how many of us actually write more than the few standard sentences?  So the next time you think of a friend why not take a pen, pencil or even crayon and write down a few words of love on  a piece of paper and send it to them. After all who keeps a box full of old emails under their bed that they re-read and enjoy for many, many years?

And who knows maybe one day those bills, with the traumatic, ever-rising payment demands tucked away inside your letter box may be kept company by a letter filled of love just for you.

http://lucygracesmom.wordpress.com/2012/03/19/resurrect-the-lost-art-of-letter-writing/

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-good-life/200912/does-anyone-write-letters-anymore

Humour has it…

Tags

carpe diem, Cartharsis, child-like-self, disappointment, freud, friendship, humor, joke, laughing, stress

I was recently very disappointed with a friend of mine, or should I say ex-friend. He just chucked me out of a project without letting me know why, suddenly with no warning. I felt hurt, rejected, unloved and very annoyed. But somewhere, mixed up in all my emotions was a big, fat grin. It was as if I had known all along not to trust this person, not to believe what he said, just empty words out of an empty friendship and I was laughing at myself.
Since smiling burns a lot more calories than frowning, wrinkles from laughing are much more attractive than those from creasing your brow and I would much rather laugh than cry, I have decided to go along with humour instead of anger in this situation. Freud would call in CARTHARSIS, I just call it making the best out of a bad situation.
We all know telling a joke can diffuse any awkward situation or even break up a fight, and by using humour you can nearly introduce any uncomfortable topic into a conversation. Somehow a grin, a smile, or  a chuckle are the perfect ways to reduce stress in any event.
But why is it that humour is not always the same? Well, it seems there are several kinds: self-defeating/neurotic humor, aggressive humor, bonding humour, observational humour, self-enhancing and non confrontational humour. And I always thought a laugh was just a laugh. This multitude of sense-of-humours may explain why at times we just don’t get it, or the joke seems really not that funny, even hurtful, but it also explains why so many things are funny, even if they are completely different to each other.
It seems we learn how to express our sense of humour as kids in the family. Maybe that is why when my sister and I get together we have long belly-aching sessions of laughing till we fall off furniture, while my brother-in-law watches us in wonder. We have practiced on each other all our lives and get all the little in-jokes and quotes with no long explanations and sometimes just a raised eyebrow or look can set us off in giggles.
Psychologist say that when we are being funny, making jokes we are tapping into are child-like-self (not a far reach for me), which explains why I often feel like ten when I am sniggering behind my magazine at the guy who tripped getting off the bus. It even explains the sheer joy of slap stick comedy, is it really that funny when someone slips on a banana peal? Yes it is, ask any toddler!
So by smiling at my disappointment I am tapping into my inner child, getting rid of stress and improving my psychological health. The down side: people who laugh a lot tend to die earlier than their frowning friends as they enjoy life more and don’t take health risks as seriously. I say carpe diem and smile.