Not all Supplements Safe
I’ve talked with many people who are adamantly against taking medication, but will take natural remedies because they believe they are safer and better for your body.
The Today Show had a very interesting segment on 12 supplements to avoid.
Take note of the “Blue Man”
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
A Reason to Get your Chocolate Fix – A Proven Stress Reducer Chocolate
Does chocolate cure stress? Recent research suggests this is so. The antioxidants in dark chocolate help reduce stress as well as help fight disease. Here are some recommendations as to how much chocolate one should eat to reduce stress.
Of course, if you eat chocolate to reduce stress, you’ll need to make adjustments in your diet to compensate for the extra calories.
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Stress and Your Hair
Stress and Your Hair from Tracey Marks on Vimeo.
See what work overload can do to your appearance.
6 Tips for Creating Balance in your Life
Everyone goes through a period where life feels out of control and imbalanced. It’s perfectly normal! But how can you achieve a balance in these hectic times?
Understanding what balance truly means is the first step toward creating a balanced lifestyle. Life balance doesn’t necessarily mean giving equal amounts of time or attention to each part of your life. That’s the big myth!
Life balance is about knowing when to give a little more effort, when it’s time to call it quits, and when everything feels just right.
These six tips will help you strike a better balance in life:
1. Make time for you. Realize that you’re important and valuable. Taking care of your happiness (and sanity) is an essential part of creating a balanced life. Even if for just two hours each week, put everyone else’s needs aside and focus on you!
• Take a candlelit bubble bath while having a glass of wine and catching up on your favorite Hollywood gossip. Or, maybe just take your dog to the park on a sunny afternoon. Do whatever helps you unwind and enter a mindset of total relaxation.
2. Strive for a healthy lifestyle. Both exercise and a conscious diet are necessary in order to remain healthy and happy. Set aside 30-minutes each week to exercise. Your workout can be anything under the sun, as long as it keeps you active.
• If eating healthy is a challenge, avoid bringing unhealthy food into your home. You can’t be tempted if it isn’t around the house. Not only will it keep your heart healthy and your waistline under control, it’ll promote healthy eating habits in your children.
3. Leave work in the office. There’s a reason you have a work schedule: your employer is only willing to pay you for a specific amount of time each day. Do your family a favor and leave work at work. Avoid overworking yourself if there isn’t a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
• If you find that there aren’t enough hours in the workday to maintain your responsibilities, find a way to strengthen your productivity while at the office. If this proves to be fruitless, explain your situation to your employer. He may be willing to pay you for an extra hour each day or lessen your workload.
4. Make time for love. Rekindle the romance by making thoughtful gestures. Bring home a candle in her favorite scent, send roses to the workplace, or maybe even hire a maid so your wife can spend more time doing the things she loves. Spend quality, uninterrupted time with your spouse.
• Simply watching TV together isn’t enough. Send the kids over to grandma’s house for a weekend and plan a romantic getaway. If you’re on a budget, plan a romantic camping trip. Nothing says romance like 2-days in the wild.
5. Live within your means. If your finances are causing you stress, it’s time to reassess your budget. Make budget cuts in order to proactively work towards achieving your financial goals.
• Eliminate obvious splurges, such as cable television upgrades and pricey cell phone plans. Cut down on your energy bill by turning down the thermostat and doing laundry less frequently or during non-peak hours.
• As a final resort, you may need to sell your home or downgrade to a cheaper rental. Sure, it’s nice to have granite countertops and sprawling acreage, but can you go without? You sure can. Live within your means and feel the relief it brings!
6. Socialize. Hanging out with friends allows you to unwind and have a few laughs. Make it a point to meet up with friends at least once each month. Go out to dinner or host a get together in your home.
• If your spouse is jealous, double dating is a great opportunity to include him in your social life.
Leading an unbalanced lifestyle is one of the leading causes of stress for professionals. Inability to cope with stress can cause numerous health problems, such as weight gain, migraines and even heart complications. Fortunately, you can be the exception. You can ward off health problems by nipping stress in the bud.
You are now empowered, equipped, and ready to create balance in your life! Practice these strategies each day and, one day soon, you’ll feel the harmony of a balanced life.
Simplify Your Life with Easy Home Maintenance
When it comes to keeping your home in a condition that you’re proud of, it seems that there’s always something that needs cleaning, repairing, or maintaining. It’s easy to become stressed or overwhelmed by the overload of chores.
However, the good news is that there are some great strategies you can use to make maintaining your home simpler, less time-consuming, and easier to handle.
Take Care of Cleaning Each Day
Cleaning a home can be a never-ending chore, but the pride and satisfaction you’ll feel is well worth the effort. You can make cleaning a lot more enjoyable if you don’t try to do it all in one day. For example, clean your bedroom on Monday, your bathroom on Tuesday, and your living room on Wednesday. Pick whatever schedule works for you.
If you do small cleaning tasks each day, you won’t get overwhelmed, and you won’t spend all day trying to clean your entire house.
There’s another big benefit, too: When you clean frequently, dust and dirt can’t build up, so cleaning stays quick and easy. Even deep-cleaning is easier when things are already fairly clean.
There are a few other ways to make cleaning better, faster, easier, and more enjoyable, too, like:
• Keep cleaning products in the rooms you use them most.
• Use a schedule instead of only cleaning when you feel like it.
• Put things away immediately when you’re done with them.
• Make use of appliances like a dishwasher instead of doing dishes yourself.
• Use self-cleaning appliances like ovens or automatic shower cleaners.
You can also listen to music or your favorite TV show in the background, put on a funny movie, dance with the broom, sing, or do anything else that makes you smile while you clean.
Rewarding yourself after cleaning with a hot bath, a good book, or something else that brings you joy helps make things easier, too. Simplify as much as possible to make cleaning faster and you’ll be enjoying your reward before you know it!
Avoid Clutter
One of the reasons some people have such trouble cleaning, cooking, and getting everything done in their home is because they have too much stuff to work around. There are books, toys, knickknacks, and all types of things everywhere, so there’s hardly room to do anything!
By putting things away when you’re done with them, you can avoid this situation. If you’ve already got the clutter, block off time to put it away. Simplify your tasks by establishing convenient places for the things you want to keep.
If you don’t need it, use it, or love it, it should leave your life. Yard sales and thrift stores are great ways to get rid of the clutter in your life.
Know When to Hire a Professional
Another great way to simplify your life is to know when something isn’t very simple. If it’s too complicated for you to handle, get a professional to do it.
The same is true for things you don’t have time for. Some people pay others to clean for them, or even to cook. If you can’t afford this luxury, that’s fine, but be sure to get professionals for the big jobs, like plumbing and wiring.
If it’s dangerous, expensive, or could cause damage to your home, hire a professional. It’s much safer that way, and it’ll make your life simpler because you won’t have to tackle the problem.
By keeping clutter at bay, cleaning as you go, and getting professionals for big or complicated jobs, you’ll be well on your way to a simpler life. Living more simply can mean lower stress levels and better health, too, and those are things you can’t afford to compromise on!
7 Ways to Find Happiness During Your Retirement Years
Your retirement years present opportunities for you to do the things you’ve always dreamed. It can be scary at first, but with a positive attitude you can find the happiness you desire during this special time in your life.
The key concept is to figure out what makes you happy and then go for it.
You might not be used to the idea of doing whatever you’d like with your time. You can help yourself get started by listing the things you’ve always wanted to do but didn’t have the time. Next, continue the list with regular activities that are important to you.
Here are some more ideas on how to find happiness during retirement:
1. Do something that makes you laugh. You can have a great time in retirement by focusing on the simple things that make you laugh. Maybe you’ll enjoy playing games with your grandkids or catching a comedy at the local cinema.
2. Keep yourself active. When you maintain an active routine, it keeps you in shape, which helps you feel healthy and happy. Do whatever is in your power to keep your mind and body active so that you can enjoy your retirement to its fullest.
3. Develop a new hobby. You can enjoy a new hobby leisurely or develop it to an expert level. If an old pastime doesn’t make you happy anymore, then try something new.
4. Spend time with the people that matter. Many people say that one of the toughest things about working is not having enough time to spend with family members. Now that you don’t have to work anymore, get together with your family and friends often and create cherished new memories together.
5. Have a positive attitude. Always strive to have a positive attitude about life. When you’re negative and closed off, you won’t be open to new opportunities. There are many accomplishments you can still make throughout your lifetime, so why waste time with a negative attitude?
6. Find a new job. If you like working, there’s no reason that you have to stop doing it. You can create your own unique work opportunities during retirement.
• If you don’t need to worry about money, then you can get any job you enjoy including volunteering at the library, church, or community center.
• Perhaps you’ve always wanted to start your own small business. Retirement is a great time to get involved in a new venture.
7. Take the time to travel. If you’re the adventurous type, you may find much happiness in traveling the world. If you don’t have a lot of extra cash, look into frugal travel ideas. For example, there are many group tours that cater to those who don’t mind skipping some luxuries to save on the cost.
The key to finding happiness in your retirement is to take action toward the things you enjoy. It’s tempting to do nothing, which can be fun from time to time, but overall it’s an active life that brings the most pleasure and fulfillment.
Nine Ways to Make Your Life More Exciting
Wouldn’t it be great if your life was an exciting cornucopia of new adventures? Just imagine! No more days where you wonder if there’s something better. No more hearing yourself complain about being bored.
Life is full of chores and routines, and sometimes you might find yourself just going through the motions without even realizing that you could be seeking out some excitement instead.
Even though there will always be chores and other required tasks, the time you have afterwards can be a fulfilling set of exciting adventures. With a little ingenuity and action, boredom can become a faint memory of your past.
Try the following ways to add excitement to your life:
1. Challenge yourself. It doesn’t matter what you choose to do, but find something that challenges you. Push your limits. Not only will you be adding excitement to your life, you’ll also end up accomplishing more that you ever thought you could.
2. Dare yourself to do something totally different. You may find excitement by just going in a different direction than you’re used to. If you take daily walks, try a new route. If you always enjoy a certain meal at a restaurant, pick something else or even a new restaurant next time. These small variances from the norm can be just the pick-me-up you’re seeking.
3. Expand your comfort zone. Summon the courage to step out of your comfort zone. It can feel quite exciting, get your heart pumping faster, and make you feel alive again. When you step outside your comfort zone, you open up a door to a whole new world of exciting experiences.
4. Do something you’ve always wanted to do. If there’s something you’ve been meaning to try, now is the time. Go for it with all the gusto you’ve got!
5. Make adventures a priority. If necessary, schedule excitement into your daily schedule. This will force you to take it just as seriously as your other commitments, but also give you an allotted time where your focus is solely on enjoying an adventure.
6. Meet new people. Meeting new people can bring you a new variety of adventure and excitement. When you make a new friend, they may introduce you to new interests, hobbies, music, food, and more. It’s difficult to stay bored when you’re letting new people into your life.
7. Go out more. Make an extra effort to get out of the house. Whenever you walk out that door, the possibilities are endless. Make every outing a new adventure!
8. Plan a grand adventure. Perhaps you’ve always wanted to go to Hawaii or visit far away friends. You may have to spend a good amount of time saving up for the trip, but even the anticipation of the trip and planning the details can be exciting.
9. Volunteer your time. You may think that volunteering is only about the giving of yourself for the good of others. However, volunteering can be personally rewarding and even exciting. You may find that you genuinely enjoy helping other people, and you never know what you’ll discover in the course of volunteering.
Life can be as exciting as you want it to be. Take action to plan your time according to your priorities, and use these tips to help you take advantage of every moment you’ve got. You’ll be glad you did!
How to Do More in Less Time
Getting things done brings such a great feeling of accomplishment, but it can also be overwhelming if the task seems insurmountable. Sometimes, the days just don’t seem long enough to do everything we want to do. When that happens, worry can set in, but it doesn’t have to!
You can do more than you ever thought was possible, and in less time too, giving yourself time to relax and really enjoy life!
It all begins with a solid foundation of time management and scheduling. It’s okay if you’re not a good time manager right now, you can learn to be. It just takes a little bit of practice and you’ll soon be getting more and more done.
When you see how much you’re accomplishing, you’ll work even harder during your busy times, and enjoy those down times more thoroughly.
These scheduling strategies will help you become an expert manager of your time:
1. Schedule your life for maximum benefit. You can avoid procrastination and the big stressed-out rush to meet a deadline by scheduling each day and using just a bit of self-discipline to stick to your schedule.
• It helps to break things down into smaller tasks. For example, do you have a big presentation coming up at work in two weeks? Don’t try to do it the night before it’s due. Start now. Working for just a half hour each day can help you get that presentation done with plenty of time to spare.
• By scheduling your day according to your priorities, you can better utilize the time that you might otherwise have wasted doing unproductive things, like watching television or waiting for the next item on your to-do list to come to you.
2. Disallow doubts from getting in your way. That little voice in the back of your mind that tells you, “It’s too much work,” or “It’s not going to happen,” doesn’t know what it’s talking about!
• You can do anything you set your mind to. Keep that thought in mind as you go through your day. The more you think it – or even say it out loud – the more you’ll internalize and believe it.
• When you remind yourself how much you’re capable of doing, you’ll work harder so you can reap the rewards of being done with work.
• No matter how you reward yourself, make it a point to do so regularly. Finished that presentation? Take the evening off and watch your favorite movie! Whatever reward works for you is a good one – as long as the work’s done first.
3. Recognize when you’re getting stressed and why. Sometimes, in an effort to get more done, you’ll find that you aren’t getting the time for yourself that you’d hoped for. When this happens, stop and reassess your schedule.
• Are you following your agenda? Are you productive during your scheduled working times? Are you meeting your goals? Where can you make changes for better success?
• Do you concentrate and get your work done during your working hours? If not, you may find that you still have to work when you should be relaxing. This is a vicious circle that leaves you feeling stressed, while getting nowhere.
4. Eliminate your stressors while building in stress relief. Think about the following as you go about your workday:
• By focusing during working hours, you’ll complete each task much sooner. Get your drudgery tasks out of the way as quickly as possible to make more time for more enjoyable tasks.
• Work time is for work only – so avoid distractions. Ringing phones and other issues can stop you from accomplishing your work. Forward calls to your voice mail and establish “do not disturb” times. You’ll be amazed at how much work you can get done without distractions!
• If you complete your tasks early, keep working until your schedule says it’s time to stop. Perhaps you can tackle some work for the next day to get ahead. Being a little ahead gives you the flexibility to take care of inevitable emergencies without falling behind in productivity.
• Recognize when you need a break. People are not machines so your schedule should reflect that. Realistic break times should be part of even the busiest schedule.
By planning your time wisely, you’ll accomplish more and be able to reap the many benefits of true relaxation when you’re done. It’s well worth the effort!
