STRESS REDUCERS (1)

Stress Reducers
''The ROAD to WELLNESS''

(The list has 52. Here are the first 13.)
 

1. Get up 15 minutes earlier in the morning. The inevitable morning mishaps will be less stressful.

2. Prepare for the morning the night before. Set the breakfast table, take care of lunches, get your clothes ready, etc.

 3. Don't rely on memory. Write down appointments, etc. Make a to-do list.

 4. Do nothing which, after being done, will lead you to tell a lie.

5. Make duplicates of all keys. Bury a house key in a secret spot in the garden. Carry a duplicate key in your wallet apart from the key ring.

 6. Practice preventive maintenance. Your car, your appliances, your HEALTH, (body and mind,) is less likely to breakdown/fall apart at the worst possible moment.

7. Be prepared to wait. For example, a paperback book can make the wait the post office line almost pleasant.

8. Procrastination is stressful. Whatever you want to do tomorrow, do today. Whatever you want to do today, do it now.

9. Plan ahead. Don't let the gas get less than 1/4

full; keep a well stocked ''emergency shelf'' of me staples. Don't wait until you have your last postage stamp to buy more.

10. Don't put up with something that doesn't work right. If your alarm clock, wallet or whatever are a constant aggravation get new ones.

 11. Allow 15 minutes of extra time to get to appointments. Plan to arrive at airports one hour before domestic departures.

12. Eliminate or restrict the amount of caffeine in your diet.

13. Always set up contingency plans ''just in case.'' (If either of us is delayed, here's what we'll do. Or, in a shopping mall, if we get split up here is what we'll do.)

 

Next POSTING: I plan to include the next thirteen. I found them on the internet. The topic is stress and list was compiled by the Texas Woman's University.