stress management

Mar

2021

Redecorating Tips on A Budget

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The new normal entails us to spend more time at home. Whether we are busy studying, working from home or simply just relaxing, sometimes spending too much time at home can be quite stressful. That’s why it is important to have a relaxing environment to help us handle stress. Having a new environment can help reduce stress levels. The way to achieve this is to redecorate your house. Redecorating does not have to be expensive. There are ways to achieve a fresh, new look for a room without spending too much. Here are redecorating tips on a budget:

1. Bring Some Plants

Plants make a space more alive. They also are important for your general well-being because it reduces stress and anxiety. The presence of plants bring about calmness. They also help clean the air we breathe in.

2. Create the Perfect Lighting

Lighting design is crucial in creating the right mood for your room. Not only that, the wrong lighting can be harmful to your eyes. It is underrated but it is actually the most important aspect in interior design for it can change the mood of the room at the same time it can change one’s perception on the size of the room. Functional lighting allows you to see the room clearly and do your work properly but decorative lighting like soft, dim lights is the one responsible for creating the mood and the atmosphere of the room.

3. Paint

Painting is one of the easiest ways to completely change the look and feel of a room. For example, darker colors make the room look smaller but warmer while lighter colors make the room brighter and larger. A lighter color in the ceiling as well as vertical stripes give the perception of more height. In the same way that putting a light colored decorative panelling can lengthen a room horizontally.

If painting the whole room is too tasking and too expensive, you can opt to paint just a piece of furniture or cabinets.

4. Put a Piece of Art

Putting a piece of art in a room gives character to the room. It also tells something about the personality of the homeowner. And besides, buying art pieces is a form of investment. Not everyone can afford a Picasso or a Van Gogh, but you can invest in an up-and-coming talent. Go to a local art college or a bazaar or even in the streets. Who knows, your choice might just be the next in-demand artist.

5. Re-organize and Declutter

Sometimes, all it takes is just some re-organization. Being surrounded by mess can be harmful to your health. When things are in disarray, it is time to clean them. Decluttering can help remove stress. While cleaning, throw away things that you no longer use. By keeping your things organized, you are also increasing your productivity.

6. Shop at Thrift Stores

Thrift stores, flea markets and antique shops can be great places to find some rare finds and hidden gems for a fraction of a price. These places offer great deals and some unique finds that you can use to redecorate your living space.

7. Use Accents

An accent is anything that stands out against the rest of the space. It is a contrasting piece that is normally bold and vivid. Accent pieces add warmth and character to the room. Accent pieces can include furniture, wall art, figurines and sculptures, pillows and other accessories like boxes, candles, baskets, flowers, shells, bird cages, bar carts and knobs.

Photo by ATBO from Pexels

Jan

2021

Ways To Make Your Room More Relaxing

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Are you feeling stressed out? Do you experience difficulty in sleeping? The best thing to do is allocate a space or room in your house for you to relax. More often than not, this space is your bedroom. You should be able to learn to forget all your worries once you enter this room. The goods news is that there are little things that you can do to make your room a tranquil space. Here are ways to make your room more relaxing.

1.Use Cool Colors

The color of your bedroom will play a significant role in how you feel, think and act. Warm colors are stimulating. They are best to use in rooms that have a lot of activities and movements. On the other hand, cool colors are relaxing and calming. Thus, it is recommended to use cool colors in the bedroom. Cool colors include blue, green, purple and other variations of the three. Use muted shades, neutral or pastel colors.

2. Put Warm Lighting

Use warm lighting in your bedroom. Leave your white and bright lights in other parts of your house. Warm lighting is the color of a candlestick. It is not stressful in the eye and helps promote relaxation. The natural circadian rhythm of the body predicts the external environment such as sunset and sunrise. Warm lighting gives signals to the body that it is time to unwind for the day and prepares the body to sleep.

3. Use Your Bed for Bed Activities Only

Beds are created to help you sleep and relax. Doing other activities such as working or watching television on the bed will make it more difficult for you to sleep and relax. Your brain associates your activity with your surroundings. If you work on the bed, your mind will associate the bed with work rather than sleep. Thus, it is best to allocate a space for work or studying. In the same way that the light emitted from the television set tricks the body into thinking that it is still daytime. It hinders the secretion of melatonin, the sleep hormone. So it is highly recommended not a television set in your bedroom.

4.Use Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy is the use of oils that are extracted from plants to promote relaxation and relieve stress. It is also used as a healing treatment. The oils are either applied directly to the skin, sprayed in the air, inhaled or you can put it on bath water. Essential oils are supposed to stimulate the nerves in the nose that is directly connected to the brain creating a calming effect.

5.Use Blackout Curtains

Blackout curtains are made of thicker fabrics or materials resulting in pitch dark blackness in the room when drawn shut. They minimize the amount of light going inside the room making it feel like it is nighttime even though it is daytime outside. They also reduce the amount of heat going inside the room making the room cooler. This effect will improve your overall sleep quality.

6.Put plants

Bring nature in your room by Instilling bedroom plants. Real plants can help improve the quality of your sleep by giving you fresh and oxygen to breathe in.

7.Play Soft Sounds

A sound can either be soft or loud, depending on the volume. Soft sounds have a low volume and can be very gentle. That’s why soft sounds can help you relax. Examples of soft sounds include audiobooks, classical and soft pop music, clock ticking, guided meditation, nature sounds like birds or cricket chirping and a voice of a loved one.

8. Declutter

Numerous studies suggest that clutter has a negative effect on a person’s overall well being. It increases levels of cortisol, the stress hormone in the body. Thus, it is always important to declutter and keep your surroundings clean and orderly.

Feature Image by DarthZuzanka from Pixabay

Oct

2020

Managing Relationship Stress in The New Normal

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Maintaining healthy relationships during a time of uncertainty is quite stressful. Each person is under different kinds of stress which takes its toll on relationships. So it is important that we learn our way in managing relationship stress in the new normal.

With many individuals facing unemployment and families grappling with financial instability, stress build-up is a common occurrence in this new normal. Relationships are important as they provide meaning to person’s lives. Social ties also provide individuals with a sense of hope and a circle of support during tough times.

Tips to Managing Relationship Stress in The New Normal

Here are some tips to keep in mind as you navigate through relationship stress not only in this new normal, but in the times ahead.

Understand each other’s unique needs

No two relationships are the same because each person has unique needs and expectations. Thus, there is no one method that fits all types of managing relationships.

It is more helpful to first figure out what each person’s unique character is and how you are different from them. This way, you have a better idea of how to communicate with them about challenges.

One way to look into is to figure out what love language each of you has. This way, you already have an idea of how to comfort the other person when they are stressed out.

Stay on their side when things get stressful

When you see that the other person is under great stress, cut them some slack. Give them breathing room to think and vent out. You may be feeling just as stressed but getting into a verbal fight won’t help things.

The best thing to do is to walk away from each other until both of you have calmed down and are not as emotional about the issue. Give each other some time to think things through. Giving the other person time to manage their emotions is also being kind to yourself as you don’t stress yourself even more. After all, you can’t calm someone down if you aren’t calm yourself.

Most importantly, remember that this situation is just a phase and it will also pass. So there is no need to dwell in it too long. Talk only when both of you feel that you are ready. Trust that in the end, everything will go well.

Take the time to listen to each other

Only talk when both of you feel that you are ready to sort things out and be honest when doing so. Don’t go into the conversation with the intention of winning the argument. Your main goal should be to understand the situation as a whole, which means understanding the other person’s point of view.

This means that you have to listen actively. Listening actively involves letting the person finish their thoughts instead of butting in. Asking them questions to clarify what they mean instead of explaining your own point of view. This is key to a deeper understanding of the other person’s feelings and perspective.

Take turns to listen and express your feelings and perspectives. Pause to think when you need to. Clarify when you need to by asking questions. Be honest and sincere so that the other person will do the same.

Give and respect each other’s alone time

It may seem like the wrong approach but taking some “alone time” or “me time” is important during challenging times. Even if we crave for social interaction so we can talk out our issues, alone time provides us with the breathing space to vent out and to truly understand how we feel about the situation and how we hope things will turn out.

So if someone suddenly doesn’t return your messages or calls, don’t send them an angry text or make incessant calls. Instead, send them an encouraging message and tell them that you look forward to talk with them again as soon as they have time or when they are ready.

In the same way, taking time out for yourself to process the thoughts and emotions that stress you out. This will also help with your mental health. This gives you the space to clarify things in your own head and heart so you can talk about it with honesty and sincerity.

There is no magic recipe for how to make relationships work. There is certainly no guide book in managing relationship stress in the new normal. However, maintaining healthy relationships is an important part of every person’s life. Stress caused by challenges is also a part of each person’s reality and in every relationship. It will help you grow individually and help your relationship develop even further.

It is important to give each other time and space to do what they need and maintain an attitude of understanding when conflicts and problems arise. In this way, you are able to resolve conflicts and manage stress so you can maintain your relationships.

Featured Image: Original Photo by Helena Lopes on Unsplash.

Sep

2020

The Dark Mode Challenge

Reading Time: 3 minutes

All of us experience different kinds of stress in our daily lives. We often force ourselves to act as if nothing is wrong; pretending that everything is just fine. We may be feeling sick and tired emotionally or mentally. All throughout the day, we act like everything’s just normal. We make the effort to smile and be cheerful just to make sure no one notices that we’re not okay. For this scenario, the Dark Mode Challenge is a way to get through.

Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.
— Carl Jung

This is how most of us cope with challenging mental and emotional issues – we pretend that we’re just fine. We have been programmed to believe that showing our vulnerability is a weakness. We believe that it is unacceptable to indulge in or to show our negative emotions to anybody else. In the process, we are engaging in toxic positivity.

The Dark Mode Challenge

Your challenge is to indulge your dark mood, by switching on your Dark Mode. Your task is to do everything you need to do to express your feelings. Keep in mind that you should do this without harming yourself or someone else. You can do this with a friend or on your own. This process is you accepting that it’s okay to not to be okay.

You can’t control everything. Sometimes you just need to relax and have faith that things will work out. Let go a little and just let life happen.
— Kody Kiplinger

Schedule a whole day, or the weekend. Go offline, laze around and unwind. Focus on what you are feeling. It doesn’t matter if you decide to watch sad movies and cry all through it. If it takes finishing off a tub of your favorite ice cream; don’t stop yourself. Write, draw, paint, listen to music or dance your heart out. The goal is to do whatever you need to do to get the negative feelings out and truly feel them.

Everything worthwhile in life is won through surmounting the associated negative experience. Any attempt to escape the negative, to avoid it or quash it or silence it, only backfires. The avoidance of suffering is a form of suffering. The avoidance of struggle is a struggle. The denial of failure is a failure. Hiding what is shameful is itself a form of shame.
— Mark Manson, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life

Use Your Imagination

Imagine yourself as Batman, who is always on dark mode. As Batman, you are trying to engage your negative feelings. Your goals is to draw them out from within yourself. Put a name to each one of them if you can, and in the process, vanquish them. In the morning, you can switch to your light mode again.

Named must your fear be before banish it you can.
— Yoda

This doesn’t mean that you dwell in the negative state. That’s why you have to set a time limit for yourself. Have a friend remind you that your time is up. Give yourself a day or two, no more.

Toxic Positivity

We are often told to “just get over it”. Worse, this is what we tell ourselves. This overgeneralization of a happy, optimistic state results in the denial, diminishment and invalidation of our emotional experience. This is toxic positivity. You are essentially denied the right to experience your emotions.

We often do this to ourselves and sometimes to other people. It is a form of self-sabotage that we have come to treat as normal. This should not be normal. You should take the time to indulge in your negative feelings.

The whole purpose of bawling your eyes out, or writing your heart out, etc.; is to get the heavy emotions and thoughts out of your system. This will help you feel a little lighter mentally and emotionally. The process will help you clarify your thoughts. This will make it easier for you to start working on how to get back up from your dark mode. You can slowly start switching to your light-hearted mode again.

Featured Image: Original Photo by Giulia Bertelli on Unsplash.

Aug

2020

Improve Your Financial Wellness

Reading Time: 2 minutes

When we talk about health, normally what comes into mind is physical health. Although physical health is very important, it is but only one aspect of your total well-being. There are other dimensions of wellness that are equally important, one of which is your financial wellness. Numerous studies revealed that the main source of stress for many people around the world is money, or the lack thereof. In fact, the lack of money can lead to negative effects on the other areas of your life. For example, not being able to afford nutritious food or not being able to properly sleep at night. It also brings about anxiety on personal relationships especially when you can no longer provide for the family’s basic needs. Thus, to improve your financial wellness should always be part of your goals.

What is Financial Wellness?

Financial wellness refers to the state of your financial health and your relationship with money. Are you able to handle your money well? Do you have enough to meet your needs? Not having enough of it will have an adverse effect on your health.

Why is Financial Wellness Important?

Financial wellness is important not just for the individual per se but the community as well. Personally, to be financially well means less stress. A person on this state does not have to worry about meeting financial obligations. in addition, there is a wide array of options for the individual to enjoy life.

Financial wellness is also important for families. Children from these families have access not only to optimal nutrition but to good environment and education as well. Strong families are needed to build strong communities.

In the workplace, a happy, satisfied individual is a more productive employee. A survey conducted by the American Psychological Association indicated that money problem is the number one reason why employees are distracted from work. Employees under financial stress are generally unmotivated and has low productivity rate.

How to Achieve Financial Wellness?

To achieve financial wellness, you must first understand what stage are you in in your financial life right now. It also helps to compute your current net worth. Knowing your starting point will make it easier for you to make financial goals. Once you know what your goals are, you can now start your journey towards the improvement of your financial wellness. Just like in any aspect in life, do remember that success does not happen overnight. It takes time and continuous effort to reach your goals.

Success is the sum of all efforts – repeated day in and day out.
-Robert Collier

Launch Challenge

There is a single life rule as far as your financial life is concern that you should follow. It is so simple yet many people take it for granted. The rule is to spend less than you earn.

Follow this golden rule and soon you will be able to improve your overall financial wellness. This rule will help you eliminate debts. It will also help you start building your savings account. In the end, your stress level will definitely go down.

To be able to successfully do this, you need to have a clear idea on how much you are earning vis-a-vis how much you are spending. Thus, it is advisable that you begin to track your expenses on a daily basis. Remember that you can only make good financial decisions if you know where your money is going. It helps also to increase your financial literacy.

Good luck!

Feature Image by luxstorm from Pixabay Images

Aug

2020

Get Rid of Negative Energy in Your Home

Reading Time: 4 minutes

The home should be the place where we feel safe and secure. It is also the place where we let out all our stress and emotional baggage. It’s not surprising that stagnant or negative energy may build up in our homes. This can make us feel down, fatigued, and even make us sick. How do you get rid of negative energy in your home? Here are some tips.

Open the Windows

Air out all the negative energy in your house one room at a time by opening the windows to let fresh air come through. While you’re at it, shake out your pillows and blankets to recirculate any stagnant energy around them. Try to breathe in the fresh air too to get rid of negative energy not just in your home but in your body as well.

Wipe Down, Wipe Out

Regularly wipe down surfaces in your home to clean and disinfect them but also to wipe out the negative energy in the room. It doesn’t only keep your home safe and clean, it also detoxifies you mentally and physically as it can be therapeutic and a good workout. Do the 15-minute cleaning routine daily to maintain the cleanliness of your home.

Burn Some Incense

Incense has long been used to clean and purify any space of negative energy. This is used in temples and even churches to this day. The most popular one used for this purpose is sage. You can use sage incense sticks or sage smudge wands and use the smoke to get rid of negative energy in your home. It would be great if you could do this for every room in the house. Have the windows open while doing this so the smoke detector in your house isn’t activated.

Remove or Repair Broken Items

Broken things that are stuck around the house bring stagnant, negative energy into your home. Each time an item is broken, immediately set aside time to have it fixed so they don’t take space while remaining unused. If it can’t be repaired, then get rid of it immediately.

Remove Clutter Immediately

Doesn’t it feel good after you’ve cleaned your desk? Clutter can make you feel tired and stressed so try to banish clutter from your life by regularly decluttering your space. Get rid of negative energy in your home by cleaning as you go each time you use a room.

Spray Orange Essential Oil

The smell of orange is not only refreshing, it also helps to lift the mood. Mix some orange essential oil in water and use it to spray around the house. You can also use it on your regular diffuser to elevate the mood in any space. Not only will you get rid of the negative energy in your home; it will make your space smell fresh too.

Ring a Bell in Each Room

This is a simple way to move bad energy out of any space. Ring a bell in each corner of a room and the doorways in your home. You can also use a singing bowl to do so. The sound waves will help get rid of the negative energy accumulating in your home.

Salt the Corners of Each Room

Salt can be used to ward off negative energy as well as to absorb negative energy. Put some salt in the four corners of your rooms and let it sit for 48 hours. You can vacuum it or sweep it away and throw it out to get rid of negative energy in your home.

Protect your Space with Crystals

Crystals have been used since ancient times to ward off negative energy and to enhance positive energy. Black Tourmaline is especially known to ward off and dissolve negative energy. Keep this close to electronic devices to protect you from the negative effects of electromagnetic exposure. Other crystals also help to get rid of negative energy in your home with various effects.

Live with Plants

Having living, healthy plants around your home is one sure way to invite more positive energy into your home. Make sure you water them as needed and place them in spots where they are most suitable. Some plants require a lot of sunlight while others can thrive in the shade. Certain plants also help to naturally purify the air and freshen up the look of your living space.

Finally, the most important tip to ensure that your home does not accumulate negative energy is to be full of positive energy yourself. Remember the mind-body connection? Your thoughts influence your physical state but your environment affects how you think and feel too.

Keep yourself in a positive state of mind all the time so you don’t contribute to the negative energy in your own home. It is also easier for you to notice if there is negative energy in your home if you are in a positive state. This means, you can get rid of negative energy as soon as possible too.

Launch Challenge

Your challenge is to launch into action and do any of these tips or a combination of these for a whole month. See which ones are more effective for your lifestyle. The bigger challenge is to develop the habit of regularly clearing out your space of negative energy so you can work on your dreams in a positive space that helps you maintain a positive mindset and attract more positive experiences into your life.

Featured Image: Original Photo by Conscious Design on Unsplash.

Jul

2020

The Mind-Body Connection

Reading Time: 2 minutes

You felt sick. You went to the doctor and for some reason, your medical results indicate that everything is perfectly normal. And the doctor’s diagnosis is stress. To be well again, you just need to learn how to manage stress. Did this thing ever happen to you? Well, this is because stress, health and your overall wellness are all connected. This is what you call the mind-body connection.

Mind-Body Connection

Our thoughts and emotions greatly influenced our health. Our whole body, each part, every organ and its functions, all system and its processes are controlled by neurotransmitters coming from the brain. Thus, everything that is on our mind directly influences our body because our body only interprets and reacts to messages coming from the brain. In short, our intellectual and emotional health directly influence our physical health.

The mind body connection tells us that the physical state of our body is a direct result of our attitudes, beliefs, feelings, thoughts and mindsets. Because of this connection, what we do with our body such as the food that we eat, the numbers of hours we sleep and exercise, the water that we drink even our posture also influences our mental well-being.

To put this into perspective, take the mind and the body as one entity rather than two different parts. What you do with one will influence the other and vice versa.

Mind-Body Therapies

Mind body therapies are activities or practices that promote healing, induce relaxation, enhance positivity and improves overall health and general well being. These activities include the following.

Acupunture
Aromatherapy
Creative Arts (art, music and dance)
Group Support
Hypnosis
Imagery
Massage
Meditation
Prayer
Qigong
Relaxation
Tai chi
Yoga

The mind and the body are like parallel universes. Anything that happens in the mental universe must leave tracks in the physical one.
– Deepak Chopra

So, always remember to think positive thoughts!

Feature Image from Okan Caliskan from Pixabay Images

Jul

2020

How to Manage Stress

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Are you under too much stress? Do you feel like giving up? Are there so many things in your life to be worried about right now? Do you feel powerless? If you do, then you are obviously stressed out. Stress is not necessarily a bad thing if it can become your source of motivation to improve yourself and your life. However, too much stress can affect your health. That’s why it is important to learn how to manage stress.

What is Stress?

Everyone experience stress. It happens when you have too much pressure which is much more than you can handle. The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines stress as “the reaction people may have when presented with demands and pressures that are not matched to their knowledge and abilities and which challenge their ability to cope”.

Components

Based on the WHO definition, stress has three components:

Demands / Pressure – This means that there is an outside force that is compelling you or forcing you to do something.
Knowledge and Skills – Knowledge pertains to your understanding about a specific subject or situation. Skills are learned ability or expertise on something.
Ability to Cope – How you are able to deal with responsibilities, challenges and difficulties plays a big part on your stress level

In short, stress arises when the outside pressure is not at par with your knowledge and skills. You will be better equipped in handling the same situation if it arises again only if you have learned from that past experience and made conscious effort to improve yourself.

Take a look at the video by Ted-Ed to find out how stress affects our body.

Thus, it is important that people learn how to manage stress. Here are five techniques in managing stress.

1. Take a Break from the Stressor

A stressor is the one that causes the stress. A stressor can be a person like your boss, life changes like a death of a loved one, an everyday problem like money issues, an environmental problem like a calamity or a health crisis such as the pandemic. While it might be impossible to completely distance yourself from the stressor, you can take a break from it by doing something else that will keep your mind off things even for just 20 minutes.

2. Exercise

When you exercise, your body produces endorphins, a hormone that acts as natural painkillers and mood elevators. It also improves your ability to sleep. Thus, exercise not only benefits the physical body but the mind as well. Thus, doing regular exercise will help lower your stress levels.

3. Smile and Laugh

When you smile and laugh, your body also releases endorphins. Endorphins lower your stress hormones cortisol. Too much cortisol produces negative feelings. A good hard belly laugh can reduce tension. Even a fake smile helps reduce stress and lowers heart rate. So, if you want a quick release of tension, forced yourself to smile.

4. Get support

A co-study done by Sarah Townsend of USC Marshall School of Business, Heeding Kim of UC Santa Barbara and Batja Mesquita of University of Leuven, Belgium that sharing your stress or worries with someone else, especially if that person is undergoing the same kind of stress, helps decrease the stress. It is important to talk to someone who understands you. A support group is necessary in life.

5. Meditate

Meditation is deep state of relaxation and tranquility. Meditation controls our breathing, pulse rate and blood pressure. It is a simple technique, but if practice just for a few minutes, it will give you many benefits. It releases negative emotions and helps clear your mind of worries.

First published in Pinoy Smart Living on 01.06.2019

Feature Image by kalhh from Pixabay Images.

Apr

2020

How to Help Kids Manage Lockdown Stress

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Most government around the world resorted to lockdown to protect its citizens from getting infected with the virus. Although such measures protected your physical health, it gave rise to a different kind of health issue; that is mental health. Mental health is crucial to our overall well-being. It affects our thoughts, emotions and behavior. A study done at the University of Adelaide showed evidence that the one-month confinement measures did affect the people’s mental health. But it is not just the adults who are affected, new data from Hubei shows that children also showed depression and anxiety symptoms. The challenge now for parents is how to help kids manage lockdown stress.

Children are creatures of habits. They take comfort in what is familiar. Children are used to going to school everyday. Now, they are forced to stay at home. The routine had stopped. And this causes confusion. Then, they are restricted to stay inside the house together with parents who are also trying to cope with their own stress, fears and anxiety. So, children take on cues from their parents on how to react to the situation. They know if parents are worried. At the same time, they are trying to understand how the world has changed.

Parents need to take this matter seriously and handle it with care because according to the World Health Organization, most mental health issues of adults begin in childhood. Even if we all go back to normal after the world discovered the vaccine, psychological damages won’t easily go away. This can lead to anger issues, depression, addiction and even suicide if left unchecked.

As parents, here are things that you can do to help your children manage lockdown stress:

1. Keep a Routine

Rather than doing things different everyday, it is better to keep a routine. On school days, there are study time, meal time, play time, TV time and nap time. Continue doing these activities at the same time that they are used to. The study time can further be divided into Math time, Reading time, Art time, etc. You can make use of technology to continue their learning. If content material is not available from their school, there are still tons of available information online.

2. Teach Them the Importance of Hygiene Using Their Own Language

Instead of forcing them to follow you or scaring them that they are going to die if they get the virus; teach them the importance of basic hygiene in a language that they do understand. For example, you can make them watch the Sesame Street Coronavirus special and let Elmo teach them about proper hand washing and use of face mask.

3. Encourage Them To Talk with Friends

Encourage your children especially your teenagers to do group teleconferencing online to stay in touch with their friends . At this point in time, the support and encouragement of friends will do wonders to their mental health. Just make sure that they are really talking with their friends and not some random strangers that they met online.

4. Talk and Play with Your Children

For most children, love is synonymous with time. Now is the perfect time for you to make up for lost time with your children. More than ever, they need your love, support, kindness and strength to help them go trough these tough times. Spend time with them. Play with them. Do activities together like art works, cooking, and baking. You can play board games or video games as family. You can even binge-watch movies with your kids.

Take advantage of the time to get to know and establish an open communication with your teenagers. Establish a connection by knowing about their interests, hobbies, their friends and their dreams. Listen to their music, stories, thoughts and concerns. Do things together. Try not to judge and refrain from controlling them.

5. Create Family Goals

Family goal setting will shift the focus of the whole family from the problems of today to the hope of a better tomorrow. Family goals will make the family closer to one another. It gives you something to look forward to in the future. It is the perfect venue for both parents and children to voice out their opinions, dreams and preferences. Open communication is established. Accountability, responsibility, commitment and group support are also encouraged.

Feature Image by Lisa runnels from Pixabay Images

Apr

2020

Remove Stress by Decluttering

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Look at the photo above. How do you feel? Don’t you feel mentally exhausted? You will feel stressed just by mere looking at it. Does your environment look similar? The fact of the matter is that a messy living and working environment do cause stress and anxiety. A study done by anthropologists from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) showed a direct link between clutter and stress. So, to remove stress, you must begin by decluttering.

Clutter Defined

What is clutter? A clutter is a collection of things from mails, books, magazines, plastics, pens, dirty clothes or just simply anything that is scattered everywhere creating a mess. It results to the impediment of movement and it reduces the functionality of the space.

It is difficult to maximize the use of your space if you have clutter everywhere. Not only that, chances are, you will be wasting a lot of time looking for missing items. In addition, clutter can also make you lose money by misplacing your bills. You might also feel embarrass when there is an unexpected guest. Thus, removing clutter will help you get rid of that unnecessary stress, worries and fear.

Causes of Clutter

Common causes of clutter include:

Emotional attachment to things
Guilt in disposing presents
Lack of time to clean up
Procrastination
Shopping for things that you don’t actually need
Unfinished projects

How to Remove Clutter

Here are some tips on how you can remove clutter in your home:

1. Allot 15 Minutes per Day

Decluttering can be overwhelming if you have managed to accumulate tons of it for the past several years especially if you are busy. It would be very difficult to do it one sitting. The best approach is to allot 15 minutes a day for decluttering. All you need is a timer and a calendar. Set the timer at the start of the 15 minutes and mark your calendar with an X once you are done. This 15-minute daily habit will not only slowly transform your home but will also result to an improvement in your quality of life.

2. Do it One Room at a Time

If clutter is present in your whole house, the best approach is to do it one room at a time. Choose the room where you spend most of your time.

Figure out what the purpose of that room is. Each room in your home needs to have a clear purpose. What is it for? Is it a place where you sleep and rest? Is it a place to entertain your guests or to eat with the family?

Once you have clearly defined what the specific purpose of that space is, now you need to remove all things that do not relate to that specific purpose. Start with the left hand corner going down and slowly moving to the right. Think of it as if you are reading. Once you have finished with one room and see the results, you will be more than motivated to continue to the next room.

3. Use the 3-box-method

First look for items in your house items in your house that you need to declutter. Get 3 boxes and label each box with the following:

Keep
Donate
Dispose

Then begin filling each box. Make sure to fill up each box equally. For items that you are unsure of, ask yourself whether you need that item or not. If you do need that item, do you use it? If your answer ‘no’ to both questions, then that is a sign that it is time for you to let go of that item.

4. Do the Oprah Winfrey Closet Hanger Experiment

If your problem is on how to organize your wardrobe, a quick and easy way is the Oprah Winfrey Experiment. Start with hanging all your clothes in the opposite direction. After wearing a specific clothing, return it back to your closet but this time in the correct direction. Do this for six consecutive months. After six months, you will have a clear idea on what items to dispose and not. You can try this approach with other household stuffs such as linens, bedsheets, cleaning products, etc…

5. Stop Buying Stuff

If there is a need for you to declutter, it only shows that you have so much stuff in your home. It would be very difficult to proceed with your decluttering if you are going to continue buying stuff. So, stop buying in the meantime until you have finished your decluttering. You will also be saving money by not shopping.

First published in Pinoy Smart Living on 07.22.2018

Feature Image by Posted by A.L. Jonas in Environmental, 0 comments