Since it’s highly unlikely that you’re joining a monastery or moving to a beautiful island in the South Pacific, here are some practical tips to manage your own stress, create calm and be that person who seems totally at peace even when the office brat is yelling (again).

1.  LIMIT DISTRACTIONS & ELIMINATE INTERRUPTIONS

• Pretend you are inside “The Cone of Silence”: put a sign on your door “I’ll be available at 2:00 PM.”

• Switch off all electronics alerts & notifications 

• Avoid multitasking – (there’s no such thing!) Our brain cannot “do two things at once” it actually switches attention back and forth between two tasks. You’ll make fewer mistakes and take half the time to complete the task.

2. RECHARGE YOUR BATTERIES

• Your brain is powered by “rechargeable batteries”. Recharge by using a different part of your brain for a few minutes. Schedule time and set an alarm so you can do a mindless physical activity for 5 minutes such as walking, socializing or… playing Tetris.

3. GET EVERYTHING OUT OF YOUR HEAD

• Holding all of your thoughts and problems in your brain takes up space you need in order to have new ideas & recognize solutions when they present themselves.

• Use a mind map program, your calendar on your computer, post it notes, a white board or a pencil and paper.

4. PRIORITIZE PRIORITIZING

• Indecision causes its own type of stress. Often we don’t really have an indecision problem, we have a sequence problem. Ask yourself,  “Can I do it now?” If not, what needs to happen in order for it to happen?

5. STOP STRESS FROM SPREADING

• Emotions are actually contagious from brain to brain and from person to person. Mirror neurons in our brain act like antennae and readily pick up emotions such as frustration, anger, irritability ... and stress. To make matters worse, when we are under stress, we are more likely to misinterpret the emotions of others. When there is an undercurrent of stress from you (or from another person) it is felt, it's distracting, it limits creativity & breaks down trust.

6. TAKE TIME TO DEVELOP YOURSELF

• Becoming a better leader, friend, spouse and team member is an ongoing process that takes work and focus. We rarely take the time out to explore the ways we can get better (you don’t have to be broken to be better!). So, sign up for a personal growth seminar like the Possibilities EQ seminars https://www.allpossible.co/level-1/ and reap the rewards of taking time out to become the best version of you.