Category: Health and Wellness

Dipping Into Our Mental Reserves: Coping With A Long Hospital Stay

A key focus of my blog is Health/Wellness. It’s difficult to undergo a medical procedure in itself, but it can be more difficult when there is a prolonged stay in the hospital. Long stays in the hospital can create a different level of stress aside from the medical sickness itself and it’s important to understand how to cope under such circumstances. The following contributed post is thus entitled, Dipping Into Our Mental Reserves: Coping With A Long Hospital Stay.

* * *

Source

It can feel like when we spend a long period of time undergoing treatment, or feeling that we are living in a hospital, all self-respect goes out the window. It can mean a long tenure under harsh artificial lighting, wailing patients, surrounded by grimness, and just longing to be home. So how can we build up our mental reserves to cope?

Have A Plan
Structure is the key when we feel any sense of imprisonment. And we can argue that, in many ways, being in hospital for such a long time can result in feeling like we are trapped. But this is why, to ensure that our mental reserves are a strong as possible, that we stick to a structure. Think about things to occupy you during the day, but also, ensure that you address your moments of weakness. By having a plan in mind, this serves you well by occupying your mind, but also gives you the chance to look to the future. You would be quite surprised as to how much a structure can give you a sense of focus.

Seek Support
When we feel guilt, or anger, it’s about ensuring we get some form of outlet. Depending on the situation that you are in hospital in the first place, you may have a lot of resentment because of the situation. It’s important that if you seek closure, or you feel that it’s not a chapter that will close itself, that you seek the appropriate help. This could be legal representation, such as Frekhtman & Associates, or it could be any counselor. Whatever is necessary, you should think about seeking support, because this is what will keep your morale up.

Understanding Your Grief And Stress
In a stressful time, we’re going through periods of uncertainty, and we need to learn that what we’re going through is, although it doesn’t feel like it, normal. When surrounded by people in a hospital environment that are going through life or death situations, and feeling that we are in a warzone of some proportion, realizing that we have these feelings of stress and anxiety means that it’s the first step towards seeking appropriate help and treatment. When it comes to extreme emotions and thoughts, you need to speak to a professional. For those that have depressive episodes, this is normal, and when you feel like this, it’s important to remember that these emotions are fleeting, but what you can do in the meantime is learn to either channel these emotions into something positive or get over the symptomatic feelings of stress. Fight or flight is a very common emotion, especially when faced with our own mortality. And in some respects, this sense of adrenaline can get us through a stressful situation, but as we know, in the modern world, feeling like this all of the time will only deplete our energy stores. And this is where you have to seek out your own form of treatment. A lot of people talk about mindfulness as a very positive practice, as is meditation, but have you ever tried to sit there and think of nothing? When you’re feeling stressed, it’s impossible! So instead, harness the power of deep breathing, because this can give you control over your nervous system, meaning that as you build up your stores, you can learn to tackle all the negativity in your mind.

It’s a veritable collection of ups and downs, and when we are undergoing long-term treatment or spending time in hospital, you can feel like it will never end. But this is where we have to dip into our mental reserves and learn how to build them up.

Use Remote Team Lessons With Long-Distance Relatives

A key focus of my blog is Health/Wellness. A major component of life is the relationships with our friends and family. In some instances, career and life circumstances geographically separate us from our loved ones. Thanks to today’s technology though, we can still keep in contact with family no matter how far they are away unlike any time before. The following contributed post is entitled, Use Remote Team Lessons With Long-Distance Relatives.

* * *

Life has a terrible habit; it puts distance between those who used to have a close relationship. Whether it’s your family or your friend, life has more than one way to tear your apart. Maybe you’ve had to leave your best friend behind when you went to college in a different state, and it’s been difficult to keep in touch. Or perhaps you’ve relocated for a job, and your parents now live several hours drive away from you.
Geographic distance used to be an insurmountable obstacle in the past. But nowadays, businesses have long proven that they can create a feeling of belonging with their teams, even though nobody lives in the same town. Indeed, remote teams are proof that you can bypass geography and still bring everyone together. As surprising as it might sound, it’s time for the business world to teach us a thing or two about keeping our family and friends close by.

Make a family t-shirt

Communicate as often as possible
Successful remote teams have understood that communication is vital to creating a sense of togetherness. Indeed, as explained in a previous article of the blog bigwordsarepowerful.com/2019/, businesses need to consider digital solutions to implement a healthy communication strategy. Collaborative tools and chat systems are favorites, as they make sure that everyone is on the same page at all times. Ina private environment, there is no room for collaborative solutions. However, group chats are an option. You can create a private group chat on Facebook, for instance, which can let you share your news and interact with your relatives. Additionally, Whatsapp offers a similar option. As you use online groups, you also need to accept that not everyone might be online at the same time. However, both Facebook and Whatsapp enable all participants to review the messages they’ve missed while they were logged out. In other words, you can get an answer both in real time and at a later point too.

Facebook lets you create private groups

A collective project brings everyone together
Remote teams also share a sense of purpose. They collaborate on the same project. Distant relatives and friends, however, may not have any common objective. But nothing is stopping you from introducing a collective project you can share. For instance, why not plan a big family reunion with tailored t-shirts for everyone? You can use a vinyl cutter – see here for more info vinylcuttingmachineguide.com – to design your family logo, for instance. Make sure, however, to use a heat press to transfer the logo onto the t-shirt. You could also create a party board for your next family Christmas or the next round birthday. Ultimately, you can start a project and assign tasks to each other, so that you’ve got a reason to organize a meetup and share your creations.

Respect each other’s lifestyle
Last, but not least, remote teams value flexibility. Everyone knows and understands that other members may not be available at the same time. But that’s precisely what collaborative tools are about. Similarly, you also need to display the same understanding with your relatives. Not everyone returns calls; not everyone is active online daily, etc. Build your long-distance relationship on mutual respect instead of high expectations!

Modern businesses have a lot to teach us. They introduced a practical solution for long-distance relationships, which can not only help you to stay in touch with your relatives but also build new memories to cherish and remember.

How To Make Sure That Your Days With Friends Are Memorable

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success, and a key focus is Health/Wellness. A key aspect of a happy life is spending time with friends and relatives. It’s important to consider how you can maximize your time with them. The following contributed post is entitled, How To Make Sure That Your Days With Friends Are Memorable.

* * *

OK, so we know what you’re thinking. When you see your friends, all of the things that you do with them are memorable, right? And anyway, isn’t the most important thing that you can spend that time together, whether you’re doing the most exciting – or the most boring – things ever? Whilst this is true of friendship, you should also make sure that you can look back on your time together, and be sure that you all did some exciting things, rather than sitting in the same old seats, in the same old bar. It’s just not the same really, is it? Here’s how you can make your days with friends memorable.

Image credit

Go on a road trip

When it comes to making (and sometimes breaking) friendships, there really is nothing like a road trip. Figure out which ones of you are up for driving, and whose car you’re going to take, and get out there and experience things. The best conversations that you’ll have are in motels at 2am, or on the top of a mountain, looking out there at all of the stars. Sometimes, friendships are made a lot stronger by experiencing what the world has to offer together, and you will have to solve some problems together along the way. This is what will make you friends for life, so pick out a route, and get out there with your friends.

Join a sports team together

Another thing that undoubtedly makes your friendship stronger is joining a sports team together, and there is no level of comradery quite like those who are in the same team with each other. Perhaps you’re into baseball or basketball, or you want to try out a new sport? Why not get some golf gear from www.rockbottomgolf.com and see whether you can have some great fun out there on the course? If your friends are sporty then this is a great idea, and your successes and losses will really bring you together, and mark out some memorable days for the future. Try something new, and get your buddies on board!

Eating is important

OK, so eating is important for reasons related to staying alive, but it’s also an important part of any friendship. As Anthony Bourdain said (a little more eloquently), a meal doesn’t fix everything, but sitting across from somebody at dinner is one step of the way there. Sharing a meal together with your friends (and some drinks) is one of the best ways to catch up with one another, and to really spend your time enjoying each other’s company. No phones at this table, thanks, we’re having a good ol’ fashioned chin wag, and enough food to make us almost fall asleep in the restaurant. This is what friendship is all about.

So, if you want to make sure that your days with friends are memorable, then travel together, join a sports team, or simply just go out for dinner. You never know what’s going to happen, and that’s why it’s better to give your old haunts a miss for a while, in favor of something new!

4 Healthy Indicators Of High Self-Respect

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success, and a key focus is Health/Wellness. Self-Respect is important not just for yourself but in terms of interacting with others as well. A high level of self-respect can drive your decision making and ability to navigate life as well. The following contributed post is entitled, 4 Healthy Indicators Of High Self-Respect.

* * *

Being able to look after yourself and respect yourself is hugely important. Not only does it make for a happier and more fulfilling life, it’s also hugely effective in terms of keeping you physically healthy too. The mind and body are essentially two sides of the same coin, and the more that you pay attention to one, the more the other benefits alongside too. But if you are feeling as though you might not allow yourself the right level of self-respect, then you are probably keen to do something about that. As it happens, there are a whole host of ways in which you can hope to improve your self-respect, and it all starts firstly by understanding it as a process as well as you can. In this article, we will look into some of the healthy indicators that you have high self-respect. If you can see these qualities, you know that there is a lot of self-respect there too.

Image Credit

Good Physical Health

We have already alluded to the way in which physical and mental health work together. It works both ways, and if you happen to have good physical health which you keep up with a lot of the time, it’s highly likely that this is mostly down to having a good level of self-respect. When you respect yourself, you are much more likely to push your body and to improve it through training, as you both want it to be in the best possible shape and you feel much more able to do the necessary training to get it there. Conversely, if you are not in great shape, it will almost always indicate that you are not quite as happy with yourself as you could be.

The trouble here is that it is the kind of thing that can easily become a cyclical problem. If you allow your physical health to worsen, that will cause a decline in your emotional health, and then you will feel less keen to go out and exercise again. Before long, you are going to find that you are letting both slip, and that is not a situation that you want to be in. So make sure that you are staying on top of your physical health as well as you can, and you will find it helps to keep your self-respect up high as well.

Image Credit

The Ability To Self-Regulate

This is something vital that we should all have, but which can become undeveloped or forgotten in many people at different stages of their life. Self-regulation is the term for being able to act in ways which you know are for your best future interests in the long term. This should generally trump anything else such as immediate desires which you know will cause you damage – although in practice, everyone in the world engages in some kind of damaging act at least sometimes. But the ability to self-regulate is a hugely powerful indicator that you have a high self-respect, and if you happen to notice that you don’t really have this yourself, then it’s likely you have self-esteem problems somewhere.

As with many things, this is something that usually starts in childhood. The process of teaching self-regulation to young students and children can be hard, and for many parents it doesn’t ever become a priority. Those children will then not develop a natural sense of what it means to take care of themselves for the long-term, and once you become an adult you might find that this shows up in a variety of poor behaviours which you then try to fix. Idf you find yourself in this position, don’t fret – it is still something you can work on at any point in your life, and you should never feel as though all is lost. But you will need to start actively thinking about what matters for your health and wellbeing, and to make the right steps and changes to make it happen. The more you do it, the easier it becomes, until eventually you are going to find it is a fairly natural skill which you have developed.

Confidence

Who doesn’t want to be confident? Confidence is much-admired, but mostly misunderstood, and it’s that misunderstanding which stops people actually being able to take it for themselves. A lot of people feel that confidence is somehow always being on top in social settings, or even being domineering of those around them. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Actually, confidence is much more like not caring whether or not others like you, and doing whatever you want, regardless of whether other people like it. Clearly, this kind of no-nonsense get-what-you-want attitude is a sign of a healthy self-respect, and it is for this reason that you should seek it out. Of course, as with anything, you can practice either and you will get more of the other – and if you don’t feel you have much confidence, you can do a lot to generate it in yourself.

Image Credit

The best way to build confidence is to make a point of focusing primarily on yourself, and doing what you want. Pleasing number one firstly is the best thing you can do. You should then think about slowly but surely stepping outside of your comfort zone, until you are at the point where you can appreciate that you are capable of more than you thought. In this way, you will surely and slowly build up your confidence, and at the same time your self-respect will start to soar as well. Confidence is hugely addictive, so it’s exciting to get started in building it up.

Image Credit

Kindness

Funnily enough, even being kind to others is a sign that you respect yourself, as long as it comes from a healthy place. If you are over-pleasing, then it’s not healthy, but if you are instead being normally kind because you want to be, then that is a very good sign indeed. It takes a strong self-awareness and understanding to be kind to others, and this is one of the first things you should think about developing if you are keen to respect yourself more. You’ll be amazed at what a difference it makes.

Stopping The Epidemic Of Health Hazards

A key focus of my blog is Health/Wellness. A major concern is that our current health system as currently stands, poses numerous inherent hazards to the patients. The health industry is vast and has numerous moving parts. The following contributed post looks at the many health hazards in the industry and what can be done about them. It is entitled, Stopping The Epidemic Of Health Hazards.

* * *

The health industry resembles a mythical monster. It has multiple heads. Its tentacles expand in many directions at the same time. And more importantly, nobody knows how to manage it. In a modern take on the Twelve Labors of Hercules, the health industry, like the Nine-headed Hydra of the mythology, has more than one heads you need to pay attention to. Indeed, on the one hand, doctors and hospitals are in charge of providing a service. The second of its third head is science and research, which keeps the sector relevant to modern day issues. And finally, the third head is for health hazards, all the dangers within the health industry. While Hercules finally conquered Hydra, we are not at a stage where the health industry can yet be safely managed. It is vital that we understand the diversity and range of risks for each head. This article focuses on exploring health hazards.

Hercules slaying the Hydra

There’s medication for everything and everything in your medication
A few days ago, the US Food and Drug Administration issued further recalls for the blood pressure medication losartan. Indeed, impurities that have been discovered in the recalled lots – NMBA, or N-Nitroso N-Methyl 4-aminobutyric acid – are potentially carcinogen. The presence of the chemical is, so far, unexplained, but it is suspected to be linked to a potential risk of contamination in a medical factory. Indeed, the contamination risks in a pharmaceutical plant are extremely high as there are many interactions with equipment, workers, and suppliers during the manufacturing process. Consequently, despite strict sanitary and hygienic policies, a human or mechanical error can, unfortunately, introduce harmful compound to the final product.

I can just bin it, right?
More and more often, households are the origin of devastating health risks. Indeed, homes with pets and young children are careful to keep medication out of reach of the most vulnerable family members. However, everyday health-related items can be disposed of without a second thought about their potential danger, such as aerosols or even UV lamps for light therapy treatment. Waste removal and especially hazardous waste disposal should be entrusted to professionals only, as the chemical elements contained in some healthcare items could threaten your health if they were accidentally exposed. Additionally, they also lead to environmental damages if they are not handled with care.

Marketing without research could be a slow death sentence
It’s not uncommon in a fast-moving market to launch products that might seem safe at first, but that lack appropriate testing. Ultimately, it doesn’t take long to come across products that we know are harmful today but that were once promoted as a health savior. Radioactive toothpaste was highly popular in the first half of the 20th century, as it was thought to give your teeth a natural and healthy glow. A French makeup brand even recommended radioactive lipstick for a vibrant red shade. Nowadays, the next hype product that lacks research is the vaping pipe. Indeed, long-term effects are unknown. Additionally, some pipes have exploded and caused serious injuries.

The bottom line is that the health industry Hydra hasn’t yet reached its final shape. However, we need to gain a deep insight into the diversity of health hazards that Hydra has in store for us. Ultimately, you can only defeat what you know.

Simple Ways To Better Yourself

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success, and two of its key focuses are Career Discussions and Health/Wellness. Not everyone enters the world with the proper tools for success. If you’re falling short in a given area, and want to reach the next level, it’s important to know which steps to take. The following contributed post is entitled, Simple Ways To Better Yourself.

* * *

https://unsplahs.com/photos/RARH8b7N-fw

Everybody in the world wants to be the best version of themselves – that’s a given. When we’re younger, we all think about how our lives are going to turn out. We think about how our personal lives are going to be and how our work is going to go. Some people out there have been switched on from the get-go and don’t need any extra push to help them reach their goals. There is a group out there, however, who have entered the real world and haven’t exactly hit the heights they imagine – for one reason or another.

If you feel that you’re currently in this category, then don’t worry. Self-improvement is a hefty process, but there aren’t too many distressing factors that go into it. Let’s talk about a few ways people can improve themselves significantly.

Organised

Being a more organized person will improve anyone’s life in pretty much every aspect. Think about it: if you don’t have a plan or a routine, you’re just going along with whatever task you have next – and that could lead to a big piled-up mess. If you add structure to your life and keep yourself disciplined, it’ll keep you balanced.

Face Your Flaws

Being able to recognize that you’re a flawed person is one of the most underrated skills in the human psyche. If you’re unable to realize where your issues lie, then you may take a huge hit on your confidence once someone outdoes you in a specific piece of work or life. Being able to notice that you’re not able to do something is also helpful as you can get the help needed from others. A great leader knows how to take the backseat for a while.

Change Career

You may feel you have plateaued in your current adventure. Perhaps a way of better yourself you would be to unlock skills in your arsenal that have been previously shut away. Maybe you feel like you’re better suited to a completely different type of job? Why not do something you’ve always wanted to do? If you’ve always been interested in the aviation world, then you could join a professional pilot program and see if you flourish in something that you’ll enjoy. Keeping things fresh is a good way to progress in life.

Exercise More And Eat Better

Living life with an inactive body and a terrible diet will only increase your sluggishness approach towards everything in life and make you more stressed. Making sure you keep active will naturally give you more of a boost. Eating the right foods will aid this boost, too. Drinking a lot of water will help your body and mind out also as dehydration is a significant cause of frustration.

Be Positive

Finally, we’ll talk about the idea of viewing things more positively. It’s not the easiest thing to do, but being able to shut out the negative thoughts will improve your life a lot. You will be able to pick out the good bits in everything and lead a happier life – leading to a more optimistic approach to new challenges and opportunities.

The Dangers Of Diagnosing Yourself Online

Two of the focuses of my blog are Health/Wellness and Technology. One of the advantages of our current digital age is that the profuse amounts of information available and our access to it. The danger though is that not all of the information is accurate, and it is so readily available. In some instances false information about health can have harmful effects. The following contributed post discusses and is entitled, The Dangers Of Diagnosing Yourself Online.

* * *

Image Credit

The internet is a pretty wonderful invention and one that’s changed our lives – mostly for the better. We have the ability to connect with people from all over the world with the touch of a button, can learn basically anything about anything, and really have so much knowledge and information at our fingertips than we’ve ever had before.

We can start businesses, organize our lives, make money, order things without ever leaving the house, and even get things like doctors to speak to us over the computer – basically we can do anything we want to do from our computers and smartphones these days, which is a good thing if you choose to look at it that way.

However, we can’t pretend it’s perfect. Like everything, there are always going to be downsides, and the internet certainly isn’t exempt from that.

One of the things that the internet is pretty famous for – especially since the rise of social media is the amount of false information “fake news” if you will, and basically a lot of misinformation that can cause feelings of fear and impending doom.

This is very commonly seen when it comes to our health. You will know yourself if you’ve ever had something perfectly innocent like a bad cough or cold and suddenly a Google search has you dead and buried before you’ve even opened the first link it produces.

The rise in things like health anxiety is directly linked to the amount of people now being able to access so much information without limits online, but the danger is that they’re attempting to self-diagnose themselves and this is a very dangerous practice.

Now, of course, this isn’t to say that you won’t find genuine medical literature online, but the fact of the matter is, if you’re genuinely concerned about symptoms such as a cough being something more serious, then it’s time to speak to a doctor and get a proper diagnosis. Even if it turns out to be something, then they will talk you through things like Lung Cancer Treatment if that’s what you need.

Googling your symptoms from questionable online sources is not going to lead anywhere good, and in this post, we’re going to share with you some of the real dangers of diagnosing yourself online.

It will make your anxiety soar:

If you’re already someone who suffers with anxiety – specifically health anxiety, then trying to look up symptoms online os going to make this completely unbearable for you, so it’s really not advisable.

It causes stress:

Anxiety is going to stress you out far more than you already are – add to that the ongoing worry from what you’ve just read and it will be a miracle if you can sleep or function normally.

You can miss a real health condition:

Diagnosing yourself online doesn’t always give the worst case scenario – sometimes it can tell you it’s nothing when it’s actually something that you should see your doctor about, but if you follow online advice then this could lead to a much bigger problem if you don’t actually go to the doctor.

Getting Prepared For The Unexpected

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success, and two key focuses are Financial Literacy/Money and Health/Wellness. In life, we never know what is going to happen which is in part exciting but problematic at the same time. It is likewise important to understand this, and to try to figure out ways to be proactive about the unexpected. The following contributed post is thus entitled, Getting Prepared For The Unexpected.

* * *

Image by stevepb on Pixabay

While it’s great to think positively about the future, it’s also good to be prepared for the unexpected as you never know what might happen – good or bad, it could be an unplanned pregnancy, a new job opportunity or you could lose your job, have an accident or get ill? Any of these events could have and probably will have a significant impact on your finances. So, are you prepared?

Be Realistic
Nobody plans for illness and no one prepares for a tree falling on their car. However, if you do prepare for unexpected events then, you’ll know how to deal with them, it won’t be such a shock and will hopefully mean you have some money or people or access to cash or the right people to help you through it. It’s tough to focus on adverse and traumatic events until you have to, however, if you do and you can think about what could/might happen, and what you would do about it, mentally walking it through, it can help you to work out what you might need.

Start with an Emergency Fund
A priority step for preparing for the unexpected is to have a substantial emergency fund in place. Your emergency fund should ideally cover you for 3-6 months of living expenses. If you are single, or you are a single-income family, you may want to consider building an emergency fund of up to a year, which will provide security for you and your family should you lose your job and have a hard time finding another one, or suffer an unexpected illness or gap in your earnings.

It is nice to know you have the money there while you are dealing with other issues such as job loss, illness or anything that might affect your income. Think about what you already have or is there anything you can sell, can you sell annuity payment for example? Do you have any money coming in from an inheritance that you could put by in case of an emergency?

Think About The People You Know
Professionally and personally, do you have people in your life who will be willing and able to help you if you need them? Do you know people to give you advice, coaching, or counseling? Each person you know will be able to offer something different; some people will be great at providing practical help such as meal deliveries, or personal friends who will stop by your home to help out. Having a support system can be invaluable when an unwelcome event occurs.

What About Your Job?
If you have an accident or fall ill and find yourself having to be away from your job for an extended period, this can add additional stress as you might be worried about your work, your clients and your team. Will they be able to manage without you? If you get a system in place for these kinds of eventualities, this will help to keep your mind at rest, as well as improve your team and employer know that everything will be taken care of.

Calm In The Cubicle: Encouraging Your Employees To Be Stress-Free

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success and two key focus are Career Discussions and Health/Wellness. If you’re a manager in an organization or a business owner, a key consideration is keeping your employees at as low a level of stress as possible. If you can do so, you can get them to give you a consistently high level of productivity. The following contributed post is therefore entitled, Calm In The Cubicle: Encouraging Your Employees To Be Stress-Free.

* * *

Flickr

What we can suffer from when we are starting out on our business journey is that the business takes priority and not necessarily anything else. You might be working to promote your business day and night, and this can be to the detriment of the most important aspect of your company, the employees. After all, if we overworked and underpaid our employees, how long are they going to stay with us? Not very long. But, if we work at improving our employees, nurturing their capabilities, but also ensuring that they are happy in our working environment, this will naturally translate to productive and efficient work. So we need to think about those employees sat in the cubicle, on their own for hours on end, are they actually being productive? Maybe it’s time to look at the more stressful aspects of work, and eradicating them for good?

What Stresses Out Your Employees?
First things first, we don’t have an open door policy; we need to get this arranged. To get an open dialogue with our employees, we need to have continual contact with them, but we need to find what is making them feel bad. These days, stress and anxiety are two common components of modern living, and this naturally spills into their working lives. Sometimes their working lives are the very reason. If we can start to unravel this by having good quality communication and regular contact with our employees to ensure that we are on top of these issues, we can then put the stops in place that benefits everyone.

Fixing The Space
If you have rows upon rows of cubicles, this needs to go. In addition to this, you may want to take your attitude to the workplace out of the 20th century and bring it bang up to date! To alter the space and make it an environment where employees are not just hemmed in like farmyard animals, you should take inspiration from the more modern startups and make them a talisman for what you want to achieve. There are professionals such as Vertical Interior Design that can help you to redesign your office space so you can get rid of the cubicles and the open plan, and make it a more inclusive and collaborative space. This will help your employees to feel they are in more of a collection which will actually impact their work for the better, but those office cubicles never lend themselves well to communicating with anyone. When you see those offices that are silent and almost ghostly in presence, you’d never expect the environment to be a nurturing one.

Flexibility
If your employees feel that their job is the biggest source of stress in their lives, what you can do to make it easier on them is to employ a more flexible approach to their working day. For example, those busy working parents who are always rushing to get in for 9 in the morning, but always end up being late may feel that they have the Sword of Damocles hanging over their head every time they turn up a little bit late. But instead, why don’t you push the clock back a bit for them? Having a more flexible schedule will make them stress less and work better.

Sourcing The Right Stimuli
Because a typical office is somewhere that’s the very embodiment of drab, or demotivation, or without the right touchstones, you can focus on these negative aspects and they can color your entire attitude to work. So if there is nothing much we can do about this, then we need to work at improving the cognition of our workers by implementing certain things that can help in the long run. The right snacks can be a godsend, especially when you look at the fact that the typical office culture celebrates sugar and greasy carbohydrates in the form of doughnuts and pizza, every time there’s a deadline that is tight or you want to reward your employees. But this only makes them sluggish in the long run. Likewise, if you have a very busy office space, and you have employees that are struggling to focus, you can make the most of various productivity tools to help your workers focus better in this stressful environment. The right noise app can drown out any office hubbub and allow your workers to focus on the task at hand. Likewise, if you’ve got a lot of work that needs doing, and a lot of typing, then voice recognition programs could cut that workload in half!

Stress in the workplace comes in many different ways, shapes, and forms. Work-related stress is very common, but there are the external aspects that can cloud their ability to work as well. If we can encourage a more relaxing environment in the workplace, this will translate to a happier person and a healthier environment.

Staying Healthy on a Cruise

A key focus of my blog is Health/Wellness. Cruises are popular vacation activities and destinations. With so much available to you once your excursion starts, it’s important to think about maintaining your health when you on the ship so you aren’t shocked when it’s finished. The following contributed post is therefore entitled, Staying Healthy on a Cruise.

* * *

Image source

A cruise can be a great vacation, but many people get off them heavier than when they started out. It is very easy to overindulge in delicious food and drink, and then you may not be quite so healthy as when you boarded. This does not have to be the case though; you can still have a lot of fun and stay healthy at the same time.

Take The Stairs, Not The Elevators

The large cruise ships are like floating cities and have elevators to get you from floor to floor. If you take the stairs instead, you will be getting some good exercise and not have to waste time waiting for the elevator to arrive. Walking to the restaurants and activities is also exercise you will not particularly notice, but is good for improving your cardio and strength.

Opt For The Restaurants

Most cruise ships will have several eateries. Some will be restaurants and other will be buffet style. In these, you pay the price and then eat as much as you want. This can make it very tempting to overeat, where at least in a restaurant you will have the size portion you are served. Dietary concerns are usually better handled in restaurants as well.

Be Active

Cruises have endless activities you can take part in, and as long as you are busy you will be less likely to be eating more than you should. There are generally fitness centers and exercise programs if you want to follow them, but there will also be dancing most evening, tennis games, swimming and many other activities you can enjoy.

Pamper Yourself

You will be able to have a spa, massages, facials and get your hair done. These things are all available on cruise ships, and they will make you feel good about yourself.

Seek Medical Attention If You Become Ill

Some people will not go on cruises because they are concerned that they will feel ill or have an accident. The ships do have medical teams on board, but if you are worried about something happening that they could not cope with, watch the Air Evac videos to put your mind at rest. It’s much safer than you might think.

Drink Plenty Of Water

When you are active and spending time ion the sun, your body will lose fluids through sweating. If you become dehydrated you will start to feel sluggish and not be able to enjoy yourself, in good health as you should. Drinking plenty of water can help to prevent this from happening.

Get Some Sleep And Rest

In between activities and pampering yourself, you need to make sure you get some rest too. Sit back and relax for a while to give your body chance to calm down, and at night try to still get your 8 hours sleep.

Getting the right balance of eating, exercise and rest is a vital part of everyday life, and you should try to maintain this while you are on a cruise. You will then get off the ship as healthy as you were when you boarded, and your clothes will still fit without having to leave the top button undone.