ARE YOU READY to surrender your stress? As I said yesterday, if you think you’re ready to embark on a new life that is less stressed, you are going to have to commit to real behavior change. Interestingly enough, one of the hardest behavior changes you will make is creating time to read this book, complete the exercises, and implement the skills in your everyday life. Being less stressed is, generally speaking, all about time: creating more time (on the job, at home, and with friends) to do the things that will lead to less stress and more peace. Making time for this program is your first step in that process.
How do you do this? How do you create time to manage your stress if you are already overscheduled? You must visit the next nineteen days mentally and plan out how you will create the time to complete this program. If you want the future to be different, you must make things different in the present. You have to make time—now.
I was in a situation similar to the one you may be in right now when I started putting together this stress-management program. I was already working on another writing project and heavily involved in a private counseling practice. I had a very real passion to communicate the information contained in this program to a broad audience, but I had little time to put it all together.
After much deliberation about how to fit another project on my plate, I made a decision to make time right then and there. I decided to cut back my ten-hour workday by 10 percent to end an hour earlier. At first I was concerned that my productivity would decrease, but I found that, overall, I was getting just as much done in nine hours at the office as I had completed within ten hours. Instead of becoming less productive, I found that I was more satisfied and engaged at the office because I was doing something I was passionate about. I changed how I worked, but not how much work I got done.
Now, don’t get me wrong: surrendering a portion of my day was not without its challenges. I didn’t return every phone call, and I had to cut down on the number of appointments I set. But in the end, I created an hour every day in which to engage something I really believed in.
This principle will work for you as well as you carve out time to complete the Stress Relief for Life program. Because this program is designed to take thirty minutes a day, including reading and assigned exercises, you might be able to cut down your workday by only 5 percent to free up enough time. If cutting down your workday or daily responsibilities is not possible, then identify a specific time of the day that you could use to complete the program. Can you wake up thirty minutes earlier? How about staying up thirty minutes later? Could you devote thirty minutes at lunchtime to completing these exercises?
Whatever you decide to do, it is important to set aside time every day (preferably at the same time of day) if you are determined to live a less-stressed life. Instead of a loss of productivity, you will find that you will be more satisfied and engaged in your day because you are doing something that is helping you manage your stress. In the end, you will probably find that learning to handle stress effectively will help increase your productivity.
Because this program builds on itself, I would love to see you complete it within the twenty-one-day schedule. This will ensure that you get the most out of the program and reap the benefits quickly. In order to accomplish this, you must begin scheduling your thirty-minute Stress Relief sessions now.
To help you think through which part of your day will work best for the sessions, it will be beneficial for you to complete the Creating a Stress-Free Zone worksheet. After you decide on a time, commit to follow through with the program every day. Protecting this time is very important because maintaining consistency with this program is the first step toward a future that is less stressed.
ASSIGNMENT
• Complete the Creating a Stress-Free Zone exercise.
CREATING A STRESS-FREE ZONE
Finding time to complete the Stress Relief for Life program is essential to its effectiveness. Therefore it is critical that you decide in advance when you will read the material and complete the exercises. Remember, if you want the future to be different, you must make things different in the present. Follow the steps below to create a consistent time each day for your Stress Relief session.
DETERMINE WHEN YOU WILL COMPLETE
THE STRESS RELIEF SESSIONS.
During which time of the day do you function best? Some people are more aware during the wee hours of the morning. Others function better at night. Choose a time of day in which you are more likely to be energized and able to focus on mentally and emotionally challenging material.
Many people experience success with this program when they build it into their workday. Because the reading and exercises are designed to take about thirty minutes each day, perhaps you can cut down your workday by 5 to 10 percent in order to make the room in your schedule.
I will complete my Stress Relief sessions during the week at the following time:
_____ o’clock to _____ o’clock
I will complete my Stress Relief sessions on the weekend at the following time:
_____ o’clock to _____ o’clock
DETERMINE WHERE YOU WILL COMPLETE
THE STRESS RELIEF SESSIONS.
Will you complete the program at work? At home? At school? Become intentional about succeeding in this program by choosing an environment that will allow you to focus exclusively on your session.
I will complete my Stress Relief sessions during the week at the following location:
______________
I will complete my Stress Relief sessions on the weekend at the following location:
______________
WHAT COULD POTENTIALLY KEEP YOU
FROM FOLLOWING THROUGH WITH THE
STRESS RELIEF SESSIONS?
Will it be unexpected meetings at the office? How about makeup soccer games for the kids? If you want to complete your sessions, it is vitally important that you anticipate what schedule conflicts might occur and determine how you will respond to those interruptions.
