Managing Stress

Managing Stress on the Golf Course to Improve Your Game

dewisri016 — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 08:21:16 +0000

Golf involves stress and at times, this stress can be detrimental to your game. It may influence your behavior in negative ways and get you into a negative thinking process, which only deters your skills. Remember that a certain amount of stress is needed to facilitate your performance but too much stress can manifest itself in negative ways. Players need to learn how to objectively assess their levels of vulnerability to stress and how to set up appropriate strategies to compensate them.

It is important to remember that the grandest quality of the true achiever is persistence. This often means fighting off discouragement and difficult times and in playing through slumps in performance.

There are several strategies that may be helpful in assisting you to maintain a standard of confidence and a winning attitude. They are balance, positive thinking, respect, vision, goal setting, commitment to continued improvement, and character.

OK, so how do you make it happen? Instead of getting mad when you play a bad shot, stay calm, remember everyone makes mistakes, if we did not, there would be no professional golf – we would all be playing to the standards of Phil Mickleson, Tiger Woods et.al. Don’t beat yourself up about it, even if you have a really bad round. You know you are better than that, the next time you will play better. A more difficult technique is visualization, many top sportspeople can and do visualise themselves performing well.

When goal setting, set realistic targets, beware of pointless and low targets, but be aware of your ability when setting high targets. If you don’t achieve them, think why? Maybe they were not realistic. Maybe there are too many other things in your life right now. Avoid using them to generate negative thoughts, you didn’t reach a target – it is not the end of the world!

Yoga for golfers can help you to improve your concentration and also helps with anger control. This will help you to keep things in perspective out on the golf course. A yoga for golfers DVD would make an ideal gift for yourself, or for the golfer in your life. Having the instruction on DVD means that you can go over the techniques as many times as you want. It will pay for itself financially and out on the golf course very quickly and you can practice the exercises whenever you feel like it. It is like having a portable golf yoga guru!

So, with your improved mental attitude, you should find that you can enjoy your golf better even when having a bad round. But please remember, a little stress can add that winning edge to your game, just try to get the balance right!

Managing Stress in the Computer Industry

dewisri016 — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 02:17:35 +0000

It would be easy to think, like most people apparently do, that stress and the computing (and especially programming) industry were unlikely bedfellows. The habitual image of long-haired young “geek” programmers churning out ‘software’ from their teenage bedrooms is one that many still associate with mainstream programmers. Stereotype or not, this image is still commonly held, and the armies of deadline-bound, overworked and stressed-out programmers in the real World are all but forgotten in the melee that is the result of the technological age.

Stress is widespread within the computer industry, perhaps even endemic. From the assembly-line manufacturers forever looking to increase throughput to the debuggers whose time requirements weren’t in the original production schedule, pressure on those who work in the industry is at an all-time high and it is only going to increase as margins drop and further efficiencies are required.

Even getting into the industry can be stressful – like private companies, many educational institutions are now usurping control of the code written on their campuses via “ownership” clauses which leave the originators of ground-breaking code with nothing to show for their efforts. Having something to show at interview is becoming increasingly difficult not just for existing programmers, but for the “new wave” just emerging from colleges and universities with excellent qualifications, but nothing they “own” to demonstrate.

Once the elusive job does come along, things rarely improve. Our “immediate” society is a result of the computer age and effortless sourcing of products and services via the internet. How many programmers have faced the challenge of meeting impossible deadlines with the threat that the next job will go to cheaper labour overseas that can do it in half the time? This leads to longer working hours, less rest, exhaustion, errors and then the cycle starts again – is that really what we expected when we entered the industry? So how can you reduce the stress put upon you by this relentless march of “progress”.

First of all, an ounce of prevention is better than a pound (or should that be a ton?) of cure. By ensuring that your contracts are fair and considerate to both sides, you could remove a lot of stress later on. Here are five easy steps to help prevent stress in you next contract:

1. Be Honest

If a deadline is too short – say so. If it seems short now, it will only seem much shorter later.

2. Be Realistic

When you are assessing the requirements of a job, make sure you’ve got some wiggle-room. Nine times out of ten, you’ll need it (or at least appreciate it!)

3. Be Certain

Check your facts, figures, requirements and timings. If you have made an error, you want to find out now, not later when you’ll be held to what you quoted.

4. Be Flexible

It helps to have an ace up your sleeve. If things really go wrong, where can you get extra help. Build contingency arrangements with others in your field and help each other out when you need it.

5. Beware

Stress creeps up on you unexpectedly. Do routine reviews against your plan and make sure you’re still on course. If not, DO something about it and always, ALWAYS let the client know.

Managing Stress

dewisri016 — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 12:59:23 +0000

You have heard someone tell you that they are under too much stress, but do you really know what stress is. Stress is a real reaction our bodies have to outside stimulants and it can be measured. When we are under stress our blood pressure and heart rates rise, we breathe more quick, our bodies produce more adrenalin and blood is pumped to our extremities. What our bodies are doing is preparing us to run away or fight the danger we perceive. This is called “flight or fight” reaction. This is a very good thing when there is a real danger to us.

It is stress that gives us the added energy we need to meet tight deadlines. Many people find that they work the most efficiently under stress, as their bodies are revving them up to perform at their best, but stress can also be harmful to our bodies. When we produce too much stress toxin and do not give our bodies the chance to release that stress, we have too much left over toxins in our bodies. Think about if there was a real danger ahead of you, like a bear. If you were walking along in the woods and a bear jumped out in front of you, your body would be under stress. It would produce the necessary chemicals for you to run away. You would run away and this exercise would release the toxins your body is producing. This is a perfect design for dealing with danger.

However, in today’s modern society, the stresses we face are no longer (usually) in the form of giant grizzly bears coming across our path. Instead, we face deadlines, bosses, projects, pressures and family problems. There is no longer that automatic release of the stress through running away. This is why stress-induced problems are on the rise today. We have more people with high blood pressure, heart attack, ulcers and diabetes problems. This is because of the exposure to prolonged and unmanaged stress in people’s lives.

So, what can you do to manage the stress in your life? First, avoid creating stress where there is none. If you have a tense family situation, this does not have to become a source of stress. Deal with the problem and then move on. Do not let it fester into stress in your life. Start and exercise routine. Vigorous exercise is one of the best ways to reduce the stress toxins in the body and our modern society, unfortunately, does not emphasize exercise the way it should.

Not only should you exercise regularly, but you should also relax on a regular basis. Our bodies were not made to go twenty-four/seven. Try to find at least twenty minutes a day where you can do nothing but relax.

One of the best pieces of advice for dealing with stress is to set realistic expectations for yourself. Do not take on too much and do not set expectations too high. You know what you are capable of doing. When you try to go beyond your capabilities, you create unnecessary stress. Avoid doing this and your life will be much less stressful!