Stressed Out? Unplug and Sweat It Out!

Most of the loyal readers of this blog are most likely urban professionals, sometimes called desk jockeys, or otherwise living in a profession typically termed as white-collar. We spend our days either out meeting and greeting clients, in meeting rooms trying to figure out why we are there, or click-clacking on the keyboard in front of us.

As we get dressed in our nice slacks or cinch up our new tie, we go through our day in a generally sedentary manner. Sure we move, sure go walk around, but in general we do not expend more calories than we take in.

Now I bet you are begrudgingly thinking just about now, “I don’t need another lecture on weight or diet.”

You would be right! You don’t.

Instead, I want you to take a few moments at the end of your day and observe if your shoulders have slowly climbed to your ears. Take a breather in your day and gauge whether you are using your full lung capacity. Take a look at yourself and see if you are furrowing your brow. Get up and walk around the office, and toss a ball – see how that makes you feel.

I bet you are like most people, unconsciously amassing stress throughout your day and week. What do you do about relieving it?

Try expending some energy for a change if you aren’t:

• Do you work out before or after work at least 2-3 days a week?
• Do you get out in your yard and work up a good sweat?

If I might share with you there are times I allow my workout routine to suffer because of work- or life-related excuses. I find I am much more susceptible to encumber unnecessary stress when I allow this to happen. I often don’t allow myself enough time to sleep, and tend to have only moderately healthy diet. As such, stress finds me even more easily when I find excuses not to work out – either in the gym or the yard.

It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, but I really find the more I sweat the better I feel. Outside of that, physical labor can really help you stay humble and in touch with feeling like you have completed something in earnest.

How about you? How do you avoid stress?

Image courtesy of Bug-a-Lug.

Ken Stewart’s website, ChangeForge, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology in an information-centric world. Ken is also the founder of Seeking the Son. He is always interested in connecting; To discover the many ways you may connect with him, visit him at DandyID.