If your life is the perfect example of a Rube Goldberg machine, then maybe it
is time for you to switch to the KISS principle of Keep It Simple, Stupid!
After all, the simpler your life is, the fewer openings there are for the
stress bugs to crawl through.
Frugal living is a way to simplify your life and to save money at the same
time. Although we do not expect you to sacrifice your motorcycle for a push
bike, there are no doubt plenty of expenditures in your life that you could do
without. For instance, can you really tell the difference between
brand-name toilet paper and generic toilet paper? Do you think the cockroaches
and other insects care whether you have dropped a few extra bucks on their
poison? Similarly, if you are not much of a gearhead, consider saving yourself
a few thousand bucks on the car you buy. Relax -- we will not send you into
Volvo territory by reminding you that a car is a device to go from A to B. As a
final idea in frugal living, investigate whether you can use an Internet phone
or voice-chat software to communicate with your long-distance loved ones.
For finance, the first step in simplification is to pay off all your debts. Do
not spend wildly while you have debts accumulating; they will come back to
haunt you after you have had your thrills. You can simplify your bill payments
by arranging for direct debits. Ideally, you should have a separate bank
account for your direct debits so that your bank statements are simplified and
easy to follow. Then all you have to do is "feed" your secondary account from
time to time. You can also use the secondary account for your online purchases,
online sales, and online banking -- doing so is probably safer than using your
primary bank account anyway.
Limit the number of people who have your cell phone number and other contact
details. This way, you will have fewer calls to handle. Free yourself of
stressful commitments by developing the assertiveness to say no to people when
you are not interested in doing something they would like you to do.
To save yourself from having to do a lot of extra work around your home or
apartment, limit the amount of washing you have to do by wearing some of your
clothes two or three times. Iron only dress shirts and pants -- the rest is a
waste of time, and no one will be able to tell the difference anyway. If you can
afford one, buy a dishwasher to automate another tedious chore.
Among the many ways of simplifying your online life, you can use RSS feeds to
simplify your Web surfing. These will let you know when your favorite sites
have updates, eliminating the need for manual checking. If you are an email
addict, consider limiting the number of emails you initiate. (You thought we
would say the number of emails you reply to, right? Hey, we are not that rude!)
Also, unless the emails you receive are matters of urgency directed to your
superhero business, you can probably limit yourself to checking your email only
once or twice a day (morning and night). Better yet, download a free
email-notification utility that will let you know when you actually have email.
Get rid of unneeded books, clothing, furniture, and other freeloaders
around the home. Consider donating your used clothes to a charity or a homeless
hostel. Sell your unwanted junk on eBay -- one popular saying assures us that
what you consider junk, another may consider treasure. Tidy up your desk and
bookshelf so that you have only the essentials of business and pleasure.
Two books that you may find inspirational are Walden, by Henry David Thoreau,
and The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, by, well, Benjamin Franklin. One
book that may change your life is Getting Things Done, by David Allen. Allen
suggests that the first step for effective living is to transfer all your "open
loops", or things to do, from your mind to an advanced system of activity
management. Indeed, the simple act of unloading a huge to-do list from your
memory to a piece of paper reduces stress immediately.
Learn More About Computer Work Stress...
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