T I M E M A N A G E M E N T
Picture your nemesis, hot branding iron in hand, sneering at
you, ready to poke and prod. If your anger and frustration has
an abstract source, give it a specific shape. Lack of time making
you crazy? Picture a clock gone berserk, its hands spinning out of
control. Or make time into a huge Indiana Jones–style boulder,
rolling toward you with desperate speed.
Then put the image into a bubble and imagine that bubble
floating slowly up and away, becoming smaller and smaller until
it finally disappears.
Action-movie alternative: Forget the gentle bubble stuff. Blow
your troubles to smithereens.
Hey? Are you starting to enjoy this? Good. That’s what vaca-
tions are for.
4. the Shoulder Shrug
We tend to take out our tensions on specific parts of our bod-
ies. Shoulders are one of my favorite targets. Without knowing I’m
doing it, I tense my shoulders as I work. If I don’t catch myself, I
end up with a sore neck and shoulders and a pounding headache.
I can break the tension, save my shoulders, and avert the head-
ache by remembering to relax my shoulders and rotate them slowly
and gently for a couple of minutes. On particularly bad days, the
results are dramatic. My shoulders seem to drop several inches,
and a soothing warmth flows up my neck.
I never even realize how tense I am until I unclench my muscles
and relax. How about you? Are you tensing and clenching while
you work?
5. the phrase for the Day
This one takes a bit of preparation, but it’s well worth the effort.
Collect pithy bits of wisdom, interesting observations, intriguing