Play Office Party Bingo for Easy Stress-Free Gatherings

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Play Office Party Bingo for Stress-less Office PartiesThis technique works well if you are going to a party with a friend but you can also play on your own.

Create a list of sterotypical party behaviours prior to the party and then see how many you can spot.  For example:

  1. Inappropriately/trashily dressed
  2. Couple hooking up for the first time
  3. Sucking up to the boss
  4. Having an argument
  5. Getting stuck talking to the biggest bore
  6. Married but flirting heavily with the opposite sex
  7. Too drunk to know they are being an idiot
  8. Career suicide conversation
  9. Old man leering at younger woman
  10. First woman to ditch her heels
  11. Someone drinking a “Shirley Temple”
  12. Table or chair dancing
  13. Best dancers
  14. Worst dancers
  15. First person to fall asleep

Have fun and make up your own categories.   Having a silly Party Bingo list will assist you to stay interested in what is occurring and provides lots of internal amusement when you spot something on your list.

This technique works equally well for office parties and family gatherings.  Let me know what categories you come up with!

Grabbit, Wrappit, Zappit

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Got stress? Here’s a handy little technique to get control when you’ve got something bothering you. I must warn you that you’re going to need a trusty weapon. I like the index-finger laser pistol as my weapon of choice. I’ve heard that the invisible, shoulder-mounted bazooka works well too. (wink,wink)

1. Grabbit! Snare the bothersome issue in your hands. Hold on tight because some issues are really squirmy.

2. Wrappit! Take the problem and wrap it up really securely so it can’t get loose. You might choose newspaper, plastic wrap or even cement. Choose a wrapping material that you think will contain the problem from here to eternity.

3. Zappit! Now pull out your trusty pocket weapon, toss your securely-wrapped problem in the air, and zap it to smithereens!

This is a great visualisation technique, but I like to actually go through the motions on this one. I envision that the problem I’m grabbing is a little gremlin. I hold him very tightly in my two hands. I wrap him securely in plastic wrap and then throw him in the air like I’m serving a tennis ball with my left hand. I do a quick draw with my right hand and POW, I blast him with my laser-index-finger-pistol. I’ll have to admit I even blow on the end of my finger, before re-holstering.

There you have it, stress control in three easy steps. It makes me smile every time, and I just love zapping my problems!

One Year Yardstick

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When I was a kid and really upset about something, my mother always used to say to me, “what difference will it make in a year.”  I hated that question.  I thought she wasn’t paying Stress Relief at Cognitus (UK) Ld.any attention to my problems.  As I’ve gotten older I realized that this was a really excellent rule of thumb.  The big things in life will still be important in a year, while the little things; like a ruined dinner, being late to a meeting or choosing a vacation destination aren’t really worth the negative impact of stress and anxiety.

So when something is really stressing you out, stop and ask yourself the question:

“What difference will it make a year from now?”

   

If one year feels too long for a ‘will-it-matter’ yardstick, then choose the interval that works for you; 1 week, 1 month, 3 months or 6 months.  Carefully consider whether the issue is important enough to demand some of your limited and precious time & energy.   If the answer is yes, by all means give the issue everything it requires.   However, if the answer is no, stop stressing un-necessarily.  

If today’s choices have no impact a year from now, just roll with the flow and let it go.

What is the Opposite of Stress?

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I recently asked my network, ‘What is the Opposite of Stress?’   As you might expect there was a wide variety of answers.   Some folks shared a single word, whilst others shared a scenario.   The answers grouped into several broad categories:

 

1.     Relaxed, Calm and Peaceful

This category received the highest number of votes.  Many people mentioned relaxing on a beach, often accompanied by drinks with paper umbrellas.   I often ask peoStress Relief at www.cognitusuk.comple to visualise serene or peaceful scenes to counteract the pressures of stress.   When we think of ‘peaceful’, we envision a lowered heart rate, a oneness with nature and an absence of tension.  For many people, this nirvana is definitely not in an urban environment.  Read more »

De-stress Your Feet

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One of the side effects of my new contract job is having to wear “proper” shoes to work, the kind with 3″ heels.   When I work at home I live in slippers (and yes, they do have Winnie the Pooh on them!)  After three consecutive days in high heels my feet were protesting loudly.  You can’t always stop for a foot massage in the middle of the working day.  So if your feet are bothering you, what can you do?   I’ve found 3 great techniques that you can do under the desk to give your tootsies a break.   And gentlemen, these will work for you too!

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I highly recommend that you slip off your shoes under the desk.   You might want to make sure you have no holes in your socks and that your feet aren’t too pungent!  For all three techniques, make sure you are sitting  comfortably, with your back straight and feet on the floor about hip width apart.  Note that all three stretches can be done in a standing position as well.

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Ten Personalities of Stress

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One of the odd things about stress is that it is different for everyone.  Some of us have it bad and others not at all.  After working with stressed-out professionals for a number of years I’ve identified ten different stress personalities.  Surprisingly, not everyone wants to eliminate stress from their life. Are you shocked?  I was. There are some folks who relish the role of stress in their life.   

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Do you recognise yourself or a friend or co-worker in one of these 10 ‘Stress Personalities’? Read more »

Stress Relief in Just Ten Sounds

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Sometimes when we are stressed we go inwards and get stuck in an unproductive whirlwind of thoughts, emotions and feelings.   This was brought home to me recently during a very fraught and hectic commute.   I was due to chair a meeting and my public transportation choices were not co-operating with my aim to arrive on time.  All the signs of stresVisit Cognitus for great stress relief techniquess were there; shallow breathing, racing heart and spiralling thoughts. 

As I paced at the train station, I was comparing all the possible connection options, weighing stairs and time against cost and taxi ranks.   Then I started on a cycle of questions; is it un-professional to be late, would I be forgiven, did it really matter and why hadn’t I started earlier?   

I really needed to “get out of myself” and calm down.   I opted for one of my favourite techniques, Ten Sounds.    This technique is based on stilling the mind, tuning into the world outside yourself and raising your awareness of sound in the world around you.  Read more »

Reduce Stress with Office Christmas Bingo

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You can reduce stress and have immense fun playing Office Christmas Bingo.   Score one point for each of the following items.   Feel free to make up new categories of your own.

  1. Accurately guess the first person to decorate their desk
  2. Someone breaking up a romance to avoid buying a gift Visit www.cognitusuk.com/blog for Christmas stress relief tips
  3. Accurately guess who will flout the no-Xmas-card rule  Read more »

Stress and the Big Red Button

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I received a joke present from a friend in the form of a Big Red USB Stress Button. I’m having fun pressing the button and watching a countdown to a big explosion.  It’s totally silly, but most importantly it makes me feel better to push the button.  I think that we all have big, red, stress buttons inside.  The problem is that sometimes they go off all on their own. Read more »

Change your Language, Change your Stress

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Are you aware that the language you use to describe your daily life can be creating or adding to stress?    Neuroscientists tell us that it takes just seven (7) repetitions of a statement to create a belief.  That works for positive statements as well as negative statements.   It is just as easy to create a positive belief as it is to create a negative one. Read more »