Archive for the ‘The Oxygen Plan’ Category
Sleep Deprivation + Stress = Higher Blood Pressure
Friday, June 24th, 2011Staying up late to finish that work you didn’t get done at the office or having trouble falling asleep at all?
WebMD found that lack of sleep, when added with stress, can raise your blood pressure up to 10 points! Since stress and sleep go hand in hand the article suggests that those who struggle with high blood pressure should put a main focus on getting enough sleep.
Learn more about how to prioritize important things in your life under ‘The Program’ tab on the main page.
A Restless Workforce Gaining Confidence, More Workers Seek New Jobs
Monday, June 20th, 2011Own your own business and want to know how to minimize turnover rate? The article below talks about a survey conducted by Deloitte that found many employees to be unhappy with their jobs and even feeling unappreciated by their companies.
To learn more about how to keep your employees satisfied click the ‘Employers’ tab on the main page. Happy green reading!
More Education Means More On-the-Job Engagement, But Also More Stress
Friday, June 17th, 2011Aren’t we always told that as long as we have the most education, the rest with be smooth sailing? Well not according to a new study done in Ontario. It states that although those with higher education are more sought after in the job market, they are also the ones who have the most trouble with work/life balance and feel the most stress related to their jobs.
Read on to find out more about work/life balance and use The Oxygen Plan `stress decoded’ to help with yours!
We all have nervous habits, such as nail-biting, which may be unappealing to watch but not as dangerous to our health as others, like smoking. Even worse, they can take a toll on our bodies that we may be doing on a daily basis. Are these habits really releasing stress or adding to it? Read below for information on your nervous habit, how it affects your health and tips on how to relieve stress in a healthy manner. For more information on living in the Green® The Oxygen Plan way, check out ‘The Program’ tab on the main page.
Job Burnout Hurts (Physically)
Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011An increase in job burnout over a period of 18 months is associated with a 2.09-fold increased risk of developing musculoskeletal pain during the subsequent 18 months, according to a study led by Galit Armon of Tel Aviv University focusing on 1,704 healthy people. The researchers say high job demands may increase muscle tension and decrease micropauses in muscle activity, leading to pain.
Stress in America: What’s OUR Stress Number™?
Tuesday, March 15th, 2011Trouble paying the bills. Worry about the economy. Worry about keeping our jobs and our homes. Worry about finding a job or a new home. Troubled relationships. Trying to raise kids in a world that is becoming increasingly chaotic and seemingly dangerous. Trying to get through the day much less plan ahead.
Seem at least somewhat familiar? We are not immune to the stresses of everyday life. No one is. While we all cope in different and more or less effective ways, as individuals we cannot escape the impacts of stress on our lives at home, at work and socially; stress is a significant risk factor for our work productivity, our relationships and our health. As employers, we must be concerned about stress levels in our workforce. With the cost of stress estimated at just under $5,000 per employee per year, how can employers not be concerned? Even our government must be concerned about stress levels in our country. Given the social deterioration we see, the erosion of marriages and families, the unemployment rate and the chaos we see in our neighborhoods, our cities, our country and around the world, leaders surely are concerned about this state of affairs, even if for only political reasons.
At The Oxygen Plan, we have a keen interest on stress levels and how it impacts us every day. To date, since introducing our Stress Test and Stress Number™, over 38,000 people have taken the Stress Test. And we should be concerned. In the first month of the Stress Test — September, 2009 — average Stress Numbers for home, work and social were 55, 54 and 55 respectively. That’s yellow across the board. As of February, 2011 the average scores were 52, 47 and 53, also respectively. With a sample of over 38,000 people, that is a significant shift toward the negative. While still all yellow (that’s the good news?) each score suggests stress levels are rising — along with all of the negative effects stress imparts. The work score of 47, down from 54, should be of particular concern for employers. This translates to increased health care costs absenteeism, presenteeism, disability along with decreased productivity and morale at work. And this is before the flooding in the Northeast, ever-increasing troubles in the Middle East and the earthquake and tsunami in Japan — and cataclysmic event that literally and figuratively hit our shores.
America’s Stress Numbers suggest we are in trouble and it is not getting any better. But we are not helpless. We have at our fingertips the means to identify and better manage our stress — as individuals, as couples, as families, as employers and as leaders. We owe it to ourselves and those around us. Stress is the number one modifiable health risk we face. At The Oxygen Plan our mission is to help us all accomplish the goal of becoming a "better you."
Peer Pressure: What’s a Few Pounds Between Friends?
Friday, March 11th, 2011Peer:
- noun, a person of equal standing with another; somebody who is the equal of somebody else, eg. in age or social class.
- verb, to “peer” is to look closely; to look very carefully or hard, especially at somebody or something that is difficult to see, often with narrowed eyes.
Have you peered at your peers, lately? Do they look, act and eat alike?
The New York Times and the New York Times Magazine have reported a particular peer-related study on obesity, asking the question, "do your friends make you fat?" The study concluded that when someone gains weight, their friends tend to gain weight, too.
The findings suggested that especially good friends seem to be the prime enablers in encouraging and influencing others to join them in overeating and in resulting obesity, which gives credence to the quote, "you are known by the company you keep"!
It’s no surprise that we tend to associate with people who share common likes or habits; including recreational eating, among others. Friends do share common habits and, according to this study, common maladies. Some may have hypertension in common; some share inebriation, and now, buddy eating is a confirmed cause of obesity. The opposite is also true, as the same study pointed out, that skinny people tend to "make" their friends skinny and/or mutually adhere to a chosen set of social eating habits.
For some people in some situations, it’s just not cool to stand out from the crowd. Unfortunately, many of us end up on the heavy end — perhaps, literally — of unhealthy habits and patterns by not trusting our instincts and better judgment, but opting for popularity among our peers. Over-eating; over-dieting, over anything that throws us off balance, over the top and out of the green, interferes with a full and healthy life, physically and psychologically. As a society, we seem almost driven to be noticed; not by singularity but by group consensus.
These are clearly stressful YELLOW and RED social messages that surround so many aspects of our lives, tamper with our self images and self worth, and can’t help but spill over into our work rhythms; to our co-workers; to our home environments and the loved ones who share it; and to other friends and acquaintances. The concept of socializing in the green — or doing anything in the green, for that matter — is severely threatened by peer pressure to "belong".
It’s just a matter of time before we run into problems if we start to believe that there’s something wrong with us if we don’t object to being cloned by the people we call peers and friends.
A guiding factor, in choosing friends — particularly green ones — is to make sure that they care about, respect and appreciate you for who you are, not for your suitability as a new addition to their group.
It’s uncomfortable to incorporate foreign behaviors or actions that don’t come naturally into daily living. So, if it doesn’t feel green and give you an uplifting dose of oxygen (and allow you to do the same) think twice before you become enmeshed in relationships that go against your important core life principles.
Staying true to ourselves, our core values, the lessons we learn from life and, of course, the Oxygen Plan, make socializing in bright green a very attainable goal. Healthy, green, social interactions bring discovery and positive, lasting benefits, and that unmistakable feeling of being completely at ease and comfortable with yourself and with those around you. That’s the healthy mindset of green groups of friends. Making confident, positive green social choices lets you become and share a joyful you with the world, not an unhealthy replica of something you aren’t.
Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it’s off to wO2rk® we go …
Monday, March 7th, 2011Even the Seven Dwarfs had stress issues. Imagine seven little guys — with very distinct personalities — living with the kind and gorgeous Snow White, but going to work in a Diamond Mine, by day, cheerfully singing "heigh ho, heigh ho, it’s off to work we go". Talk about optimism among competition! Poor Snow White is probably torn, too, making sure not to show too much favoritism among her eccentric little roommates.
Do you ever go to work and think of it as a cartoon environment? Humor is a very good way to diffuse any stressful situation and keep us in the green, if only momentarily. Cartoons or funny visual images, although cute and amusing, are not real. Job stress, is.
Many of us are doing exactly what we want to do; or doing our best at a job that may be a steppingstone to our real goals; or, at the least, finding ways to make the best of less-than-optimum situations in the workplace.
Most of us spend the majority of our time at work, producing products, delivering services and/or ideas for public consumption. It is a place where structure and deadlines; forms and formats; evaluations and strategies are, for the most part, imposed upon us. Pressures to produce the biggest and the best constantly hover in the background of any business, even if you own and operate your own.
So, how do we function and still stay in the green, at work?
- Re-evaluating your core values is a good — and affirming — place to start. Ask yourself, "How much of the best of me do I give to my job?" This brief and empowering self-examination will yield your own appreciation of the green qualities you bring to work! And, you can be sure, that your green attitude is not lost on co-workers or bosses. It is very contagious.
- As employees, we know from the start that we will be working and making decisions for the good of the company. We are doing that job, however, because we were the best and greenest candidates for the position. So, in addition to performing our tasks to the best of our ability, remember that we were picked for the individual skills and assets we bring to the work experience.
- Issues with particular people in the workplace are most commonly the source of on-the-job stress. It’s unrealistic to think that everyone we encounter in a given work day, is going to be green for us. When you see that stressor or an interaction approaching, thinking green on the inside will encourage you to be green, on the outside. Try it. It works! You’re in charge of your thoughts, so why not paint as green a canvas, as you can?
- Trust your own inner dialogue with yourself to a) not be drawn into YELLOW areas and/or b) to look at the situation with objectivity and optimism and c) above all, be true to yourself in the encounter to give and get as much oxygen, as possible. Limiting contact and communication with yellow-ish (or even RED) people — if you can — is the most direct way of maintaining a green mindset.
- Focusing on specific tasks/goals and prioritizing the order in which you accomplish them makes for an unbeatable green feeling of achievement.
- Take breaks — literally walk away from your desk, 2 or 3 times a day to take a peek outside, grab a cup of coffee with a co-worker OR if you need to stay at your desk, just close your eyes for a second, take a few deep breaths of refreshing oxygen, and carry on. Take a book or your iPod to lunch with you. The visual and/or aural diversion holds relaxing, recharging green benefits.
- Look forward to the end of your day; to enjoyable plans you may have with friends or family after work; to shopping; to catching a movie with your partner; to just getting out of the building and into the and green areas of your life.
- Think of the check you’ll see at the end of the week! Very green. Being financially solvent is a happy state of being, for anyone.
Whether we believe it or not, being the best we can be can’t be shut off, at will. We may have to alter the ways in which we apply and accept greenness in the world, but each of us has an awesome core of green goodness to nurture and share — even at wO2rk®!
For many people, February is the time of year when some of us, well… stagnate. Things around us just seem to slow down or run on auto pilot after the holidays pass; after the snow begins to melt (or clobber us, again), after people prepare their income taxes and learn they may have had more money last year and will have even less of it after they pay Uncle Sam, this year! Business activity and expenditures generally decline or tighten. Personal or household purchases may be limited. For many, February is a time of hibernation — at home, at work and socially.
Think back, for a moment, about your February, 2011. What green people, places and things have graced your life in the preceding 4 weeks?
- Did you spend the kind of green quality time with friends and family that renew and refresh you?
- Did you bring your partner flowers, for no reason at all, or spend lots of quality time with a child child?
- Did you change your scenery and sensory intake with short weekend trips or even go on a major vacation or take a cruise to some idyllic island paradise?
- Did you rediscover the timeless thrill of going to your favorite art or history museum?
- Did you run into an old friend and enjoy a cup of hot, freshly-brewed coffee together and catch up on old times?
- Or, did you take a vacation of the mind?
- Did you stock up on the books and magazines and lose yourself in some fantastic plot?
- Did you visit Italy by faithfully watching the Food Channel and by grabbing some incredible recipes that will really impress your guests?
- Did you create a scrapbook of an extra special event?
- Did you take painting lessons and produce a masterpiece?
- Did you do something good for someone else, like volunteering to read to kids at the local library; joining a theatre group (not all the jobs are onstage and every theatre company always needs help behind the scenes!) to usher or help build sets?
Doing something for someone who can’t do it themselves or who, perhaps, have never been exposed to certain kindnesses, makes the worth of our green deeds so amazingly high, for both parties!
Helping out at the local animal shelter will fill you with more green experiences, than you ever can imagine. Who doesn’t melt when an innocent little puppy licks your face and touches your heart?
In Freetown, Massachusetts, for example, the "Save Skippy" campaign is underway to rescue Skippy, a young golden retriever, who is at the center of an "owner neglect" issue. People from around the country and even Canada have expressed interest in fostering or adopting Skippy, as their own. This outpouring of concern and kind offers humble those involved and those who follow the story. Advocating for a living creature that cannot participate in his own fate is probably one of the most selflessly green things a person can do.
This particular story, in fact, shows people like you and me, reacting to an individual’s (the owner’s) very RED behavior by providing a very GREEN solution. Here, quite simply, is The Oxygen Plan, at work. The benefits of the plan, when applied to a very simple life situation such as this, are crystal clear, self-identifying and there, for the taking.
While you’re at it, give a quick look back at your year. What were the highs? What were the lows? Like Journaling, looking back at the big picture — or a solid year’s worth of activities and developments — gives us enough distance to see patterns, categories, actions and decisions regarding stressful issues and the strategies we used to deal with them — successfully or unsuccessfully.
Remember, that whatever you did to fill your month 02 with 02 can be repeated again and again!
Mother Nature has a very determined way of taking us from season to season, often ignoring what the calendar says and the plans we’ve written on it. Even though it’s now early June, in many parts of the country temperatures are gently warming, skies are clearing, trees are blooming, breezes are milder. It just feels like summer is impatiently waiting to arrive
Of all the seasons, spring and especially summer, hold the promise of good times to come in the greater outdoors (or in a place with refreshing AC!). Depending on what and who your “oxygenators” are, the balmy days of summer invite us to do our green things in the green, literally.
The onset of summer also signals the longest school break in the year, for kids who are counting down their last official days in the classroom.
Yet, when the thrill of not having to go to school for roughly two months begins to wear off, parents will invariably hear the universal sound of boredom coming from the mouths of their little darlings: “THERE’S NOTHING TO DO!”
This is actually a cry for oxygen; for mobility, for diversion; for nurturing and fun experiences that differ from those found in school books or classrooms.
The first step for any parent who values their sanity is to sweetly reply, “Sure there is!” (Just make sure you have back-up plans in your bag of tricks.) If you’ve just begun The Oxygen Plan, this may be the perfect time to set or review your Life Rules!
Arranging play dates for your kids would seem to be one of the first, less stressful things you can do, rather than embarking on full-fledged, cross-country camping expeditions. You know what you and your kids can handle!
When kids play with their friends, they are participating in solid, green opportunities to imagine and pretend without having to hurry home and do homework. If you or a neighbor has a backyard pool, consider the fact that your kids are not just flopping around and splashing water on dry adults, but that they are also exercising muscles in a different way and absorbing the benefits of inhaling and exhaling oxygen in a natural way, in a natural setting.
Schedules ‘ yours and theirs ‘ necessarily change, and so do eating habits. Chances are you’ll be cooking on the grill more and relying on simple fare at meal time. Eating outside, or anywhere that is not the kitchen, is a fun change for kids. Make it fun for you and your grown-up friends, too! Indulge in some delicious cooling drinks or whip up a new mango salsa.
Think of days spent at the zoo or the local park as educational experiences. (Just don’t tell the kids that they might learn something if they go. That’s a sure-fire way to sabotage their enthusiasm.) If they do go to summer camp and like the experience, they’ll be absorbing life lessons every day, anyway.
And if there are visits to friends and family on the horizon, remember that you love your kids, but cannot always obsess over what they will say, when they will say it and to whom! There’s no excuse for outright bad manners, but they are young and preciously unworldly!
Your own Oxygen Plan for the summer should, above all else, give you the green experiences which have nurtured you, all along. Summer break can be challenging for parents, but it doesn’t have to be a test of endurance; nor does it have to be action-packed each and every moment.
Remember your commitment to yourself; to live in the green and welcome refreshing experiences that enhance the best you! Whatever gets you there will keep you there this summer and all year round.
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