Hot Tips for Keeping Mental Track

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

02 Feb 2006 08:05 AM

Part of improving mental fitness is lightening the stress and the negative self-talk. The following tips and tools are designed to help you deprogram the mental stress and increase the mental positive self-chatter.

· Lists! There is literally a wealth of information available to the average person every single day. Information overload can make the healthiest person's memory falter. Lists can help you keep an inventory of tasks, errands and accomplishments. There's a real positive boost to crossing something off the list when it's done.

· Organization! No one wants to spend all their time filing, but if you create a positive file system for bills and other transactions that need a response, you can eliminate the clutter of too many envelopes. A system of sorting out the junk mail immediately every day and opening bill and emptying the junk flyers from them can reduce counter top clutter and the impending feeling of 'doom' when staring at the unopened stack of mail.

· Drill! No, not literally like a drill sergeant, but set up a routine that you practice regularly so you're not running around trying to 'remember' what you did with something. For example, place keys, wallet and other 'traveling necessities' in the same place every day when you return home.

· Help yourself! Don't try to remember to go back for something, instead if you need to mail something - place the envelope or letter on your purse so that you have it when you head out the door. Write it down on a to do list that you keep with you or even just go put it in the car.

Doing small things like this when you remember them improves the chances that it will get done, reduces mental stress and improves yours sense of mental balance and accomplishment.

Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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bluetree (2947) 03 Feb 2006 12:13 AM

Lists are always great, I like when I focus on what's most important to me first then what's urgent.

Heather Long (16954) 03 Feb 2006 04:42 PM

I like lists -- I like them even more when I cross off what I have accomplished in a day. They also keep me focused and I don't get as distracted from what I need to do.