Article by Diane Barnett Madviral.com

When running your home business during hard economic times it can be very stressful, even in good economic times it’s not easy to stay focused and stress free. There’s tasks  that always need to be done and balancing books can bring on major headaches, not counting your help you have to deal  with (or no help for that matter) and your customers you have to interact with. (they can sense when your not your best). Stress is the number one killer this day in age, so managing stress must be top priority in your life, especially if you run your own business.
Your body functions better in a relaxed  state, and also gives you overall better health.

There are 10 basic ways to reduce stress you can follow and practice, you don’t have to become a monk and meditate 24  hours a day to achieve calmness.

1.Breathing,
When stressed your breathing is fast and labored, it affects your heart rate and your blood flow, which means you get  less air and less blood to your brain which in turn makes you
feel bad. So by practicing proper breathing you get more  health benefits than just calmness.  To breath properly you  must take slow deep breaths, feeling it in your belly, just  below your diaphragm and belly button. So when you feel  stressed, stop a minute, take a deep breath, first breath  should be deep, filling your lungs and then slowly releasing  your breath. Do this for about 5 minutes, you will feel the  difference.

2.Visualization,
There is nothing better than a 5 to 10 minute day dream to clear your mind. When stressed, your mind visualizes all the bad out-comes that can occur, it becomes cloudy and  your thinking becomes dull. So refresh your mind by thinking about your favorite spot, example: at the beach, by the lake, even your hammock in the back yard. Think about how the air felt, the sounds, the feel of the water, the sights around  you. Just by visualizing for 5 to 10 minutes will clear your mind and slow your body’s metabolism down to a relaxed state.

3. Self-massage,
A whole day at the spa sounds fantastic, but not many of us can have that. So one way of de-stressing is give yourself a simple massage, rub your shoulders, neck, feet, even the  palms of your hands. Even simple massages like that  allows the blood to flow easier and relaxes the muscles. Your muscles are 5 times tenser when you are stressed, then  when you are relaxed. Even stretching your legs out straight  and flexing your feet several times has benefits.

4.Drinking something healthy and calming,
Calming teas are great for reducing stress, chamomile tea, is a good example, it also helps you sleep so drink sparingly during the day. Juices are good and so is plenty of water.  Stress also builds up toxins in your body, only a relaxed body can effectively filter out toxins. And a healthy diet can help reduce stress.

5. Smile,
Smiling helps everyone, even better is laughing, doctors have proved that laughter actually causes the body to heal  itself faster. So laughing is best, even if it’s at yourself.

6. Richter scale,
Stress comes in different levels, 1 to 10, where a  miss-placed item is a one, a total meltdown of your system is definitely a 10. So look at the situation that is stressing you and rate it, is this a major 10 or an irritating 5? By rating your situation you can tackle it in a healthy way, and think clearly on how to resolve it.

7. Priority, list the tasks,
Writing a to do list is the best for stress management. At the end of the day before turning off the computer and lights, jot down a few items you know that has to be done. Make the list short and to the point. Even include your time schedule for meetings if there are any.

1. Examples are.
2. 1. organize return phone messages
3. 2. print out receipts
4. 3. remember phone meeting @ 1:00

Things that can be seen easily and are not complicated.

Take the tasks in priority, defraging your computer is not at the top of your list if you have to put together your customer based information, if that is what needs to be done.

8. Positive Affirmation,
Believe it or not, affirmations do work, Make them simple and easy to memorize. “today is going to be a good day”. “my business is running smoothly”, ” I can see profitable results in my work” Are just a few examples. Make up your own.

9. Work area scenery,
Is your work area a disaster zone, needing to be  condemned by OSHA?  A clean work area is a productive area. Place a plant in it, maybe a small desk size water fountain, gentle music in the back ground, relaxing pictures on the wall. You don’t have to hire a contractor to redo the whole area to achieve a relaxing atmosphere to work in.

10. Leave work at work, when you work at home,

The number one mistake people make is taking work  home with them. When you do, you find your self dreaming about it and so you’ve worked around the clock 24 hrs. Sleep is the best relaxer there is, so get plenty of it. 7 hrs is the best. Close that door to where your computer is and forget about it until you go back the next day at your  scheduled time you set to start the day. To read more articles like this one go To: http://madviral.com/Blog