Parcel - October 2008 - (Page 31)

If you work in an environment like this, unfortunately, you will have to work on this covertly. The good news is that this is possible. And at the same time, we need to educate managers that induce stress as a management tactic on the impact that stress has on people and to consider changing their perspective. How to Reduce Stress Researchers have consistently found that meditation can signiﬁcantly reduce stress. Now when many people hear the word meditation, they think of eastern religions and bearded yogis sitting cross legged. While for many people meditation may be a path for enlightenment, it is also a scientiﬁcally proven method that reduces stress, anxiety, depression, heart disease and digestive problems. An article in Psychology Today stated that “Recent research indicates that meditating brings about dramatic effects in as little as a 10-minute session.” Really, meditation is basically taking a few minutes to close your eyes, breathe deeply and relax. A psychologist friend of mine that works with stress shared with me a technique that he called the “one-minute vacation.” Here is how it works. Sometime when you are alone and not likely to be interrupted, ﬁnd a comfortable chair and sit with both feet on the ﬂoor. Close your eyes and place a hand on your abdomen. Take ﬁve deep breaths, breathing through the nose, and exhaling slowly. The abdomen, rather than the chest, should rise and fall with each breath. Mentally, scan your body and observe areas that feel tense, such as your neck and shoulders. Let go of as much tension as you can. Silently, tell your muscles to relax. Then, visualize a pleasant place where you were completely relaxed. Perhaps it was a vacation spot on the beach. Recreate the situation as vividly as you can, smelling the ocean, tasting the salt, feeling the heat of the sun, hearing the waves. Just continue to breathe slowly and feel the tension melt away. After a few minutes of enjoying this mental vacation, you can stop and just tell yourself that you will remember your special place. Now, the next time you are feeling stressed at work, just ﬁnd a place where you can go and close your eyes for just a minute. Take ﬁve deep breaths and remember your special place. This will take about a minute and you will feel much better afterwards. Taking the short amount of time out for this exercise will help you have more energy and patience, and it will make you feel centered. Go ahead, give it a try. And, if you ﬁnd that it works for you as it has for millions of others, you may want to learn more about meditation and developing a regular practice. Of course there are many other ways of reducing stress. Exercising regularly and therapy also have proven to be effective. Reducing stress in your life will have profound beneﬁts on your productivity, health, family relations and quality of life. Mark Taylor is a businessman, entrepreneur, author, and speaker currently living in New York City. He has been named a Distinguished Logistics Professional (DLP) by the American Society of Transportation & Logistics. Contact him at mark@redroller.com. www.PARCELindustry.com October 2008 31

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Parcel - October 2008 Contents Editor's Note What Would Augello Say? Best Practices Survey Results Going with the Flow Is Your Parcel Network Optimized? Last (Mile), but Not Least Moving From Manual to Automated Fulfillment A Race for Excellence Making Ends Meet Is Your Job Killing You? Software Selection Demystified Controlling Costs On the Mark Product Profile New Products & Services Advertiser Index Wrap Up

Parcel - October 2008

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