Friday, April 6, 2012

Sleep well, breathe deep!

As a brief respite from research and thesis writing, I read a link sent to me by a friend..

89 Simple Swaps That Could Change Your Life on greatest.com has a long list of things you can do to switch a poor choice out for a good one; while this list is far from perfect and I certainly do not agree with everything it says, I think it is worth a read.

One item I found particularly important is #71:

"71. Fun alarm clock song for annoying ringer. Who wants to be woken from a peaceful slumber thanks to an irritating beep? (Waking up early is hard enough.) Choose a fun little melody on the cell phone to wake up to instead!"

I definitely agree with this one; I have always said that the worst way to wake up is to be scared awake, and that basically what traditional alarm clocks do - BEEP BEEEP BEEEP BEEEEEP - not a pleasant way to start the day.  If your clock has no tone or tune options try using your cell phone which often come with a number of alternative ring tones, usually you can set one of them as your alarm tone. If you don't like the ones they've got most phones allow you to add your own tones whether by downloading them on your phone or syncing it to your computer. (Note: a free software to let you make any sound file a ring tone on most phones - bitpim)

If you are interested to know my personal preference, I use 2 alarms, both on my phone - both preloaded Verizon ringtones. The first is called Deep Blue Calling (if you happen to have it too) a very subtle song and it is set to go off half an hour before I intend to wake up. The second is called Rodeo Clown (doesn't remind me of either to be honest) and is a bit louder, set for the time I want to get up. Also note, for my phone there is an auto-sleep time of 5 minutes. I would recommend something like this if you are considering changing your wake-up soundtrack.

Another great one is #74:

"74. Breathing for bein’ a stress mess. Calm breathing can boost relaxation and calm the mind. Take a long, deep breath to relax the bod rather than stressing out."

I can't begin to count the times I have used this myself and told my friends to do so. A few simple deep breaths in and slow breaths out has the amazing ability to calm the mind and help you keep from getting overwhelmed - or help you stop being overwhelmed. I know it seems stupid and it's kind of a cliche, but it really works! Next time you are in a bit over your head or have a mound of work to tackle, try taking a few deep slow breaths before moving forward and I'm sure you will see.