Veronica Bettencourt

Archive for October, 2009

This part of the home often gets ignored but it is essential so I put together an easy way to clean out the garage.

First, you want to get into some work clothes, a long sleeve shirt, gloves, and even a face mask (I’ll explain why you need a face mask later). Give yourself between 2-3 hours to tackle this task. You will feel great once it’s all done!

Chances are you have things in no particular organized fashion or place. So one goal   is to put everything in a particular place so you can quickly find something whenever you need it. The garage often becomes a home for a certain mouse (or mice, more than likely), who had been eating and pooping on everything it could find: car doors,tools, storage bins etc. Now, you may not know this, but rodents can carry the hantavirus, which is a deadly pulmonary disease, and infected rodents can spread it through urine, droppings, or saliva.  Well, if you have to deal with your share of mouse poop all over the garage then a face mask is essential to reduce the chance of exposure to the disease.

Here is a guideline of steps to follow to clean out the garage:

1. Commit to one side at a time. Take the cars out of both side of the garage, and start moving everything from one side to the other, including stuff you may be getting rid of eventually.

2. Once everything is moved to one side or the other, start cleaning. I used a broom for the walls, the corners of the ceiling, the floor, and the top of the workbench if you have one. I broom everything right out onto the driveway, leaving me with an empty and clean single side of the garage.

3. Thoughtfully move items into the clean side. Now is the time to start organizing, as you take all the items that will go on the “clean” side of the garage and put them in their final place. This includes items you originally moved from that side, and anything extra that was in the wrong place to begin with.

4. Now that one side is done, take a look at what is left on the dirty side of the garage. You should have stuff you are getting rid of, along with the remainder of the “keepers” that eventually will be organized on this side. I took all the throwaways and moved them to the driveway, and then moved all the keepers to the clean side of the garage. I then cleaned out the dirty side and proceeded to organize it.

5. If you have a workbench, organize it. After cleaning the garage, you may still be left with a workbench full of tools and equipment that need to be put away. So do your best to group like with like, while putting nails/screws/smaller items into empty jars you may have saved.

6. Take a look at what you did. No more trash, no more dirt, no more animal droppings, and no more clutter. Your tools are in the right places and your “stuff” is organized in easy to find places – and you can now park your car in the garage without worrying about a hammer falling on the hood!

7. Even better is to get stuff off the floor altogether. Spending just an extra hour you can create hooks on the walls where you can hang those shovels and other large tools and shelves for storage bins.It will make a huge difference to the look of your garage.

Get out there next weekend and clean out the garage. It can give you an amazing sense of accomplishment in just a few short hours!

Feel free reply and also share your tips here.

They say there’s more than one way to skin a cat. The same goes when you start tearing your hair out with all the frustration, grief, anxiety, and yes, stress. It’s a state of mental conditioning that is like taking that bitter pill down your throat, causing you to lose your sense of self, and worse your sanity. Just thinking about it can drive anyone off the edge.

And they say that the proactive ones are already living off the edge.

I know how it feels.I still get stressed occasionally, but definitely not as      much as I used to get stressed;and believe me there are many variants when it comes to stress. Coping with life, and carrying the problems that  may or may not belong to you can scratch away the little joy and happiness that you can carry once you head out that door. You can’t blame them for being like that; they have their own reasons, so much like we have our reasons to allow stress to weigh us down. They say that stress is all in the mind, well, what’s bugging you anyway?

There are several ways to manage stress. So I’ll give you some helpful tidbits and I promise it’s not going to be too taxing on the body, as well as on the mind.

1. Acknowledge stress is good
Make stress your friend! Based on the body’s natural “fight or flight” response, that burst of energy will enhance your performance at the right moment. I’ve yet to see a top sportsman totally relaxed before a big competition. Use stress wisely to push yourself that little bit harder when it counts most.

2. Avoid stress sneezers
Stressed people sneeze stress germs indiscriminately and before you know it, you are infected too!

Protect yourself by recognizing stress in others and limiting your contact with them. Or if you’ve got the inclination, play stress doctor and teach them how to better manage themselves.

3. Learn from the best
When people around are losing their head, who keeps calm? What are they doing differently? What is their attitude? What language do they use? Are they trained and experienced?
Figure it out from afar or sit them down for a chat. Learn from the best stress managers and copy what they do.

4. Practice socially acceptable heavy breathing
This is something I’ve learned from a gym instructor: You can trick your body into relaxing by using heavy breathing. Breathe in slowly for a count of 7 then breathe out for a count of 11. Repeat the 7-11 breathing until your heart rate slows down, your sweaty palms dry off and things start to feel more normal.

5. Give stress thoughts the red light
It is possible to tangle yourself up in a stress knot all by yourself. “If this happens, then that might happen and then we’re all up the creek!” Most of these things never happen, so why waste all that energy worrying needlessly?

Give stress thought-trains the red light and stop them in their tracks. Okay so it might go wrong – how likely is that, and what can you do to prevent it?

6. Know your trigger points and hot spots
Presentations, interviews, meetings, giving difficult feedback, tight deadlines…. My heart rate is cranking up just writing these down!

Make your own list of stress trigger points or hot spots. Be specific. Is it only presentations to a certain audience that get you worked up? Does one project cause more stress than another? Did you drink too much coffee?

Knowing what causes you stress is powerful information, as you can take action to make it less stressful. Do you need to learn some new skills? Do you need extra resources? Do you need to switch to decaf?

7. Burn the candle at one end
Lack of sleep, poor diet and no exercise wreaks havoc on our body and mind. Kind of obvious, but worth mentioning as it’s often ignored as a stress management technique. Listen to your mother and don’t burn the candle at both ends!

Having stress can be a total drag, but that should not hinder us to find the inner peace of mind that we have wanted for a long time. In any case, one could always go to the Bahamas and bask under the summer sun.

If managing your time may help manage your stress, download a free time-management report that I have made available for you at my site:

http://www.SimpleandStressFree.com

Feel free to comment about how you currently deal with stress.