1.Aim for 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night. Our bodies do somuch restorative work while we sleep, and it's harder to dealwith emotional and physical stress when we don't have enoughsleep. Additionally, nights of uninterrupted sleep are betterthan nights of interrupted sleep. So if you have very youngchildren who wake you up each night (for feedings, diaperchanges, etc.), try to share those duties with your husband orpartner so that you get some nights of uninterrupted sleep. Anddon't feel guilty about napping when you get the chance! Theenergetic demands on your body as a woman juggling numerousroles are enormous. The more you can cater to those energeticneeds, the more resources you will have for dealing with life'sannoyances and real stressors.

2.Prioritize and organize errands to minimize the runningaround time you have to do. You may need to plan a "route" thattakes you to the post office, the dry cleaners, etc. once aweek. And don't fret if you forget to bring something with you -99% of the time, it can wait until your next trip. Also,minimize the number of times you go to the supermarket bystocking up during fewer trips.

3.Take 10 to 15 minutes each day to just sit by yourself andlet your mind float. Turn the phones off, if possible. You canalso listen to a relaxation CD or a CD of your favorite music.Don't stress if you can't achieve the "quiet mind" Buddhistmonks can achieve. Just giving yourself some "down time" eachday is a very important stress management strategy. Treat thisdown time like you would treat brushing your teeth - assomething you wouldn't dream of skipping! You don't have tonecessarily do it at the same time each day, as long as you doit. Don't feel guilty about giving yourself this time. Not onlydo you deserve it, it will keep you emotionally and physicallyhealthier and better able to give yourself some stress relief.

4.In the back of your mind, keep some sort of mental scale forjudging how stressful something is. I typically tell clients tothink of some minor annoyance, and then think of the worst thingimaginable (or at least something truly BIG and stressful), andput each thing on opposite ends of the scale. Then when you feelstressed, ask yourself which end of the scale the stressor iscloser to. Most things fall much closer to the minor annoyanceend of the scale, and this helps keep things in perspective.Perspective is a crucial tool for stress management.

5.Keep in mind a sense of your physical and emotional energeticresources as a discrete quantity. No one is a superhuman;everyone has limits. When you feel stressed about something, orhave the urge to react to something, ask yourself, "Is thisworth spending my life's energy on?". Very often, the answer is"No," and you can move on without wasting your time and energyon something that doesn't amount to much.

6.Learn the art of limited procrastination. For example, if aletter from your insurance company arrives in the mail, and ittells you your car insurance premium is going up 300% in 60days, put the letter aside. Very often, these sorts of thingsresolve themselves or become moot. You might get a letter in 3days that says, "Whoops! We made a mistake!" and you would havegotten stressed over nothing. Obviously, you don't want toprocrastinate about everything, because that can lead to morestress. But when something seems to demand your immediateattention, let it "age" for a couple of days. Or hand it to yourhusband, partner or other trusted person to take care of it.Stress management is made easier when we are willing to letothers help us. There's no need to be Super Woman!

7.Plan nights out with your husband or partner or friend, soyou two can have adult time together. Do this once a week oronce every two weeks - whatever works for you. Then you havesomething special to look forward to, which makes it easier todeal with minor stresses and the endless demands on your time.

8.Give your current work schedule some thought. You mayultimately decide that you want to keep or that you must keepyour work schedule the same, but at least you will have given itsome thought with regard to what's healthiest for you to do atthis time in your life. Sometimes we get caught up in theroutine of everyday life, and we don't always take the time toconsider whether this routine is the optimal one for us. When weengage in stress management strategies, we need to consider allaspects of our lives, including those that seem more or less setin stone, such as our work situation.

9.Humor is a wonderful tool for stress management. Get somefunny DVDs (movies, animated TV shows, etc.) that you, alone orwith someone else, can watch in small chunks of time.

10.Exercise is also great for stress relief. It's a good way toblow off steam and get endorphins (feel-good hormones) flowing.If your life is so frantic that you hardly have time to think,no less exercise, just keep it in mind or start in small waysright now. Some of my clients build a library of exercise DVDs,which are great, because most of the DVDs have small segments(15 to 20 minutes) that can be done without taking a big chunkout of your day. Some of my other clients take a yoga class or apilates class once a week, and it gives them something to lookforward to. Exercise should be something you do as part of youroverall "taking care of me" strategy.

If you implement some or all of these stress management tips,you will find that your day-to-day stress level can besignificantly reduced. That will leave you with the maximumresources for dealing with life's "big stressors."

About the author:Loretta Sernekos, Ph.D., is a Certified Hypnotherapist inprivate practice in Cherry Hill, NJ and Philadelphia, PA. Youcan visit her practice website at http://sghypnosis.com for moreinformation and audio podcasts. For additional hypnosisinformation and articles, both modern and antiquarian, visit http://hypnosisgateway.com.

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