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When taking a break over the Christmas holidays, resist the tempatation to stay at home to “catch up household chores”.
This is one of the few times throughout the year when we get the opportunity to have some time away from the familiar so pack the car and head out of town.

There have been vaious studies that have shown that it can take anywhere from 5 to 14 days to completely unwind and relax.

So what do I mean by relaxed? well you’re not in a hurry to be anywhere, do anything.
The ultimate test is to see whether you have had a relaxing break is the “care factor” test.
Take note of how you react to work stress and tasks within the first week of returning to work.
If you feel anesthetised, in a relaxed state without being too concerned, you have had a relaxing holiday and successfully relaxed your mind, Congratulations!!

If however on returning to work you feel like you never left the place and the stress levels return back with vengeance, guess what, maybe your holiday wasn’t as relaxing as you may have thought.
So on your holiday, did you disconnect?, did you check emails, phone messages, sms messages? Are you still dreaming about work, feeling anxious & stressed?

So what will it be these holidays, switching off and relaxing, or will you return from your Christmas holidays stressed?

Our daily lives have become an ensemble of constant contact, where is the “me” time.
The humble mobile phone is now connecting us in so many ways, surfing the net, checking emails, sms and making/receiving phone calls when ever, where ever, no place is sacred.

How often do you find yourself with some spare time, whether waiting for an appointment, the train, a bus, maybe stuck in traffic yet we are driven to/make reply to emails, sms, phone friends or family because our downtime has been chrunched by work and modern society.

Have we lost the ability to relax, to give ourselves a break from the conveyor belt of life.
It’s ok to sit there, thinking about nice stuff, maybe about your partner, family or friends, maybe about how to improve the day by making some positive changes. By having some downtime we can process all those thoughts swirling in our minds.
We don’t need the constant interaction with technology, like anything it’s about moderation, be it food, alcohol and raspberry & white chocolate muffins, we need to define some boundaries and avoid the trap of falling back into regular patterns of behavior.

This morning while chatting amongst friends, I heard about a guy who after winning a major regional cycling race last year decided to concentrate on another major race that was being run recently.

Most of this year was focused on winning the last event with the last 2 months purely dedicated to extremely highly intensive training with minimal rest if no rest at all. This event consumed his life and I imagine having a demanding work life family may have been compromised.

Remember every action has an reaction or as my good friend says “Something has to give” While it is great to have goals, you have to look at the outcome verses what the effects are for the over slices in the pie or cheese cake (I like cheese cake).

Well within the cheese cake are various parts or slices that comprise of your life: family, friends, health, physical, psychological, mental and spiritual.
Ultimately life is about getting all these segments into balance, while each segment will vary in size throughout your life, it’s about getting them roughly equally weighted.
You may say well that person with the 100 meter motor yacht, apartment on 5th Ave, holiday homes in the Bahamas must be happy, well have a look at the other segments and see how they are tracking.

We live in the most or should I say we did the most prosperous generation on record with the personal wealth of society far greater than our parents and grand parents yet levels of depression are growing every year and numerous studies regarding people’s happiness over the past 50 years indicated a down ward spiral.
So have a look at your goals and where they fit into the cheese cake. Ultimately we need to have a balance in out life.

With our constant consumption comes the need to eventually pay for what we consume, mortgages, car loans, personal loans, credit cards, store credit, more clothes, electrical stuff or anything for that matter requires money and lots more of it.
Throw the threat of looming higher unemployment and the result is more work & less play.
If you layed out the average house contents from 2009 compared to 1959, how much more stuff do you think the average person/household now consumes or stockpiles??

In recognition of the negative impacts this is having not only in the work place but for society in general, the Australain Government has released a new initiative called “No leave, No life”
Are you guilty of too much work & not enough play???

With the internet and email communication rapidly consuming our spare time, are we letting our health suffer?

With the absolute avalanche of emails and social networking responsibility, is eating good quality fresh food and exercise being relegated to the “No time” dept.

What we do today with our bodies is setting the blueprint for latter in life, treat your body well by eating well, getting enough sleep, manageable levels of stress and exercise, you will look & feel great latter in life, not feeling 70 when your 40.

So with the ever fastening pace of technology, remember to leave some time for yourself otherwise your health we suffer.