Recently I went through another lesson in managing stress with technological issues. It all began on a day when I was writing up receipts for clients. I had just gotten started when my accounting program shut down. After re-opening it three or four times, it no longer would start.
Things went from bad to worse. I drove into Calgary four times that week to have an Apple expert try to fix it. During that week, however, my website shut down. The auto-renew button hadn’t worked. With the website down, I couldn’t send or receive emails. People who wanted to book an appointment on my online calendar couldn’t. AARGH!
Despite feeling like I had entered technological hell, I did what I could to manage the stress. I got into problem solving mode. I did what I could to deal with each issue as it arose.
I also talked with friends and family. Did it ever make a difference to be able to vent my frustration with them! It seems almost everyone has had experience with managing stress from computers. I enjoyed spending time with them talking about things that had nothing to do with technology as well.
I went on Facebook and shared my story. Again, everyone was very supportive.
I had to wait and be okay with it because the solutions were slow in coming. I distracted myself with movies and comedies. Laughter is a great de-stressor!
I exercised. The anger, frustration, and helplessness melted away with my sweat.
I ate good food. Delicious and healthy food does the soul good, and it helps the body manage stress that much better.
I stayed away from alcohol. I know alcohol is a depressant and I absolutely didn’t want to add to my stress instead of taking it away!
I tried to get restful sleep each night. When my stressed brain woke me up, I practiced 5-4-3-2-1 or meditation. Sometimes resting in a relaxed state was the most I could do but that was enough for the few hours of sleeplessness.
Finally, I listened to my self-talk. I was mindful to focus on what I was doing that was helping instead of what was pissing me off.
There certainly are things I did that helped me through my technology woes. Talking about it, distracting myself, exercising, eating good food, getting enough sleep, and using positive self-talk are things that can help anyone whether stressed by technology or anything else!
