My Stress Induced Blog

I need to stop and celebrate my MBA being done.

I am graduating from my MBA program this weekend.  It was an executive program which means that we all had full time jobs - about 50-60 hours a week - and we did a full MBA course in 2 years.  Now I won't discount any full time MBA because I think that they must do more work because they have more time to devote to it.  Anyways... I need to learn how to celebrate this being done.  It has been a very long 2 years and it being done will greatly reduce my stress.  I really don't feel this great sense of accomplishment or releaf of it being done.  Strange.  I thought that when I turned in my capstone (our final project) I would feel this great, overwhelming sense of being done.  I turned it in and...nothing.  We were still in one final class with a few EASY delieverable.  I thought that I had not gotten that feeling because we weren't technically done.  This weekend we are done and we are having a party.  I really don't feel anything special.  Maybe I need to sit down and really let it sink in?  We are going to the beach for a week in a week or so - maybe that will give me enough time to relax and let it sink in? 

My theory is that because I was not overly impressed with the content of the MBA I am just glad that it is over.  It was more work than an actual mental challenge most of the time.  So I don't feel like I am celebrating this great finish but just glad that I get some time back again.  I think that it is something that I will appreciate more in a month or two that I will at graduation.  I am glad to be done and I am going to take some time to stop and appreicate the moment.

Listen to Your Body's Natural Sleep Pattern

For the last 2 years I have been going to school and working with 2 little kids.  So in order to make that schedule work I have been going to bed at 11pm (hopefully) and getting up at 5am.  Now there are some people that can do that with not much issue  but I was built with the need for about 9 hours.  Two factors that greatly impact my physical restedness (not sure if that is actually a word?)  net stress (the difference between bad stress and good stress) and pattern.  Today I get just a little more sleep but I feel much better.  The pattern is different.  I sleep from midnight to 7am.  I am still having a hard time being ok with this because I have been wired to think that I have to be at work at 6:30 and work until 5-6.  This has been made possible by the end of my MBA and a new job.  The new job allows for me to get to work latter and do work from 9pm - midnight.  Naturally this is where I operate the best.  In college I was up until 2-3 every night.  I feel more rested on this schedule.  We will see if it continues to work. 

The Benefit of a Stroke

I was recently sent this video from someone who has helped me expand my view on life over the past 3 years.  Once you get the idea of living in the present moment it can change the way you look at things.  It may not something that changes your outlook full time but it allows you to have glimpses of what could be possible.  This is a hard concept to put into words but this video is one way to express it.  This lady's emotion and expression are amazing so long after the experience.  I had someone describe being in the moment that the past is history, the future is fiction and the moment is the only thing real.

Guest Blogger

I was luck enough to be asked to review a book as part of A Love Affair with Books on Joyful Jubuliant Learning.  Check out my review along with tons of other great reviews and information.

iPhone Outlook Email a Bad Thing?

Apple recently announced that they will be bringing Outlook email to the iPhone.  Half of me was saying, "It's about time!" - the other half of me was saying "Crap".  For years since the Treo 600 came out I have been hooked on email.  Email is one of the biggest stressors ever created.  In December my iPod and Phone died within a week of each other (My wife thinks I threw them both on the ground).   

So I reluctantly bought an iPhone.  I was hesitant mainly because it did not get my work email.  The first day with the iPhone I was going through withdrawl.  I felt like I did not know what what going on because I would not see email.  Over the next week I felt a ton of freedom from not being attached to email.  So when Apple announced Exchange I was disappointed because that detachment from email is soon going away.  I am very picky about gadgets and phones and if my iPhone broke I would go drop $400 in a minute to replace it.  It is hands down the best phone/device I have ever owned.   

That is a reality of the world we live in today.  People have to learn how to balance technology and the stress it can create.  They are some of the greatest productivity and connectivity devices but the human race is not designed for this much stimulus.

A Night Off

  My wife and I were debating when the last time we did this. We are out of town without the kids for the first time in over a year. It is my wife's birthday tomorrow so we came up to skamania lodge about an hour from our house. It is amazing how relaxing it is to just get away from the house. You don't worry about all of the things you should be doing because you can't do them. We have two girls - 4 and 2. I don't think we both slept through the night in 2 years. A 24 hour recharge is just right at this point given work has been hell for over a month and I have been trying to keep up with my MBA. Who knows what is next at work be school is over in June. A massage, hot tub, nap, reading a magazine by the fireplace - it has been. A good day. Time for a much needed night of sleep.

Why this blog.

Everyone has stress. It comes in different forms and strengths. Based on how you deal with it it can affect you in different ways. Over the past two and a half years I have gone on a personal journey and continue on it today. This blog is to share some of the things I have found in hopes that it will help some of you.