11. Give your mind something to think about. Ask yourself what are the names of 30 states or what are the names of the provinces or territories of Canada. Make sure the questions you ask have definite endings. Unending problems will just lead to more stress.
12. Wild Divine: This is a CD-Rom game that helps you gain control over your emotions. You wear three biofeedback sensors on your fingers which allows them to sense your level of stress and translates it into your ability to perform certain tasks like levitating balls or controlling flying birds. This game retails for about $300.
13. Find a breath-taking view. Take deep breath and a good look around. You will end up with a greater sense of context and bigger perspective of things.
14. Pretend you are on a game show. When you’re dealing with a screaming child or any other stressful situation imagine you are on a game show like Who Wants to be a Millionaire and ask yourself the question, How long could you listen to this if you were going to get $100 000 in the end. Suddenly it doesn’t seem so bad.
15. Say Sorry. If you are on an airplane and you have a screaming child, immediately apologize. Doing this lets people know that you’re aware that you possibly made a mistake or hurt someone else. It will clear the air and reduce your feeling of stress.
16. Forgive. You’re now on a plane and listening to a child screaming. Meanwhile the mother is just sitting there reading peoples magazine and not doing a thing about it. Just let it go. It may be hard to realize that you can’t control the situation but it’s one of the best ways to de-stress.
17. Add Trees when you commute. Even if it takes you a little longer researchers found that having a scenic commute can be calming and less stressful then driving through strip malls and industrial parks.
18. Water a plant. This can be nurturing and for a minute the world isn’t all about you. Which can provide psychological relief.
19. Get rid of your dingy shower curtain. Replace your old dingy shower curtain with a color from the cool family like blue or green. Cool hues have soothing affect on the body.
20. Schedule test for early morning. Don’t make yourself stress about a medical test all day. Schedule yourself an appointment for your medical test as early as possible.