Mental Exercises That Keep Me From Going Crazy at Work

This falls into the category of "Stuff I wish I'd known when I was younger." If only I'd practiced these mental exercises when I was going to school and when I was a young intern, my life would have been less stressful. Here are some things that come to mind.

1. Most of the time, people aren't out to ruin my life. I have to remember that.
   
   
2. Whenever I get a request that sounds unreasonable, I stop, calm myself, and re-read the request. If it still sounds unreasonable, I call the person to verify, and if possible, talk to them face to face.
   
   
3. Saying "yes" and not getting it done is the same as saying "no" in the first place. If I really don't have time to do something, I say "no, not right now" and offer to do it as soon as I finish my most important tasks.
   
   
4. I try never to talk to a person when I'm in the middle of a stressful situation. If the phone rings, I answer the phone and politely ask the person if it's okay for me to call them back in about ten minutes, long enough for me to count to one hundred and quiet my mind.
   
   
5. I don't add unnecessary tasks to my day, even if I find the extra time to do them. When I'm lucky enough to have free time, I spend that time to quiet and rest my mind, away from my desk.
   
   
6. I approach each day as if I can't remember anything, so I write down everything.
   
   
7. I drink plenty of water, if for no other reason than to force myself to pause in the middle of the day to simply enjoy my glass of water.
   
   
8. I remind myself that no matter how crazy the work day becomes, at the end of the day I am lucky enough to have a comfortable bed to sleep in.
   
   
9. I try to have only one thought going on at any one moment.
   
   
10. I remind myself that the reason I work is so that I can afford to enjoy life.
    

That reminds me--in the movie "The Great Debaters" Forrest Whitaker says, "We do what we have to do in order to do what we want to do."