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American Museum Natural History - Images

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In Focus: Stress and How to Combat It

Stress is one of the most  talked and written-about subject of this century from research, forums, and group discussions.  Why?  Because everybody experience stress at a certain point of their lives even in simple activities of daily life or in  a prolong stressful  situation.  Research shows that almost seven million people had suffered from  stress related sickness or health problems.  Common side effects of stress are sleep disorder, digestive disorder, hormonal dysfunction, and heart problems.

Expert Brendan Bradley, Professor of Clinical Psychology Research from University of Southampton, look at stress as “Stress is like a lingering fear.  The source of this uneasiness is not always known, which adds to the distress.  However, stress is not a disease, it’s a normal part of life.”

From the  book of  “The Stress of Life” by Hans Selye,  there are two forms of Stress: 

Eustress referred as a “good stress” which  is unavoidable part of our lives where we face various challenges.  If there is motivation that would lead to a positive result or accomplishment, the stress experienced while achieving it is called eustress.  

Distress referred as a “bad stress” which are own perceptions of a difficult situation.  It is like the fear of something or not capable of doing before the actual situation comes. 

The difference of the two depends on how we respond to the situation and stress.  If we take stress as a positive challenge then we have a eustress while if we perceive about our knowledge and skills are not capable to handle the situation, we experience distress.

Common Factors of Stress

Work related Stress

A failing  marriage or broken relationships

Financial problem

Unbalanced life and lack of time management

Techno stress or having a fast paced digital lifestyle

Disorganized environment

Inadequate skills or knowledge

Coping Strategies to Combat Stress

“Stress is emotional energy.  It can come from outside you, at work and in relationships , or from inside you, for example a desire to be thin.  Exercise, sleep, and eating well can all combat stress” says Deanne Jade, Founder of National Centre for Eating Disorders.

Get enough sleep.  The body functions better if there is enough sleep where the body cells rejuvenates to regain energy and alertness.

Avoid food that triggers stress.  If under stress, avoid caffeine, alcohol, fatty food, and processed food.

Organize and manage time effectively.  There is always enough time to those who do not know how to manage time.  The demands of life will always be there but there is  only one self and 24 hours to do all them.  Time is very important and therefore should be allocated wisely.   Know when to accept responsibilities, when to say “no”, and when to delegate a task.  One can never go wrong if priorities are set, know what is immediate and not.  Another important thing to do is to get organized on personal or  work activities that causes stress, plan in advance to avoid hassles and last minute preparations.

Be realistic with your goals and decisions.  There are things in life that we cannot control and are not achievable at the present time.  We need to evaluate the situation that causes the stress. We might be pushing ourselves too hard with high expectations or clinging to someone or a situation.  Do not waste too much energies and brain fluids, rather see if it is time to let go and be realistic in life.

Build relationships.  Whether family or work relationships, build them well.  One can handle stress well if surrounded by people who will support and willing to give an extra hand to help.  Handling stress will be much easier if emotional needs are met.

Travel Guide: Hotels in Basel, Switzerland

Book  your preferred hotel accommodation for your next trip to Basel, Switzerland. Here are some of the hotels at the heart of central Basel. 

Swiss Quality Hotel Engel

The Hotel Engel is located at the old town of Liestal 15 minutes outside of Basel.  This  4-star hotel is good for business seminars and trainings with 49 modern rooms and 2 junior suites.
Location:  Kasernenstrasse 10, 4410 Liestal

Swissotel Le Plaza Basel

The Swissotel Le Plaza Basel is a 5-star hotel located in the town centre accessible to key places and  city attractions.  The hotel is near to  Museum of Fine Art, Cathedral, City Hall, one a mile to Basel Zoo.

Location:  Am Messeplatz 25 4005 Basel

Grand Hotel Les Trois Rois

An elegant and luxurious 5-star hotel with vast variety of buffet breakfast, nice and clean rooms.

Location:  Blumenrain Basel , CH 4001

Mercure Hotel Europe Basel

A 4-star hotel is located 500 metres from the city and 200 metres from the Messe Basel exhibition centre which join directly to the conference centre.  The hotel boasts  158 rooms with other hotel amenities with indoor private car park, free public transport for hotel guests,

Location:  Clarastrasse 43, Kleinbasel Basel CH 4005  

Euler Residence Basel

The Euler hotel is located at the central Basel which is accessible to major transportation such as main railway station air terminal, and motorway. Guests are given a Mobility Ticket for a free access to all these.  The hotel offers modern rooms as well as a business centre with free wi-fi access.  Other amenities includes in-house restaurant with international cuisine and a mini-bar with live piano music.  Notable places are just 700 metres away from the hotel such as Basel Cathedral and the Tinguely Museum.

Location:  Euler Hotel Centralbahnplatz 14 Basel , 4002

Online sources for  hotel accommodations:

FiveStar Alliance is an online travel agency which helps travelers to look for a booking reservation for  hotels.  Offers good rates, 24 hours seven days a week customer service and multiple  payment options.

Tripadvisor is an online travel guide which features reviews and advice on best hotels, vacation rentals, flights, vacation packages, trip ideas and other travel best travel destinations.

Experience Basel  Christmas Market

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Freelance Writing: Developing New Ideas for your Next Content

Writing is a skill useful both for personal expression or for  professional writing career. Writing for a certain topic usually begins with the idea which can be used as an outline, title, and expand it into full content.   There are incidents that different good titles suddenly comes out of mind, write it down immediately and just write the full content whenever you have time to sit down to write.

So, what can be the ideas for writing?  A writer’s block is a common challenge for writers, therefore, there  should be a continuous flow of ideas to write about.  How do you find them? Let us take a look of some writing ideas to begin with.  As the Playwright, Henrik Ibsen wrote, “Everything that I have written is closely related to something that I have live through”.  There are subjects  that within the writer’s interest because in some way it speaks about the writer’s personality or what gone through in life.  Here are some  ways on how to develop writing ideas for a new content and later expand in details:

1.       Spend 15 minutes a day drafting the  subjects even in random order.  Write down the possible titles.

2.       Scan through old books and choose that strike your interest. 

3.   Read the newspaper, current events is one of the most read topic.  People always want fresh information.

4.        Listen to different genre of music, it broadens the mind.

5.       Re-visit old writings and re-write them into a new content.

6.       Write about a topic that would grab the attention of a reader.

7.      Read, read, and read.  This is one way of getting more ideas to write.  If you read about one topic, see other topics related to it.  For example, If we read about “Working Moms” we can draft various titles for possible topics surrounding it:

The Challenges of  Working  Moms

Finding Time to Write on  a Busy Day

How to Manage Time Effectively

Freelance Writing for Working Moms

The Emerging Work at Home Moms

8.  Search the Internet, make use of search engines, keyword tools to broaden perspectives for new ideas.

Know more about Stress Management

Maintain a balanced life and reduce stress with these coping strategies.

The importance of time management and sleep. Be an early starter to avoid and start the day right to avoid unrushed throughout the day.  By sleeping on time in the evening will have a domino effect positively or negatively.  In addition to this, lack of sleep will reduce mental alertness.  Enough sleep will keep your mind and body in shape which keeps you from stress.  Plan ahead and allow extra time for appointments and deadlines.  Last minute preparations will always gets you to be stressed.

The importance of time management and sleep. Be an early starter to avoid and start the day right to avoid unrushed throughout the day.  By sleeping on time in the evening will have a domino effect positively or negatively.  In addition to this, lack of sleep will reduce mental alertness.  Enough sleep will keep your mind and body in shape which keeps you from stress.  Plan ahead and allow extra time for appointments and deadlines.  Last minute preparations will always gets you to be stressed.

Being organize with ordinary things in life.  Little things in everyday life are sometimes the cause of stress.  How many times within the day you look for eye-glasses, mobile phone, house and car keys? Get organized so everything has in its place.  Even the  bag (bags for women usually has many packets) should be organized so you can quickly pull-out things when needed.  Simplify and being less is actually having more.

Be flexible to life changes.  One of the causes of stress is not being able to cope up with life changes, solutions that did not  work, emergencies, and unexpected situations in life.  Be flexible to find ways and experiment for alternative solutions. 

Live within your means.  One of the major stressors in life is being burden with financial problem. Live within your budget and control the use of credit cards.  For general advice, do not use a credit card for ordinary purchases.  Check your lifestyle over your basic needs.

Use credit card wisely to avoid debt.

 Image via Wikipedia

Unclutter life with worries and anxieties.  Delegate task to other people if your load and time schedule  do not fit for you to perform well.  Delegating is one of the skills others forget and they tend to stress themselves getting all the work loads.  Separate reality from unnecessary anxities.    

Create a time  everyday  for you to be alone.   Being busy  during the day accomplishing things for your boss, for your family, for yourself or for other people can be tasking and  sometimes you feel burn-out already.  Take time to slow down and create a time for you to be alone.  Be it a hobby that you enjoyed most, reading, listening to music, or enjoying a time in silence or in meditation prayer.