Q2 NEWSLETTER | 2015
IN THIS ISSUE:
Boosting Your Energy
1–2
Getting Over Failure and Disappointment
3–4
5 Ways to be More Optimistic Every Day
5–6
Keeping Your Family Organized
7
BOOSTING YOUR ENERGY
R
eaching all of your work and personal goals takes a lot of energy. But many
things can rob you of energy — from hunger and fatigue to hot weather. In
this article, you’ll find ways to increase your energy level in any season. Here are
some general tips on boosting your energy:
Eat a healthy diet, including a good breakfast every day.
Sugary breakfast foods give you a quick jolt of energy, but
your body digests them too quickly to keep you satisfied
until lunch time. Your energy will last longer if your first
meal of the day includes a good balance of protein and
complex carbohydrates, such as whole grains. Try an egg
white omelet with fresh vegetables, almond butter or low-fat
cheese on whole-wheat toast, yogurt sprinkled with raisins
and nuts, or even healthy leftovers from last night’s dinner.
Stay rested. Most of us have experienced the benefits of
a good night’s sleep that restores our physical and mental
energy. Scientists don’t fully understand why sleep is so
rejuvenating, but studies have found that sleep and mood
are closely linked. Too little sleep can lead to stress and
irritability, and chronic insomnia may increase the risk of
depression and other mood disorders. Getting 7 to 9 hours
of sleep every night helps to restore energy and promotes
physical and mental health.
Maintain a healthy weight. Extra pounds put added
demands on your body that can sap your energy even if
you’re healthy. Adults who maintain a significant weight
loss have higher energy levels, according to a survey of
participants in the National Weight Control Registry (a
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research project that tracks the progress of people 18 years
of age and older who have lost at least 30 pounds and have
kept it off for a year). Just make sure that if you need to
lose weight, you find a safe way to do it. Extreme diets can
leave you very hungry and deplete your energy (instead of
restoring it) because they often omit so many foods.
Get at least 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise
on all or most days of the week. As you become more
physically fit, you’ll find that you’re able to accomplish
some tasks with less effort, leaving you with more energy
for other things.
Limit caffeine. Caffeine stimulates your brain, which can
give you a temporary surge of energy. And moderate tea
or coffee drinking isn’t likely to harm your health, according
to the American Medical Association’s Council on Scientific
Affairs (which defines moderate tea or coffee drinking as
no more than 250 milligrams a day, or about the amount in
three 8-ounce cups of coffee). But caffeine is addictive and
people who rely on it for energy often need more and more
to get the same lift. So it’s best to limit your consumption,
and if you need more of a boost than that amount provides,
use other energy sources. →
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1
continued from page 1
Pay attention to your overall health. Fatigue can also be a
sign of a medical problem such as anemia, hypothyroidism,
heart disease, depression, and some forms of cancer. Talk
with your health care provider if you have less energy than
you used to and can’t see an obvious reason for it. A doctor
can tell you whether you might benefit from other
energy-boosting strategies or have an underlying
health condition that needs attention.
Keep cool in hot weather. Avoid going outside during the
hottest hours of the day in the summertime. If you can’t
avoid it, stay in the shade and drink plenty of water to avoid
dehydration, which would further strain your body. If your
home isn’t air-conditioned, put off heavy chores until it’s
cooler. By protecting yourself from soaring temperatures,
you’ll also be conserving your energy.
Avoid supplements unless a doctor prescribes them.
Don’t fall for advertisements that say that vitamin B12 or
other dietary supplements can have miraculous effects on
your energy or stamina. The Office of Dietary Supplements
at the National Institutes of Health says, “Except in people
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with a vitamin B12 deficiency, no evidence shows that
vitamin B12 supplements increase energy or improve athletic
performance.” And taking too much of some supplements,
including iron, can be harmful.
Learn to pace yourself. Each of us has only so much energy
to spend per day. Make the most of yours by pacing yourself
so that your energy will last as long as you need it. Focus on
your top priorities and say “no” to activities that don’t matter
as much.
Adjust your expectations as you age. Each of us has an
energy “battery” that in later life may not be able to hold
the charge it once did, according to Dr. Anne Fabiny in an
interview with Harvard Health Publications. “If you try to do all
the things you did in the past, you could end up feeling tired,”
added Dr. Fabiny, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard
Medical School. As you get older, she suggests, take care not
to burn through your “battery” early in the day. Instead, spread
it out between morning tasks, afternoon projects, and evening
activities, with rest and meals in between.
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2
GETTING OVER FAILURE
AND DISAPPOINTMENT
A
ll of us have big setbacks from time to time. We may get passed over for a
job or promotion, fail to reach an important goal or find that someone we
love wants to end a relationship. Following are tips on how to move forward
after a failure or big disappointment.
Learning from setbacks.
The ability to learn from failure and disappointment is key
to a happy and rewarding life. That’s because setbacks are
normal, especially when you are continually being challenged
— at home, at work, or in your community — and trying to
improve. “Any quest, even one that is ultimately successful, is
going to involve failure,” brothers Chip and Dan Heath write in
their book Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard.
If you can learn from setbacks, you’ll be able to move forward.
Big setbacks or failures can be very painful. You may wonder if
you’ll ever get over personal disappointments such as being
denied entry by a university or college you had your heart set
on, feeling let down or even betrayed by a trusted friend, or
finding that your partner wants to end your relationship. You
may have disappointments at work, such as losing a valued
customer or client, or not getting an assignment you hoped
to receive. As challenging as these experiences can be, you
can usually learn from them by taking a few practical steps.
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After a big disappointment, think carefully about
what happened. Ask yourself what you did right, not
just what you may have done wrong. This will help you
see strengths you can build on as well as where you
could improve.
Think about the information you received from others
who were involved, too. If you were passed over for a
promotion, was your employer looking for skills you don’t
have? Which ones? Talk with your manager if you aren’t sure.
Having accurate information will help you decide how to
make yourself more valuable at work.
Write down what you learned. Writing things down
will help you remember the lessons you’ve learned as you
move forward. →
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umass
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3
continued from page 3
H
ere are some other ways to
make progress after a setback:
“Follow the bright spots.” Have a positive attitude toward
what you can accomplish. In Switch, the authors call this
approach “following the bright spots.” As you analyze your
situation, you’re sure to find some things working better than
others,” they say. “Don’t obsess about the failures.” Spend time
analyzing your successes and how you can repeat them or
build on them.
Seek new challenges. Don’t let the fear of another
disappointment keep you from exploring opportunities for
success. Chip and Dan Heath suggest that you look for “more
challenges despite the risk of failure.” If you were passed over
for a promotion, “seek out ‘stretch’ assignments at work.” Even
if you didn’t get the job you wanted, you may have many
ways to grow in the job you have.
Tap into your personal support network. Talk about
setbacks with people who care about you and want to help.
They may give you a fresh perspective on what happened.
If you need practical support, let people know what would
help most, whether you’d like a shoulder to cry on after the
end of a relationship or help with learning new skills you can
use at work.
Join a support group or other network. Look beyond your
family and friends if you need more help than they can
provide. If you are a single parent disappointed by the end
of a marriage, you might join a group such as Parents
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Without Partners (www.parentswithoutpartners.org). If
you’ve had a business failure, you might look into SCORE
(www.score.org), a nonprofit association that provides free,
one-on-one business counseling for entrepreneurs and
others. If you’re dealing with medical challenges, you can find
support groups and other resources by getting in touch with
national organizations devoted to specific illnesses. To find
them, search online for the name of a health condition and
the word “association” or “organization.”
Be mindful of your physical and emotional health. Take
extra care to eat a healthy diet, get enough sleep, exercise on
all or most days of the week, and limit alcohol consumption.
Do something enjoyable every day with friends or family.
Seek professional help if the situation feels unmanageable.
The pain of a failure usually eases over time. If a disappointment
is affecting your work or relationships, talking with a
professional can help. Your employee assistance program
(EAP) can provide information and resources.
As you move forward after your own setbacks, be patient with
yourself. Keep in mind these words from Switch: “Progress
doesn’t always come easily — achieving success requires
some failures along the way.”
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4
5 WAYS TO BE MORE
OPTIMISTIC EVERY DAY
E
ven if you have an upbeat personality, you may find it harder to maintain
your optimism and resilience on cold and dark winter days. New research in
psychology has identified steps you can take to boost your well-being.
One of the best ways to stay happy and healthy is to know how to develop and hold onto your optimism. Recent
studies have found that — whether we see ourselves as optimists or pessimists — “how we view the world and
how we interact with it changes how the world responds to us,” the psychologist Elaine Fox says in Rainy Brain,
Sunny Brain: How to Retrain Your Brain to Overcome Pessimism and Achieve a More Positive Outlook (Basic Books).
When difficulties arise, “optimists take control of their own destiny” and “take steps to solve their problems,”
while pessimists believe that “their problems are beyond their control and will never go away,” Fox says. And
those views can have a big impact on your physical and emotional well-being. One 10-year study found, for
example, that the subjects with the highest level of optimism were 45 percent less likely than those with the
highest levels of pessimism to die during the study. The good news is that even if you tend to be pessimistic, you
can learn to develop a more optimistic outlook. →
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continued from page 5
H
ere are some ways to strengthen
your own sense of optimism:
Have a solid Plan B. Avoid pinning all of your hopes on one
strategy that may not succeed. Always have a strong backup
plan for reaching an important goal, whether it means
knowing other activities you can enjoy if it rains on the day
of a bike trip or have a backup babysitter you can use if your
regular sitter gets sick.
Shake up your habits. Do a familiar activity a new way if
your usual method makes you bored or grumpy. Changing
your routines, like taking a different route to the grocery store
or calling up a friend out of the blue, Fox says, can interrupt a
cycle of pessimistic thoughts.
Tactfully redirect negative conversations. Grouchy
relatives or co-workers can take a toll on your optimism even
if you usually have a positive outlook. When someone starts
complaining — again — about something that can’t be
helped, diplomatically change the subject by redirecting the
conversation in a positive direction.
Help others regularly. Strengthen your sense of purpose
by engaging in volunteer activities that help individuals or
groups, if only for an hour a week, suggests the psychologist
Robert Brooks, author of The Power of Resilience: Achieving
Balance, Confidence, and Personal Strength in Your Life
(McGraw-Hill). Research has found that people feel “happier
and more resilient when they feel they make a difference in
the lives of others,” he notes.
Post an inspirational quote. Put a line from a book or movie
that inspires you on your bulletin board or computer desktop
at home or at work, on your Facebook profile, or in another
spot where it will give you a lift every day. You might try this
one by Winston Churchill that’s quoted in Rainy Brain, Sunny
Brain: “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity. An
optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every
opportunity. An optimist sees the
opportunity in every difficulty.”
Winston Churchill
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Password: lifeworks
or call 888-267-8126
6
KEEPING YOUR
FAMILY ORGANIZED
C
hildren can fill up a household with things that need organizing. Your life
and theirs will be less stressful if you teach them how to care for their
belongings. Here are a few simple tips to help stay on top of family clutter.
Place toy bins within reach of young children. Have a set of
toy bins in their play area and in their rooms. These will make it
easier for them to pick up after themselves. Label each bin for
each activity, such as “building blocks,” “crayons,” “paper,” “books”
and so on. Labels are essential for keeping bins organized.
Place coat hooks low on the wall or on the back of the door
used most often. Have children hang up coats and backpacks
when they come in from outside.
Assign each school-age child a bin or “cubby” for homework,
papers that need to go back to school, and school supplies. Keep
these bins in a hallway or closet and have each child check his or
her bin before leaving for school in the morning.
Keep a master calendar. Hang this calendar in a central
location and use it to jot down all appointments, chores,
activities and celebrations. To make it easier to track all the
schedules, use a different color for each family member.
Set aside a bin or box for artwork and papers you plan to
hold on to. Store special keepsakes in separate, labeled plastic
bins and move these to a closet or an attic area. Have one box
per child. Go through your children’s artwork once a year, pick
the items you want to save, and throw out the rest.
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Rotate toys. Store extra toys in a closet, a basement or an attic.
When your child tires of her playthings, stash those away or
recycle old toys and bring out a few items from storage. This will
help control clutter and keep your child’s interest in her toys alive.
Keep small toys in a see-through hanging shoe bag. These
can hold such items as small plastic dolls and metal cars. Hang
the shoe bag on a closet door or wall.
String a clothesline high on a wall to display artwork.
Clip pictures to the line with clothespins for an easily changed
art exhibit.
Teach your children to pick up after themselves and
do their chores. Some parents pay their children a weekly
allowance when chores are done. Others reward their children
with small toys or a fun activity.
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7