Nicholas Bate

Sunday 1

Read and reflect.

Saturday 1

Rest and recuperate.

Feel Better: Do Any 1 of 5

1. Clear the desk.
2. Do the washing up.
3. Stack the DVDs.
4. Re-cycle the newspapers.
5. Submit your expenses.

Do another tomorrow. Feel good the easy way.

Relax 101

1. Read. Discover a new author. Escape.
2. Laugh. With a friend. At a film.
3. Zone: create no-go areas of your Life where work never intrudes.
4. Write in your note-book: this too will pass.
5. Play with the kids a lot more.
6. Remember: it's only a job.
7. Go window-shopping
8. Do nothing but stare out at the rain.
9. Visit a cheap second-hand book-shop and pick up some bargains.
10. Seek professional help.
11. Relax: it's going to be OK
12. Walk a lot more.
13. Reduce your caffeine intake a bit.
14. Don't carry your laptop everywhere: it can build tension in the body.
15. Talk to someone about it.
16. Eat properly.
17. Travel: it creates fresh new perspective.
18. It really will be OK.
19. Learn meditation
20. OR Tai Chi
21. And/or yoga
22. Learn about Ayurveda
23. Read Cultural Offering
24. Write a list of what's causing you stress and solve each point one by one.
25. Write a stream of consciousness to express your frustration.
26. Write your problems on a bit of paper and ceremoniously burn the paper.
27. Get a massage
28. Stretch.
29. Hug a whole lot more.
30. Take a week off work but don't chase around. Live simply.
31. Re-contact some old friends.
32. Read a book on how to manage stress.
33. Lie on your back
34. Walk on the beach
35. Walk in the mountains
36. Walk in the woods
37. Walk.
38. Write your first poetry.
39. Have a long bath. With or without candles.
40. Decide the changes you must make and do the first. Now.
41. Clear out the food cub-board. Bin all the rubbish.
42. Write 100 words entitled: my perfect day.
43. Hold hands and talk.
44. Play a power-game of squash. Fast and furious. Feel a whole lot better.
45. Do some gardening
46. Do some carpentry.
47. Build a wall.
48. Help a friend.
49. Do some voluntary work.
50. Wonder about the Universe.
51. Wonder about the Oceans.
52. Wonder about Eagles.
53. Wonder.
54. Do a random act of kindness
55. Go to the zoo.
56. Ring your brother. Talk.
57. Watch Grey's Anatomy.
58. OR West Wing.
59. Clear the washing up. Tidy the garage.
60. Go on a hike.
61. Have a day of silence.
62. Agree some new ways of working: with him, with her, with the kids.
63. Think
64. Think a lot
65. Think some more
66. Drink more water.
67. Drink fewer vodka shots.
68. Bake a cake.
69. Hold him/her tight but just don't talk.
70. It will be OK.
71. Get some early nights and catch up on your sleep.
72. Ask for help.
73. Go to the ballet.
74. Go to the opera.
75. Don't use the car for 1 day: walk.
76. Don't use the credit cards today. Cash or nothing.
77. You will get this stress sorted.
78. You can relax.
79. It will be Ok.
80. This too will pass.
81. Go on a bike ride.
82. Go for swim.
83. Go and read in the park.
84. Go to the library.
85. Doze.
86. Sleep.
87. Relax
88. Really relax.
89. Be here now.
90. Be in this moment.
91. Re-think happy times.
92. Eat outside. Slowly: thinking about each mouthful.
93. Notice what you haven't noticed before.
94. Be grateful.
95. Read indexed.
96. Cry: it will be OK.
97. See the bigger picture. Now.
98. You will get this stress sorted.
99. You can relax.
100. It will be Ok.
101. This too will pass.

Who is that Masked Man?

Be yourself a little more. It's remarkably healthy for us all.

The Nicholas Bate Fully Patented Totally Holistic Fitness Programme.

Get out of bed. Throw the dice.

1: do 10 press-ups. Now.
2: walk for 20 minutes very briskly at lunch-time. Rain or shine.
3: jog 10 minutes when you get home.
4: meditation and yoga for 20 minutes before leaving for work.
5: swim at the pool on the way to work.
6: day of rest.

Book it now..

1. A whole day off at your favourite gallery/museum..
2. A bike ride with the kids..
3. The Wire series 1 on DVD..
4. A 1 to 1 coaching session to get you re-focused at the gym..
5. A week-end in Paris, perhaps in Le Marais..

The Surgery is Open: Wellness

So: what the heck is going on? It's been a really tough first quarter, we'll just about hit plan and at long last I got a week-end where I could spend some 'down' time. And what do I do? Feel ill, really ill. And it happens too often to me: when I stop, I fall ill. How does that work?

You have a body which is pretty smart and which is trying to protect you from over-work. When you work too hard the body assumes there's a reason (fight or flight etc) and will do it's best to support you (only up to a certain point of course). But once you stop it will try and use that time for recovery. At it's simplest that might display itself as exhaustion or possibly as illness as the body goes through a healing crisis.

Bottom line: your body is telling you to slow down. Before it is too late.

The Week-end 20

1. Clear your sleep-debt.
2. Eat well.
3. Stretch a lot.
4. Take a walk.
5. Talk a lot.
6. Watch a great movie.
7. Start a classic novel.
8. Introduce the kids to pool.
9. Cook an extraordinarily simple but tasty meal for two. Choose a special wine.
10. Wander the garden at leisure.
11. Take a look at the night-sky tonight.
12. Get some batteries for your torch/flash-light.
13. Don't buy the newspapers. It'll be OK: you'll eventually discover who's president.
14. Wander a bit.
15. Wonder a bit.
16. Buy and send a valentine's card.
17. Write a real letter on lovely paper with a fountain pen.
18. Buy a Big Issue.
19. Read it.
20. Take some photos.

TTD (Things To Do): To Get More Energy

1. Get back into nature: hills, mountains, lakes, the coast. Hyde Park or Central Park will do, too.
2. Read up-lifting literature. Great novels, inspiring biographies.
3. Take exercise. Not the stuff which leaves you wounded. Walking will do nicely.
4. Get and stay hydrated.
5. Eat fruit and vegetables.
6. Pretty easy, isn't it? Start now.