Stand & Stare

One of the constraints that is becoming rigid with each day in this modern world is the tick of the Clock. Literally, speed is becoming everything from Corporates to the layman. The cost of speed is such that Folks have lost patience for the time it takes the laptop to boot-up! While speed is essential, it is also essential to stop & stare where we are at frequent intervals. This is to make sure we are not speeding in a reverse direction at break-neck pace. You may ask “You are stating the obvious, but  what about the solution?” …The solution lies in Relaxation.

For most of us, Relaxation is something that we associate with vacation at an exotic location. On the other hand,Relaxation is an everyday act…Let us look at some of the aspects of the relaxation in Daily life.

Waking up:

How do you wake up everyday? If it is by alarm clock that blares in your ear, it is probably not the best way. Sleeping is the act where the body is at rest & mind is purging out the “cache” that are the spoils of the previous day. If you interrupt this process, you are bound to wake-up already stressed up. It is like switching off the Computer by hitting the power-off button rather than the normal shut-down.

As I read in the book “Cool down : Getting Further by slowing down”,  it is better to wake up by using an alarm clock as mentioned below “The healthiest type of wake-up device available is one that closes down the sleep process gradually using subtle increases in light and sound. If your wake-up time is 6:00 a.m., then this clock would come to life at 5:30 a.m. with a gentle low light and very low sound. Over the course of half an hour, these stimuli increase gradually assisting the body’s natural sleep cycle, and helping to bring it to a complete closure.”

Preparing for the day:

It is essential to have some form of physical & mental exercise as we enter the day. We blame it on the “no-time” factor to skip the fitness routines. All I can say is this excuse is too lame. Please refer to the following link on “Habit Formation” http://zenhabits.net/starting/

Working through the day:                                                                                                               

Life is a multiple objective & multi-constraint optimization problem. We cannot help our-self by trying to boil the ocean by doing umpteen items.It is therefore important to “stand & stare” to reduce the objectives to preferably as few as possible. The maximum number should be five and everything else does not matter .As you work through the day, you need to make sure your activities are aligned to these topmost in some way. Otherwise you are speeding up in the wrong direction

Ending the day:

By all means,I would request you not to end the day by watching the Television or in the Web. It only hampers your time to go to bed and there by already spoiling the process of waking up. I would instead recommend some of the following activities

·        Playing with your kid on the floor

·        Writing a Journal compiling the events of the day

·        Reading a good book (surely not the fiction stuff!) …If you are a bookworm you are sure to get great ideas, and if you are not, at least great sleep!!!

Leisure by (W.H Davies)

WHAT is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?—

No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as long as sheep and cows:

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night:

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance:

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began?

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.