miércoles, 16 de enero de 2013

Talking point: Daily stress

This week's talking point is stress and comes from a lesson by Katherine Schulten in The New York Times learning blog, How stressed are you?

Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, read the questions below and think of the answers so that ideas flow more easily the day you get together with your friends.

On a typical weekday, are you normally pushed for time?
How stressed are you these days?
How stressed are you in general?
When are you likely to be most stressful?
Why do you think that is?
Are you someone whose life is limited by stress, or do you feel you are able to manage stress well?
What has worked for you to combat stress in the past?
Look at these strategies for better managing time. Do you think they would work for you?
  • say ‘no’ more often
  • make lists of things to do
  • throw things away
  • keep a record of how long each task takes you
  • simply do fewer things
  • check e-mail at specific times of the day
  • delegate more
  • plan ahead
  • maximise your ‘uptime’
  • do ‘nasty’ jobs first
Read JANE E. BRODY's article for The New York Times When Daily Stress Gets in the Way of Life. What tips in this article might you try? Why? Discuss the ideas in the article with the members of  the conversation group.



You can also watch this video on stress from the British National Health Service. A transcript is available if you watch the video on the NHS site.