Balance Work & Life

• Start the day with a nutritious breakfast full of energy.
• Avoid short-term "power boosters" such as coffee, energy drinks and cereal bars. Rather choose wholesome snacks, like fruit, vegetables, nuts or yogurt. Drink enough water to maintain your concentration. 
• Avoid the fast food snack on your lunch break. With high-fat meals the performance low is pre-programmed. Choose dishes that provide you with a sustainable supply of nutrients and fibre. 
• When you are on a business trip, wholegrain rye bread with cheese, raw vegetables and fruit is a simple but filling meal. This to-go meal can be easily prepared before hand.
• Consume your food consciously and not in a hectic pace while working or at your desk. 

• Eventhough stress cannot always be avoided, be careful and mindful with yourself. Listen to your body. Frequent lack of strength, irritability, sleep disorders, nervousness and also physical complaints such as dizziness, circulatory problems, stomach problems or back pain are warning signs of long-term stress overload. 
• Possible ways to achieve more peace and quiet can be walking, reading or exercise. But also relaxation methods such as autogenic training, meditation or progressive muscle relaxation help to reduce inner restlessness, tension or anxiety.
• Take short breaks - also in the office. For example open the window and deeply breath for a couple of minutes, or take a walk on your lunch break. Get moving with short stretching exercises at your workplace or take the stairs instead of using the elevator.

Relaxation techniques have a targeted effect and are easy to apply. Step by step they help to reduce inner restlessness, tension or anxiety and consciously create relaxation.

Mindfulness Exercises: you are mindful when you are aware of all things in and around you in a value-free way. This increases your ability to consciously distance yourself from demands, e.g. politely saying "no" or postponing a task to another time. Mindfulness leads to more self-determination in life and thus, to less stress and feelings of helplessness. A recognized method is, for example, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), which was developed by the American molecular biologist Jon Kabat-Zinn. Although it is derived from Buddhism, it is detached from faith. For example, the focus is on breathing and on individual associated muscle movements, such as lifting and lowering the abdominal wall. Meditation as well helps you to become more mindful in everyday life.

Autogenic Training: in autogenic training, you relax your psyche and thus automatically your body. An instructor, a recording or you recite formulas and sentences that suggest certain sensations.
For example: "My right arm is heavy," or "My right arm is pleasantly warm". This is how you go step by step through your whole body.

With regular practice, the suggestions reach the unconscious, are converted into nerve impulses of the vegetative nervous system and influence bodily functions such as heartbeat, breathing, intestinal activity, blood flow to muscles and skin and the body's heat balance.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation: this method first relaxes the body and then the psyche. You go step by step through your body and specifically tense individual muscle areas, hold the tension for a few seconds, then let go with the exhalation, and then let the relaxation take effect for up to 60 seconds.

There are many other relaxation methods, for example:

• deep breathing therapie
• biofeedback
• Feldenkrais
• Yoga
• Qigong

Find out what suits you best - and then build an exercise into your daily routine.

• Review your career goals: What motivates you and what are your goals? More professional success, social recognition, a higher income? Or more independence and satisfaction? Answer these questions honestly, then you can focus on the right priorities.
• Take a close look at your current job: Is your job still the right one? Has it never been or have conditions changed? Do you enjoy your work? It is not necessary to satisfy your own needs exclusively in your private life. You should enjoy work! Dragging yourself to the office every morning with an inner resistance is pure stress in the long run. Is there perhaps a further training opportunity for you or a job that suits you better?
• Pause and recognize your own achievements - you have completed a task and reached an intermediate goal? Then it is important to acknowledge your own performance. Relax and take a deep breath. Think again about the task you have just completed and then say goodbye to it with a long exhalation. Now you are free to turn to the next task.

• Go home early on a normal working day. Nothing gives you more peace of mind than spending the evening with family or friends or doing other things that give you pleasure.
• Take proper care of yourself at work - a small, deliberate pause, deep breathing at the open window will do wonders! A short walk at lunchtime will improve yoyr focus. To gain distance at work, stretching exercises are a good way to get some space - these also work well while sitting down.
• Enjoy your lunch, preferably without stress and hectic. For example, avoid eating quickly at your desk in front of the computer screen.
• Staying relaxed and calm as stress and overload situations are part of everyday working life. But you can defuse them by saying to yourself, "Afterwards I will take care of a balance! It is important that you implement this plan in a timely manner.