The March 28th monthly membership meeting of the New York Association of Realty Managers (NYARM) was a truly relaxing experience thanks to guest speaker Marian Morgan, a stress and time management consultant. More than 70 NYARM members and associates attended the dinner meeting at Frank's westside steakhouse to learn how to relieve stress in their professional and personal lives.
Ms. Morgan, CSW, is a well known consultant to Fortune 500 companies where her lectures include techniques for alleviating stress in the workplace, increasing vitality, improving organization, aligning priorities based on values and identifying and reducing energy draining sources.
No stranger to the industry and its foibles, Ms. Morgan is the granddaughter of Alexander Muss, patriarch of the real estate development family. In addition to growing up exposed to the industry, Ms. Morgan has worked in the hectic world of advertising...meeting deadlines, achieving quotas and getting results.
Marian began her presentation by stating that stress affects people in three ways: physically, emotionally and mentally. Through audience participation, she pointed out how stress may be used as a motivator under certain conditions. Some of the tips she presented to relieve stress, there are ten in all, included talking, laughing and smiling, three things that we can all do without much instruction! NYARM members began to have fun with the exercise, thus proving that laughter is one of the best ways to ease out of a stressful workday.
Marian distributed heat sensitive dots for audience members to place on their wrists along with a color coded chart. Depending on one's body temperature the dot would change colors, e.g., violet was relaxed, blue, calm, etc. up to black indicating really stressed.
Once one's initial color was set, Marian engaged the group in some relaxation exercises. Marian instructed audience members to close their eyes and relax parts of their bodies, one at a time. Upon completion (from foot to head), to everyone's surprise, their relaxed demeanor showed up in the color of their dots!
Marian distributed a ten-point checklist for relieving stress in the workplace or at home. They are certainly easy enough pointers to remember and implement. See if you can relieve some of the stress in your life by applying these ten easy steps.
1. WALK: If you drive to work, park at the end of the lot. If you take the subway or bus, get off one stop early. Those extra minutes will give you time to transition to and from the office and you'll get some exercise.
2. BREATHE: At least once a day take a two minute breathing time. Practice breathing deeply and slowly. If you don't have privacy try a bathroom stall...and don't take your cell phone with you.
3. STRETCH: When completing a task, or even part way through it, stand up and stretch. Reach both arms to the sky, bend your head from side to side and stretch. Start a trend and get the entire office to join in.
4. COUNT: You've been given one more thing to do and you feel like exploding...don't. Count to ten and remember...that person may be as stressed out as you are.
5. TALK: Feeling blue, angry, stressed? Talk about it. Find a safe buddy or best pal to share it with. Cry, complain, moan groan...whatever, and then remember to breathe. You'll be in a better position to solve your problem when you get it out of your system.
6. LAUGH: Shoot endorphins through your body without running a marathon.
7. LUNCH: Leave your desk behind. Don't worry, it'll be there when you get back. Clear your mind and you'll increase your performance.
8. PRIORITIZE: Too many bosses, too many assignments, too little time? Ask your supervisor for help...don't go it alone.
9. TIME OUT: Works with kids, right? Get some quiet time, listen to relaxing music, walk around the block, read a book, call a friend.
10. SMILE: Really smile. You're going to get wrinkles anyway, might as well come from smiling rather than frowning. And research shows a smile can fool your mind into thinking things aren't so bad after all.
Marian Morgan can be reached at 212-445-0078 and via email at mariancoach@aol.com.
