Stressed Out: There is a Way to Fight it

Life can be stressful, inside and out. Sometimes it can even feed on itself if you do not find a way to control it. One of the best ways to let go of stress when it gets to be too overwhelming is to pick up a book. Like an actual book that is printed on paper. It will enable you to get away from everything that requires being connected such as internet phones, cloud services, and email which can sometimes be the cause of all this stress. Another great way to fight stress is to meditate. It does not have to be for long and the smallest amount can have positive effects on your overall wellbeing. You can even focus on your breath and really pay attention to what it is like and make sure to redirect it to be more deep and full. Other times, it might help to take a step back from the situation and see it in a different light and realize that there are only so many things that you can control. Find that inner zen.

Take Time to Slow Down

I think that happiness is achieved when there is a balance between our work and our lives. There are some great meditation techniques that do not even require any mobile applications. When you are struggling with obstacles, you need to step back and ask if the issues have nothing to do with anything external. Once you have identified where they are coming from, you then have the tools to deal with them. When you are afraid, remember that it is alright to feel that way and people have overcome greater fears. Use their stories as inspiration and example. When you are stuck on a problem and the answer is not coming to you, you need to ask if you are asking the right questions. Major day-to-day demands keep many of us multitasking and maybe not managing as well as we want. Meditate on putting down the bricks of demands without guilt and anxiety, and separating the blocks that give you energy from those that drain your energy. Keep the ones that are helpful and energizing and leave the rest behind. You are well on your way to a much calmer day.

A Round Phone

The phone has always been a rectangle. What if it was round though? Display technologies have a long and rectangular history. Before smartphones there were movie screens, TVs, and computers, not to mention paintings and pages of print. And then of course there are windows—in some ways the original glass rectangles. From an engineering point of view, it is a design that is easy to make and leaves very little waste. The bottom line here is that frames matter. After all, a round screen is not great for browsing a twitter feed. We have become so entranced by our mobile applications and devices that we are extremely good at finding distractions. This phone from Runcible still has a long way to go before it makes it to the market. Besides, it is definitely easier said than done. People will not so easily give up their rectangles. A circular device would sever the link to the printed page, the TV and the computer, and invite software developers to look in other places for inspiration. Rectangles will endure. They're easy, they're efficient. Circles are zen. Just something to think about.