Review By Raghava Rao G V L

The theme of the book appears to be Stay Calm and Enjoy Life. This is part of the Busy People series of books from the stable of McGraw-Hill. The other busy people books, which are popular, include Personal Finance, Taxes and Time Management. The book is filled with tips and techniques for –identifying the problem and how to overcome them. It highlights the effective ways of reducing stress at work, home.

The Foreword was given by David H Barlow Ph.D, Director Center for Stress and Anxiety Related Disorders and Professor of Psychology at Boston University. The opening paragraph stresses the need for recognizing the biggest threat to health. It will not be either Heart ailment or Cancer but - Stress. With the rapid changes happening in the lifestyles of people more and more stressful situations are arising. This is because levels of stress are ever on the increase. Parts of our brain which contributes to emotional and memory are likely to permanently damaged if we are chronically stressed.

The book is divided into 10 easy to read chapters. Affects, Identifying, attacking, job / family related stress. Breathing, Diet and Exercises to curtail stress are given in simple manner. In the end the wrap up chapter emphasizes what we should be doing to combat this menace. The reference section gives a gist of the resources, which we can look on the web. While the first 5 chapters are focussed on the Cause and Affect of Stress and the next 5 chapters lay importance of to attack stress. There is great utility value in understanding and implementing the Breathing Techniques, Food Habits and Exercises. Each chapter is further divided into -

Fast Forwards - captures an overview of each Chapter
Habits / Strategies - Time saving tips
Instant Releasers - Faster way of releasing Stress
Cautions - Alerts wrong way of relieving stress
Step-by-step tutorials - special techniques
What’s Next? Sets a pre-view of what’s in store in next chapter

Here are a few lines picked from Habit: Burnout – If you’re at risk for burnout repeat this mantra: I have a right to pleasure and a right to relaxation. Attacking Stress – Live in here and now instead of in the past or future. Take note of what is happening now instead of being anxious about what might happen in the future. Focus on what is happening now instead of what happened an hour ago! Stress Management and home – No matter how busy you are, never miss an opportunity to tell your children you love them.

In Caution, I liked the Chapter about eating habits: There are 8 tablespoons of sugar in one 12 ounce serving of Pepsi or Coke, how many of us know about this one? Eat no more than 1-2 ounces of carbohydrates at bedtime for the desired affect. To avoid adding weight, choose a low fat snack and cut out those junk foods.

In exercises the author cautions that too much exercise all at once will simply pile on more stress than we need. So the idea is to start slowly and gradually increase the length and difficulty of exercise. If you are 35 you are advised to consult a Doctor for a physical exam and treadmill test. This should be done before starting any exercise program.

The utility aspect of this book is immeasurable. With loads of useful hints of doing things to fight stress the author has made useful contribution in the way we should approach to combat stress. This has made the book a guide - must read for all people whether they are busy or not. Book is also meant for people who are not stressed now and surely help gain control by educating ways and means of stress and its management in future.

About The Author

Carol Turkington specializes in the field of psychology and health. She has authored 15 books. This is the 3-rd book from McGraw-Hill from Carol and the other 2 being the popular titles – Reflections for Working Parents and Reflections for Working Women. She is a Director of the Center for Anxiety Related Disorders at Boston University.

About Raghava Rao G V L

Raghav is the moderator of HRinIndia - The Biggest Online Network of HR professionals in India. He has 14 years of experience in the HR function and currently heads the HR department for a Singapore based MNC Raffles Software (P) Ltd, based in Bangalore. He has a Masters Degree in Personnel Management from Osmania University, an LLB from Delhi University and a PG Diploma in Personnel Management and Industrial Relations from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, New Delhi. He is a member of the American Society of Training & Development and a Fellow of the Institute of Personnel and Development, U.K.

He can be contacted at raghav22@indiatimes.com