Strategize Organize LLC
Newsletter Volume 5, Issue 2
Meet Neko
Background
Holidays can sometimes elicit stress—pressure to buy the perfect gift, obligations, expectations, and travel worries. Thus, since many folks find holidays particularly stressful, it is not surprising that Christmas ranks number 42 on the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTCS_82.htm.
For some, animals are the perfect remedy to relieve stress and for others, animals are not a helpful remedy. Some people don’t really like animals, while some would love to have animals in their lives but can’t.
This newsletter is going to be about my cat Neko. If the mention of the word cat makes your eyes roll, you may want to stop reading. However, I am going to include some Neko pictures, which I truly believe will make you smile. I want to talk about how she helps me with tasks like organizing but also how she is invaluable during times of stress.
If you like animals, have some stress, and want to organize, this newsletter was written especially for you.
Solutions
How cats (or insert your animal of choice here) help organize and reduce stress in our lives.
1. Keep us company. Sitting by us, on us, or in the same room, animals keep us company.
-
Holiday – Holidays can be a lonely time. Animals are content to just hang out with us.
-
Organizing – Sometimes we just need another warm being around while we organize in order to get something done.
-
Holiday - Laughter helps with pain and stress and keeps us grounded.
-
Organizing – Laughter helps us maintain focus and alertness, which are very helpful in an organizing project.
3. Provide a reward. The reward can be a pet, lick, vocalization, or walk.
-
Holiday – After the holiday dinner, we can go for a walk with our dog.
-
Organizing - After spending the designated time on an organizing project, we give our cats a few pets and maybe get some purrs in return.
4. Allow for verbal processing. It can be nice to have another living being around to "hear us" in whatever way that means.
-
Holiday – We can get concerns off our chests by talking to our animal friend.
-
Organizing –It can help to talk our way through decisions with our listening pet.
Summary
Whether you like animals or not, need to organize or not, feel stressed or not, hopefully you were able to find something in this newsletter to think about. (I bet it was the picture of the Neko in the dryer!)
Susan
One note -
If you would like to see more pictures of Neko you can visit my website. She’s in the category of "Smile" in the right hand corner.
|
