Stress Prevention Boosts Retirement Enjoyment

When it comes to enjoying your retirement, you have to learn how to manage your time so that you stop stressing so much about things that still have to be done. The lawn needs to be mowed, you have to grocery shop, and there is a ton of thank-you's to write .... By prioritizing your time to get things done, you can let go of the stress and enjoy the time you have. Of course, that is easier said than done right?

There are always going to be more and more things vying for your time, evening retirement. As a matter of fact, the stress could get worse in retirement because technically you should have the time to get things done. These days, you will find websites, books, television shows and even counselors that can help you with time management. If there is one thing you should remember, time is always going to be on your side, particularly if you are retired. All you have to do is employ a few organizational techniques to get a handle on your stress.

Create organization from chaos

If your desk is a hodge-podge of thank-you notes, bills that need to be paid and newspapers, you need to organize! Buy some organizational trays and prioritize your bills as well as your "to-do" list. Place things you intend to read in file folders and label them properly. Buy a filing cabinet to store the folders. Put up a bulletin board for reminder notes. Fill in a day planner with your important numbers and dates so that you can get rid of those little sticky notes all over your desk.

Post a calendar to make note of bill-paying days as well as your errand days. Do you take any hobby or exercise classes? Make note of those dates on your calendar as well. Birthdays and special events should also be noted.

Set priorities

If you are feeling overwhelmed with all the things you need to do, create a list of those things and prioritize them in order of importance. Note how much time the activity may take. Allow yourself time to get them done and still have time to yourself. Once you write things down, you will see that some of the items on the list only seemed urgent but could easily wait for another day. Cross each item off the list as they are completed as it will give you a sense of accomplishment.

Focus yourself

If you are working on a project and you want to get it finished, ignore distractions. Set your answering machine on. Do not check message or emails. Let your friends and family know that you need some uninterrupted time. When you are engrossed in a project and distractions occur, this can cause stress on your part. If necessary, designate a particular time frame for answering emails or returning phone calls.

Don't be afraid to ask for help

Know your limitations in terms of both abilities and time. Sometimes, it is worth a few extra dollars to have curbside service for dry cleaning or paying someone to mow your lawn. Learn how to delegate tasks around the house or with any project you are involved in whether it is at church or at work.

Get your multi-tasking mojo going

You can do several things at once! Finish that knitting project or write thank-you notes while your favorite television show is on. Read a book on the stationary bike. However, know when not to multi-task too. There is no need to juggle getting breakfast on the table while making a phone call to a friend.

The bottom line is that your retirement plans will not be as enjoyable if you are constantly stressing over the little things. Who cares if you didn't vacuum this week? Soaking up some sunshine in your hammock was worth it!

Exercise Tips to Avoid Injury as You Get Older

Besides a healthy diet, exercise or any type of physical activity is perhaps the most important way to stay healthy. It is been scientifically proven that exercise can prevent disease and greatly slow down some signs of aging. Of course, as you get older, there are more precautions you have to take to stay safe and injury-free.

By keeping to a physically active lifestyle, you can enhance and increase joint and muscle abilities. Bone strength increases while you reduce your risks of stroke and heart attack. All in all, exercise is a rather easy way to stay healthy. However, if you are an older adult, it is important to employ some safety tips, especially if you have not been physically active in quite some time. While it is never too late to start exercising, you have to protect your body as well.

* Stretch and warm up before any type of physical activity. If you just jump into an activity, your cold muscles will protest and you could pull a muscle or injure something worse. Walking or jogging on the treadmill is a good warm-up as are biking on a stationary cycle or even doing jumping jacks. Five to ten minutes of this warm-up is good followed up by some appropriate stretching exercises.
* Make sure you get some type of exercise in every day or at least four to five times a week. It is not healthy or smart to only set aside the weekends for physical activity. Carve out 30 minutes a day to walk or jog on the treadmill or go biking. Remember, physical activities could include such chores as gardening, raking leaves, using the stairs at work or even walking your dog.
* Choose a sport of physical activity that you enjoy and get the appropriate equipment for safety. If you enjoy power walking or jogging, your most important accessory would be your shoes. Choose something that is comfortable and use them for that particular sport only. Find a location that is conducive to varying levels of the sport as you make progress.
* Take cues from your body. If an activity hurts, don't do it. Don't force anything as you could damage a joint or pull a muscle. Older bodies are not as pliant and flexible as younger ones.
* Create a workout that works on balance, endurance, flexibility and strength. Balance is essential later in life so that you avoid falling injuries. Plus, when you create a program that incorporates all of these things, you will not become bored and more prone to skip out on exercise all together. Boredom is the biggest problem in physical activity.
* Proceed with caution on any new sport of activity you choose. And if you have any pre-existing conditions like heart disease, diabetes or arthritis, look to a professional who can prescribe the best physical activities that will provide you a great workout while avoiding possible injury or greater health problems.

The bottom line is that some physical activity is better than nothing at all. Therefore, do what you can to incorporate exercise into your daily routine. Whether it is toe lifts or leg lifts in the check out line to swimming laps at the local YMCA, there are plenty of ways to fit exercise into your day.

A Home for Grandma

When you have a senior parent, the concern for their ability to maintain their lifestyle can be a significant worry. Almost without exception, senior citizens resist the idea of moving out of their house and into an assisted living facility or nursing home. You as a child of a senior citizen may see issues of safety if your aging parent continues to live independently. If their spouse has passed on, there may be issues of loneliness and depression. Hallways and doors of old homes are often not built to accommodate walkers or wheelchairs. And the vision of your children's Grandma or Grandpa falling and being unable to reach you for help is frightening. And then there is the financial side of maintaining their home and paying the mortgage if it is still active.

So the question is whether you should try to help your aging parent with moving on to an assisted care facility or if it can be worked out for them to stay in their home. There are some compelling reasons to help them stay in the house they have lived in for so long if there are ways to overcome the problems. Studies show conclusively that senior citizens that live in their own homes are happier and healthier. Your parents may have long lasting friendships in the neighborhood who provide tremendous emotional support and can look in on your parent from time to time to assure they are safe. And the ability to get out in the yard, feed the birds, keep a pet or tend a small garden has untold health benefits both mentally and physically for a senior citizen.

Steps can be taken to provide for the unique needs of a senior citizen if you want to work with them to keep them in their home. The family and friends of the senior citizen can take on the chores of upkeep of the home, yard work and repairs so the home continues to remain safe and viable as a living space. This also reduces the expenses of home ownership.

It is very likely that from a financial point of view, you can work with your senior citizen to reduce the costs of staying in their home. If they still have a mortgage, the outstanding balance may be quite low but the payment still high. By working with the mortgage company, you may be able to refinance the loan to drop the payment considerably and make it more affordable even than living in assisted care or a nursing home. You can also work with utilities companies and credit sources who may have programs to assist the elderly in owning their own home. By utilizing the resources already in place, you may be able to get your aging parents costs into a reasonable range and help them establish a budget that allow them to live comfortably on social security and whatever retirement plans or funds they have.

You can also find home nursing care and put good technology to use to make it possible for your parent to have quality care in the home and to have the resources to be able to reach out to you in the event of an emergency. Services like these do well at providing for the needs of senior citizens so they can virtually spend the entire remainder of their years living in their home where they are happy.

The key to making all of these steps work is to enlist the partnership of your senior citizen parent. By sitting down with him or her, you can review that keeping them at home is a shared project and that they should do all they can to make this work. They will be enthusiastic to make that kind of effort and stay in the home they love so much.

Elderly Depression or Sadness?

As we age is it expected that we pick up from time to time some events or situations that make us sad or give us grief. Those who are 65 or older (referred to as "elderly") have more stored up events or situations that have caused them grief and sadness than those of us who are considered young.

Sadness and grief are temporary emotions stemming from single situations or events that cause these emotions. To experience these emotions are normal for any age group. The age factor means that the elderly have had more opportunity to experience them.

According to dictionary.com clinical depression is defined as, "a depression that is so severe as to be considered abnormal due to obvious environmental causes or based on the reaction to a life event or circumstance that is of a greater intensity than is typically expected.

Major depression is described as a serious medical illness unlike normal emotional sadness or grief. Major depression is a persistent state of mind. According to nami.org major depression is the leading cause of disability in the U.S. and in many of the developed countries globally.

There are several factors that can be used by medical personnel and elderly caregivers to determine if the elderly person is experiencing something other than a normal emotional response. One factor that is used to distinguish between normal sadness or grief and depression (major or clinical) in the elderly is that of time. How long has the individual been experiencing symptoms of depression? Another factor would be if the individual can point to a specific event or situation that has triggered the symptoms of depression or are the feelings of grief and sadness general and not specific to anything or to a specific loss?

If the elderly person has been depressed for a longer time than expected given the situation or is responding to the event and in a way that is harmful to their life or ability to function; than it is time to consider that what they are experiencing is not normal and should be investigated by a medical professional for a diagnosis and treatment.

Most caregivers and clinicians tend to expect that depression is a normal part of growing elderly. It is not normal to be depressed to the point of wanting to end life, or being so intense of an experience as to not be able to function in daily life.

Symptoms that should trigger concern when caregivers or medical professionals are trying to distinguish between normal sadness or grief and depression are: a mood that is irritable or depressed, feelings or expressions of worthlessness or sadness, prolonged agitation, a change in weight either a loss or gain that is unintentional, trouble getting to sleep or staying asleep, an extreme fatigue, aches and pains not associated with an illness or condition, and also abnormal thoughts of death or actions or plans regarding suicide.

Determining whether or not what the elderly individual is experiencing is depression requires a professional medical evaluation.