3 Key Tips for Mental Clarity and Less Stress

When the fog of overwhelming stress clouds our thoughts there's a danger we could soon be drifting into non-productivity land. Here are three quick and easy ways to sail through the day with a clear and focused head.

Keeping a clear head is essential if you want to:

• avoid the pitfalls of stress

• keep calm and focused on what you need to get done

• be at your intelligent best

• and retain use of your creative problem solving abilities

Keeping mentally clear and sharp means you can easily cope with any challenges in your journey through the day. We all know that stress accumulates, and the last thing any of us needs when trying to get things done is for a metaphorical speck in our eye to feel like a boulder.

Keeping clear means keeping things real; in proportion and, therefore, manageable.

Cultivating the three Cs of calm, clarity and certainty puts us in a strong and resourceful position from where we can enter a flow state of maximum productivity and accomplishment; in this place obstacles become challenges that we can rise to and learn from, and here we can easily shrug of stress and remain mentally fit.

Here are three things you can try to cultivate the three Cs and sail through a fog free day:

1. Get up & Move

As soon as stress, mental fatigue, frustration or irritation strike - get up and move. Really, and no matter how busy you are! This well spent time breaks un-resourceful states, stops unwanted emotional responses from building up and boiling over, and clears your head.

If you can, go for a short brisk walk. If not, at least take a few moments to have a good stretch.

Your brain will thank you for it, and when you return to the task at hand, you will be looking at it with fresh eyes and stand a much better chance of making progress than if you let the stress fog settle around your head and shoulders and try and valiantly squint through it!

2. Reset & Reboot

There's more to the human body than meets the eye, traditional Chinese Medicine provides details of vital energy (or meridian) points that we can use for a huge variety of issues. Here's one that can act like a reset switch. It's found just under your collarbone where it joins the breastbone.

Find the point and tap on it with your fingertips, tap the left side with your right hand and vice versa. This point is called Kidney 27 in acupuncture and is known for it's benefits in reducing stress, tension and anxiety, it can also help reduce physical pain.

3. Use your Pressure Relief Valve

Massaging and gently pulling down on your earlobes reduces pressure in the head, it works even better if you induce yourself to yawn as you do it - though there's a good chance it will happen naturally.

This is a great way to let off steam and keep mentally clear, it also helps to prevent tension headaches from developing. If you get in the habit of using it regularly you will soon feel the benefits.