Chronic pain can hurt your mind and mood

Chronic pain doesn't just hurt your body; it hurts your emotions, too. It can impact your mood, your memory, your relationships, and your overall quality of life -- if you let it. Don'tlet it. Negative emotions will only worsen your pain and, in turn, mess more with your mind and mood. To avoid this vicious cycle, tailor a comprehensive pain-management plan that minimizes both the physical and emotional impacts of chronic pain.

Pain-Proof Your Mood

A continually sore, achy body can understandably cause frustration, anger, anxiety, and depression. Occasional bouts of such emotions may not be a big deal, but if they persist, it's important to take action. Distract yourself from pain and brighten your mood by engaging in activities you love. Explore new stress-reduction techniques, work with a cognitive behavioral therapist, or join a pain support group. 

Pain Can Hurt Your Self-Esteem

Pain can diminish job performance, dampen your motivation to exercise, and prevent you from completing daily tasks. Such limitations cause some pain sufferers to get down on themselves or to view their condition as a sign of weakness or a personal defect. Don't go down that road. Seek the aid of a therapist or support group if pain is eroding your self-esteem.

Don't Let Pain Isolate You

When you hurt all the time, the last thing you want to do is attend the company party, the neighbor's backyard barbecue, or even small gatherings with your closest friends and family. Don't let pain drive you into social isolation. To stay connected, focus on the quality, not quantity, of friendships. Nurture ties with a handful of close, supportive friends versus a vast network of more superficial acquaintances. 

Pain Can Hurt Your Marriage

When you hurt all the time, it's tough to complete household chores, take care of the kids, contribute financially, or fully participate in normal family activities. Sexuality and intimacy can also take a hit. Frustration, resentment, and communication breakdowns can occur -- especially when a spouse doesn't understand or sympathize with the sufferer's condition. Solution: Seek guidance from a marriage counselor to help rebuild your relationship. 

Fight Pain-Induced Fatigue

Pain is exhausting. A sore back, hip, or knee can steal your sleep, send your stress levels skyrocketing, and drain your motivation to exercise. Reduce fatigue by integrating the right self-care measures into your pain management plan. Eat a healthy diet, kick your bad habits, get more sleep, and exercise every day. You'll feel more energized and cope better with your pain.

Pain Can Hurt Job Performance

It's hard to stay on your game at work when you hurt all the time. Pain can diminish concentration, memory, critical thinking abilities, and productivity. Solution: Talk to your doctor about daytime pain medications that won't sedate you, and get the sleep and exercise you need to keep your brain humming. Short, daytime naps may also help. Don't overcompensate by becoming a workaholic.

Take It Easy at Home

It's hard to manage a household when you constantly hurt. Running errands, managing finances, and taking care of the kids, the pets, and a spouse can feel overwhelming. Remember to pace yourself, simplify, and let go of perfection. It's also okay to ask family members for help. Your home should be your sanctuary from pain, not something that aggravates it.

Pain and Your Doctor

Does your doctor take your pain seriously or do you get the impression he or she thinks it's "all in your head?" Chronic pain, especially without a clear underlying cause, can be tricky to treat, and some doctors are better-equipped than others to do so. Bottom line: Pain is a real condition that can be effectively treated. If you're not getting relief from your doctor, it's time to find a new one.

Take Back Your Power

Pain can bring loss -- loss of your physical function, your athletic abilities, a favorite hobby, a career, and even close relationships. While it's healthy to grieve, don't let pain make you a victim. Take back your power. To start, try to accept that pain is a part of your life, but does not control who you are or your ability to improve, cope, and thrive. 

Beans: The High-Protein Food That's Healthy and Cheap

Another fine article from Real age

Here's why beans always make our best-foods list: They're a healthy, cheap source of protein that'll reduce your risk of heart disease and cancer, lower your blood sugar, and flatten your belly. (Protect your heart with a batch of EatingWell's Smoky Black Bean Soup tonight.)

Yep, beans do all that and more. Here are 5 ways beans help your waistline, heart, and blood sugar:

1. Reduce belly fat. A recent study found that beans' soluble fiber chases away deep-down, visceral belly fat -- the toxin-filled kind that threatens your vital organs.
   
2. Lower blood sugar. Beans are low on the glycemic index, which means they're digested slowly, so they stabilize your blood sugar. Translation: Beans reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes. Stabilize blood sugar deliciously with this Very Green Lentil Soup recipe from EatingWell.
   
3. Reduce blood pressure. Beans are rich in artery-friendly minerals and healthy plant protein -- the kind that's better for blood pressure than protein from animals. Substitute the deli meat on your next sandwich with EatingWell's Braised Greens & Cannellini Bean Panini recipe.
   
4. Protect heart health. The soluble fiber in beans also helps reduce blood levels of C-reactive protein, which lowers your risk for heart disease and heart attacks. Try this pasta dish fromEatingWell to help lower your heart disease risk: Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe & Chickpeas.
   
5. Reduce cancer risk. Simply eating beans three times a week helps prevent colon cancer. (You're 33% less likely to develop colon polyps.) Cutting back on red meat can reduce cancer risk, too.

So, what's not to like about beans? Oh, those gas attacks? Ease into eating beans, and take the supplement Beano (available at grocery stores) until your body is used to them. Beano's natural enzymes deflate gas attacks. The elevator crowd will thank you.

Project Management - Key Activities When Starting a Project

Got this article at LinkedIn.. Very good.. !!!

Image via Wikipedia

During the initiation and planning phases of a project, there are a number of key activities to be performed. I am going to cover 3 of the most important activities in this article:

1. Scope Definition
2. Planning
3. Communications

SCOPE DEFINITION

I cannot stress enough the importance of locking down the scope at the beginning of project.

Using a scope document, it is critical to define exactly what is in scope and what is not. Of course, you will need to work with the project sponsors and, at times, the project team to do this. Once the scope is defined, it is crucial to have formal sign-off.

Remember, if the scope is not locked down and agreed to, small changes at the beginning of a project will potentially have huge ramifications later on - potentially to resources, costs, ability to meet business objectives, etc.

For example, if a ship leaves San Francisco bound for Hawaii and is 2 degrees off course, the ship will miss Hawaii altogether. A minor course correction in this area at the beginning of a project will ensure your project does not stray drastically off course.

PLANNING

Developing a good plan is also critical. When done right, good planning will typically ensure the execution phase of a project runs very smoothly - barring any unforeseen issues.

Developing a sequential plan (step 1, step 2, etc.) and understanding what can be run in parallel are also important. Clearly defining the work and breaking it into small work units is a key step. Once these work units are defined, resources can easily be assigned based on availability and skill sets.

It's important not to rush project planning. It's better to spend a little extra time developing a good plan than it is to try to course correct during the execution phase when more resources are typically engaged and the impacts are greater.

COMMUNICATIONS

This is one of my hot buttons. Good, frequent and consistent communications are key!

What do I mean by this? Well, communications should be planned in advance and well thought out with the possible exception of emergencies. Here's a simple example of an ongoing communications plan:

1. Weekly Status Report - sent only to project team every Friday
2. Weekly Project Meeting Notes - sent only to project team every Wednesday
3. Monthly Project Report - sent to all stakeholders and sponsors last Thursday of every month

This is a simplified example but, as you can see, there is a definitive plan for communicating. By communicating in an organized manner, your project team and sponsors will know exactly what to expect and, as a side effect, this will help build their confidence in your work.

Tip 1: good or bad, always communicate the true status. This will protect you as well as help sponsors know when to engage and assist.

Tip 2: by consistently showing progress with resource names attached (e.g. task 1 due on this date - assigned to John Smith), more often than not this visibility will serve as a natural self-motivator for the assigned person to complete his or her work on time. Often, no additional follow up or prodding is needed.

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