The good news is that we are more productive than ever. Way more productive.  That bad news is we are more stressed than ever.  Everyone is.  It has become a global epidemic.

With all the amazing innovations in technology, you would think your productivity would be way up and your stress way down. For example, editing a high production video a mere twenty five years ago easily took one hundred hours.  Editing that same video today, can be done in about an hour with a higher quality standard.  That leaves ninety nine hours to sip Margaritas.  Theoretically.

The problem with the constant stream of technological innovations is that productivity has in fact increased.  Computers can do things perfectly.  And computers can do these perfect things faster and faster.  And when things go perfectly, you too get more things done faster.

But there is a curse.  Perfect, fast execution has resulted in perfectly high expectations.  As a result, we put more on our plate then ever before. We expect more from ourselves and others.  Since people aren’t computers. Faster doesn’t always happen. Perfect rarely happens. Expectations are not met. And we get stressed.

The key to permanently removing stress from your life, once and for all, is to learn the lessons of our less stressed forefathers.  As crazy as it sounds, those people from the colonial days did (or didn’t do) a few things that helped crush stress.  Don’t get me wrong, they worked really hard.  Every day was a fight to survive, let alone thrive.  But they did all the hard work with markedly less stress than us.  Here are the five ways they did it:

Stop Watching & Reading The News 

There is a old saying in the news industry – “If it bleeds, it leads.”  In other words the more shocking something is (e.g. violence, disease, misfortune), the more news coverage it gets.   This may attract viewers (and advertising money) for the news stations, but it also dramatically increases stress levels for viewers.  Our stress is invoked through the constant sense of danger.

The news is an artificial reality.  It is unlikely your normal daily life includes witnessing multiple murders and plane crashes and thefts and train wrecks.  But that is what the daily news drip shows us.  By refusing to watch or read the news, your stress will start to melt away.  Just like our colonial fathers couldn’t flip on the TV to “relax” in front of the evening news, turn off the TV and go out with some friends to talk (about anything but the news). And don’t worry about missing the “important” stuff.  When something truly important happens everyone will be talking about it and you won’t be able to avoid it if you tried.

Meet Outdoors

I stumbled across this little “aha” about a year ago, when I was struggling to find a time to meet with a colleague.  The only overlapping availability would force us to meet at a middle ground location, which was a state park. We both lamented about the fact that we wouldn’t have the availability of a conference room.  That is when my colleague had the great idea of meeting up for a hike and talking then.

Ends up, a conference room doesn’t offer much of a benefit, and nature has a powerful stress reducing ability.  Instead of being cooped up indoors under fluorescent lights, we were out walking and talking.  We in fact accomplished more than we expected.  And felt great in the process.

No surprise here, our forefathers wouldn’t go inside a small cramped hot room to meet (remember air conditioning was invented until the early 1900’s), they would go outside and find a nice shady spot to talk.   Do the same, schedule as many meetings as you can outdoors, and perhaps include some walking while talking. Getting sunlight and fresh air will reduce stress and may even increase productivity.

 Early To Bed, Early To Rise

On the topic of getting more sunlight, reduce your stress by getting more in sync with the hours of the sun.  For stress reduction, the more natural sunlight you have access to the better (disclaimer: I do not mean this in a sun tanning way, or direct sunlight – if you don’t already know that, too much direct sunlight is very bad for your skin).

Also, we typically have the most “mental willpower” in the mornings.  Start the morning with exercise – a good hour of walking, running, lifting weights, yoga, or your exercise of choice is the ultimate stress reducer.

Our colonial forefathers used the sun as a natural alarm clock and nightfall as the end of day work whistle.

Drink and Be Merry

The drinking part is totally up to you.  Being merry (spending time with others) though is a great stress reducer.  Time with others yields a few stress reducing benefits. First, it gets you away from the gadgets and second, it gets you talking.  No gadgets means tat the latest urgent demand can’t be thrust upon you and sharing stories, experiences, and problems is the ultimate way to vent stress.

Our forefathers surely got this right. They knew how to throw great parties, and even required the guys to wear wigs.

No Work On Sundays

Influenced by religion, many colonists would not work on Sundays.  They had more than enough work on their plates to keep going 7 days a week, but they were forced to take a break. In fact some colonies even made it punishable to talk about work on a Sunday.  Perhaps not the most appropriate way to force break time, but it worked and work related stress was reduced.

You also need to schedule an off day (or days) in your schedule.  These off days will not only recharge your energy, but will also recharge your ability to fight off stress.  Weekends are the obvious choice, since less people are expecting you to work then.  But that is changing hauntingly fast, so pick your off times and day(s) now and make it your hard fast rule now.

Do What Libraries Do

Technology has brought about unprecedented accessibility.  Believe it or not, there was a time when you couldn’t get a call while you were in your car, or out for a walk, or in the bathroom.  But now, that is no longer true.  We are connected via our PDA twenty-four seven and with that comes a relentless series of new demands and expectations.

Libraries prohibit talking and cell phone use in their facility and you can do the same, plus some.  Setup rooms in your office and house where PDA use is prohibited.  If simple rules with “PDA Use Prohibited” signs are not enough, you might even be able to get a cellular jamming device in those rooms.  But don’t stop there, setup “library hours” at your office.  This is a one or two hour block of time, each and every day, where you and your team are to only work on projects.  There is no email during this time, there is no phone calls, no interrupting colleagues and no PDAs.

Work actually gets done and stress goes down.

 Say Goodbye To The Joneses

The most common measure of success is money.  If the guy down the street has more money and stuff then you, he is “more successful” then you.  The “keep up with the Joneses” way of determining the quality of your life in relation to your peers is an unwinnable game.  Unless you are the wealthiest person on the planet (there can only be one), there will always be a “Jones” with more than you.  It is the ultimate stress trap.

Instead make a conscious decision to judge your success by the degree of stress you experience.  Less stress is more success.  This is not a magic, overnight cure, but by labeling success and progress by reducing your stress, you will overtime make changes to reduce stress.