Dr's advice

Today i went to visit my favourite Dr, a really lovely guy who works in Swan Street surgery in Yokine. I told him how tense and stressed i've been and how i feel close to exploding and how my work has invaded my sleep patterns and i just don't know how to cope with it all. My Manager, on the other hand, has been working even longer hours and seems fine. I sought this Dr's advice on how i could be like my incredible boss, who seems to have much more energy than me, despite being six years older.

Anyway, he gave me these tips after probing me with all sorts of questions about my lifestyle:

- take some vitamin B (a known de-stresser);

- ditch the biccies, lollies, chocolates and chip sandwiches, which i consume during each work day;

- replace them with fruit and nuts;

- eat protein immediately after my lunch time runs to assist in repairing the muscles i have just torn;

- bring some classical music or something with no words, just plain simple music and play it very softly behind me in my office in oder to drown out other noises and help me concetrate;

- take up some other form of exercise after work, e.g. swimming, blading or cycling (but not walking or jogging, because my lunch time runs put enough strain on my feet) and also listen to music after work (possibly at the same time) in order to clear work out of my mind; and

- leave work at work!

He said the reason i am having chest pains is because stress causes acid to build up inside me and then it sort of like nukes me (ok, so i lost the translation a bit! cos i wasn't yet de-stressed, but it was something along these lines) and the reason i have had a fragile head, is because i have been so worried with the "what if ..." type questions. That's true. He pointed out that each day is a short part of my life and it's crazy devoting so much worry and stress to something so unnecessary, especially when it takes a toll on my health.

He also gave me a little lecture about how men are different to women, they are wired up differently and he said that men take a lot longer to come to the revelation point that i have just come to - that if i carry on like this, i will be totally burnt out. He said that many men just push themselves at work and work really long hours and then it is only when they realise their marriage is falling apart or someone dies, that they have missed a portion of their life and not devoted enough time to non-work activities and aspects of life.

He clarified that i am not at burn-out stage. He said that you need to carry on like i have been, for at least a couple of years, before you get to that stage ... being totally frazzled and ultimately useless. No thank you. That's not for me.