Doesn’t he (or she) drive you crazy! There’s laundry to be done, dirty dishes in the sink, you’re running late to get your kids to soccer…. and he wants a quickie in the bathroom. WTF… there’s work to be done!
Hold on… while your laid back partner may seem annoying and irresponsible, there are benefits from a more laid back lifestyle.
– You’ll get sick less – Research from Carnegie Mellon showed that people under increased stress levels were more than twice as likely to catch a cold.
– It helps your memory – Mice under conditions of chronic stress were found to have impaired prefrontal cortex activity — this means that memory, abstract thought, cognitive analysis and detecting were al limited. Other studies have found that stress increases protein levels in the brain that link to Alzheimer’s.
– You’ll be skinny – Stress releases cortisol – a chemical in your body responsible increases in appetite and junk food cravings.
If you accept that there may be some benefits to being more laid back, what can you learn form that slacker husband of yours:
1. Prioritize Pleasure – relaxed people have very different looking lists than stressed people. When you make a list of what you want to get done in a particular day or week, include fun. Make sure your list includes sex (self or partnered), reading, seeing friends or just veging out and relaxing. Many of us (especially type As) live by our lists, so make sure you lists contains what you really want to do.
2. Make time for sex, even when you don’t really have time. For many, sex seems like an indulgence; something that can always be put off until our responsibilities are taken care of. How is it that your pattern can drop everything and just want to go at it? Well, he understands that there are always more responsibilities – they for to consume the time available. So, make time for sex…. you’ll never regret it.
3. Get out of the house – when you feels there is just too much to do around the house – dishes, cleaning up, organizing – the best thing to do is to just get the hell out of there. If you stay in your home and try to relax you are literally surrounded by a litany of your failures. When you go to get that coffee refill, you see the sink full of dishes; when you turn on the TV, you see the dust on the entertainment console. Leave it all behind by leaving – go to a coffee shop or a park and leave your cares behind.
Tomorrow… what you can learn from your uptight spouse,
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