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Glossary accommodation - Adapting to unfavorable circumstances. admonition - A strong plea for caution or advice not to proceed. anomaly - A one-time or highly unusual occurrence. antecedent - Something that always comes before the behavior it produces. attachment - Fixation on current conditions to the exclusion of new input or ideas bad stress - Known as distress; a response to some type of pressure, which can be both external and self-imposed, that prompts psychological and real physiological changes within you of an undesirable nature. It results in your being anxious or irritable, can dampen your spirits, and possibly shorten your life. benchmark - A reference point used to compare a current outcome or experience to one previously documented or noted. burnout - An umbrella term used to describe a particular type of stress manifested by diminished personal accomplishment, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization. chronic stress - Stress that builds over time, possibly stemming from a tough experience over which you have no control except to endure or accept, such as the loss of a loved one, an illness, accident, or other trauma. codify - To organize something into a system, such as a body of laws or instructions. communicative enslavement - The desire to stay in constant communication, to the point of interfering with the activities of daily living. completion - Every action that you finish is a completion, as can be each activity, each task, even each thought. cognizant - To be aware. constituency - A body of supporting voters or a support group in general. contrarian - Somebody who opts to engage in activities at times and places in which no one else is engaging in them. diaphragmatic breathing - Breathing through your abdomen! dynamic bargain - An agreement you make with yourself to assess what you've accomplished (and what more you want to accomplish) from time to time throughout the day, adjusting to new conditions as they emerge. effectiveness - Undertaking the right task, with the goal of producing a desired, worthwhile effect. efficiency - Taking the right approach to a job, doing it quickly with few or no errors, and generating results with little or no wasted effort. empower - To delegate power to another. empty suits - Professionals who dress well, look good, and generally say the right things, but accomplish little. ergonomics - The science that examines how devices should most smoothly blend to the human body and human activity. etymology - Charting the origin of something. exacerbate - To escalate or intensify, but not in a manner that is necessarily desirable. Faustian bargains - Shady deals. Faust, in the legend, sold his soul in the after life to the devil in exchange for knowledge. "Striking a Faustian bargain" means sacrificing anything to satisfy an unlimited quest for knowledge or power. formulating - In the context of answering email, ensuring to the best of one's ability that the message is clear and accurate and conveys precisely what the sender wishes to communicate. germination - Development, growth, or maturation. getting complete - Coming to terms with an issue, or perhaps actually achieving resolution or closure; a mental state that frees you to move on. good stress - Also known as eustress; stress that provides stimulation and challenges; is essential to development, growth, and change; and helps to make your life enjoyable, even interesting. hydration - When your body's tissues are sufficiently filled with water. To be dehydrated is to be parched. homeostasis - The balance among elements in a system. immersion - Focusing exclusively on a particular task. inertia - The scientific phenomenon whereby a body in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force, and a body at rest tends to stay at rest. intermittent reinforcement - Receiving a reward often enough to keep you doing whatever you've been doing. introspection - The art of looking inward to better understand yourself and capture your true feelings. leisure - That which is worth your time and attention. That which is worth doing. Enjoying rewarding activities free from work and preoccupation with work. leveraging - Taking the smallest action that will yield the largest result. living in the moment - Proceeding through your day with vibrant expression and keen perception, with an intense awareness of your surroundings. locus of control - The pivotal point at which action can be taken, as in "calling your own shots" or "being your own person." Luddites - People who look upon the intrusion of technology in everyday life with disdain. Those who would prefer to have society return to an era in which technology was not so intrusive. managing the beforehand - To prepare for something in advance of a need. meditation - A stress-reduction technique and way of focusing on deeper thoughts and feelings by turning away from the distractions and tensions of everyday living. megalomania - The over-arching desire to stay on top of things, to control, to be in the driver's seat. micro-sleep - A 5-to-10-second episode when your brain is effectively asleep while you are otherwise up and about. Microsleep can occur while you are working at your PC or driving a car. midnight - Originally halfway through the night. People went to sleep when it got dark around 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. and got up when it became light around 5 a.m. mismanaged stress - Non-adaptive ways of coping with stress, such as relying on drugs or alcohol. modus operandi - A Latin term still in use today, which translates to the standard way of doing things. motivation - Inspiration or drive, from the Latin word for "to move." neo-Luddite - Those who believe that the best chance of social survival is via the abandonment of modern technology and a return to a more harmonious relationship with nature. Neo-Luddites loathe television. netiquette - The combination of the words net and etiquette form the new word, which means online etiquette. nuance - A slight hint or subtle aspect of something. opt-out capability - The ability of someone hit by spam to easily select to be removed from the spammer's list. other-directed - Individuals who are more concerned with what others think of them than what they think of themselves. overchoice - The stress that comes from too many options, especially the "so-what?" variety. over-preparation - Doing excessive groundwork instead of taking action. oxymoron - An unlikely pairing of two words or concepts, such as "government efficiency." Pareto Principle - A generalization that 80% of your actions or efforts contribute to only 20% of your actual results, while 20% of your action or efforts yield 80% of your results. patchwork efforts - Making do with available resources. presenteeism - Being at work, appearing to be productive, but in reality, being too tired or too unfocused to be effective. program - A set of instructions, given to the computer, describing the sequence of steps the computer performs in order to accomplish a specific task procrastination - The act of putting off something until a later time, either by not starting a task or by not finishing one you've started. quandary - A difficult situation with no apparent solution, or a state of uncertainty with equally unattractive options. rapid eye movements (REM) - A crucial part of your overall sleep cycle when your eyes actually shift all over although your eyelids are closed; these movements and various levels of brain activity are essential to sound sleep. If your REM pattern is disrupted, even eight hours of sleep may not yield the benefits you need to be effective. reframe - Looking at a situation from another perspective. requisite - The necessary amount or conditions. residual stress - Stress of the past representing an inability or unwillingness to let go of old hurts or bad memories. resilience - Adopting behaviors to meet challenges; enduring a situation or overcoming an ordeal; having the ability to come back even stronger than before. restoration - A conversion or return of something that was missing. The process of being made whole again. seed work - Tasks you can easily assign to someone else because the downside risk if he or she botches the task is negligible. self-storage unit - A for-rent, garage-like space you can fill with any items you don't need too often. shallow breathing - A popular term for chest breathing. singularities - One-time events in the universe. situational stress - an immediate threat, challenge, or agitation; something that demands attention now. sleep apnea - The cessation of breathing during sleep, usually due to obstruction. Usually, the sufferer is aroused from sleep by an automatic breathing reflex. Thus, he may end up getting little sleep at all. social validation - Making choices by observing the decisions others have made before you and not necessarily based on your own independent decision-making process. sound screen - An electronic device that creates a sound "barrier," which masks or mutes the effects of sound from beyond the barrier. stock message - A prepared reply that you park in your templates, draft, or signature folder to re-use as the situation applies. strategic pause - Taking a few to collect yourself, gain composure, take a breath, or simply reflect, before proceeding with what you were doing. stress - A by-product of pressures (real or perceived), changes, demands, and challenges that one faces. stress response - When you experience the consequences of exposure to stress such that you suffer some adverse effect. synergy - When one and one equals more than two; it's when the end result equals more than the sum of the parts. technostress - Everyday stress exacerbated by technology. telecommuting - Working outside the office (away from your employer's base of operations) and staying in touch with coworkers via electronics, such as a computer, fax, and phone. tickler files - A file system designed to give you a place to chronologically park items related to forthcoming issues and remind you when you need to deal with such issues. time cost - Also known as potential efficiency cost, this is the time you lose by switching from one task to another. triage - The practice of quickly examining a variety of items and allocating them based on what needs to be handled immediately, what can be handled later, and what can be ignored altogether. transcending - Going beyond some previous standard or norm. trepidation - A feeling of alarm or dread. ubiquitous - Seeming to be everywhere at once. vacation deficit disorder - The inability to take time off even when you've earned it and it's offered to you. white noise - A non-invasive, non-disruptive sound (much like that of rushing water, a fan, or a distant motor). Zeigarnik effect - The tendency for people to remember interrupted tasks better than those that have been completed.
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