By Gabriela Cora, MD, MBA

In an ideal world, we would dedicate eight hours of our day to work, another eight to enjoy recreational activities, and the last eight hours to sleep. The true question is, how many of you live in the ideal world?

Instead, in the real world, most people work 12 to 16 hours every day, with little recreational time and with less sleep. Forget about taking any vacation during the financial crisis. People worry about keeping their job, lay-offs, foreclosures, and downsizing.

While people are doing the work of two or three employees these days, being on the go 24/7 is counterproductive to high performance and increased productivity at work. Even athletes know that their performance will start to decrease if they train too hard or for too long.

This is no different at work. Have you ever experienced feeling stuck on a particular computer program or document, and you try and you try again completely frustrated? You then realize you’ve been trying to resolve the problem for two hours. You decide to take a break, refresh your mind, you do something else, and when you return to the computer, you resolve the two-hour problem with two clicks in a couple of minutes. Your mind had gotten stuck, and although the answer was right in front of you, you couldn’t see it because you were focusing on the problem, not the solution.

In some instances, people work so much that the pressure starts taking a toll on their health. Many don’t seek help until they are experiencing medical problems. Although stress can be motivating and inspiring, too much stress may trigger anxiety, depression, headaches, increased blood pressure, or gastrointestinal problems.

Why does this happen? When we over-exhaust our bodies or our minds, instead of producing more and increasing our earnings, we run out of ideas, unable to think of positive ways to resolve our challenges. We get stuck on the problems and have trouble looking at all options for a positive resolution. Instead, when we keep busy but are able to refresh our minds, we are then better able to make sound decisions that will have a positive impact on our ability to build our wealth.

The following are some tips to assist you as you strive to increase your earnings while working fewer hours:

1) Think of effective hours of work rather than number of hours of work.
You may believe that you are the only one who can do everything that you do, but keep track of your activities. You will be surprised when you realize how you distribute — or waste — your time.

2) Set up clear priorities.
Make sure that you achieve what is high on your list and that you discard the actions that have been on your list but haven’t been done in months or years. It’s time to let go. If you claim that everything is an emergency, you will fall in the trap of responding to fires all the time rather than creating ways to increase your earnings.

3) Have a plan.
Most people don’t have a plan, and many who do leave it in the drawer without checking their progress. By having a plan, you can constantly follow your progress and decide whether you are achieving your desired goals and earnings. Without a plan, you will end up busy and exhausted and will continue to have more busyness and exhaustion. If you have never created a plan, this is a great time to start.

4) Cut down your working hours from 16 to 12 or from 12 to 10.
What would you do if you were forced to work less hours and be more efficient with your time? Unfortunately, many feel pressured to do this after they have become too sick to work many hours or when life circumstances have impacted upon their ability to work. By creating a sense of urgency and efficiency, you can force yourself to become more focused, more effective, and more productive.

5) Find effective ways to relax: Eat, exercise, sleep, and relax.
If you are an executive or entrepreneur and you are leading under pressure, you will need to find and integrate times to eat, exercise, sleep, and relax in your busy schedule. Avoid too much caffeine during the day and the negative cycle of daily caffeine and alcohol or hypnotics at night. It is not a matter of whether someone who is overworked will exhaust his or her energy; it’s a matter of time: When will they burn out? Learn relaxation techniques including guided imagery or meditation. Listen to music or find a hobby. In addition to these strategies, exercising is a must for busy corporate warriors and business owners. Repetitive exercises tend to be the best to help de-stress. Others prefer Yoga and Tai Chi. Nothing beats sleeping well at night.

About the Author:
Gabriela Cora, MD, MBA works with people and companies that want to be healthy while they become wealthy. She is author of The Power of Wellbeing Series: “Leading under Pressure,” “Managing Work in Life,” and “Quantum Wellbeing.” Dr. Cora is a wellness coach, corporate wellness expert, licensed medical doctor with a master’s in business administration, board-certified psychiatrist, and trained mediator. She’s president of The Executive Health & Wealth Institute, based in Miami, Florida. Visit her site at http://www.executivehealth.com

When you operate a home based business it is very important to consider all relevant trends. Take a look at the following list of trends and see how many have affected your business. Will they affect your future?

20. Yellow Pages

2009 will be pivotal for the global Yellow Pages industry. Much like newspapers, print Yellow Pages will continue to bleed advertising dollars to their various digital counterparts, from Internet Yellow Pages (IYPs), to local search engines, directories and combination search/listing services like LocalAdLink, Reach Local and Yodle. Factors like an acceleration of the print “fade rate” and the looming recession will contribute to the downfall of Yellow Page advertising. One research firm predicts the falloff in usage of newspapers and print Yellow Pages could even reach 10% this year which is much higher than the 2%-3% fade rate seen in past years.

19. Classified Ads

The growth of the Internet and all the new technology has made so many things obsolete that newspaper classified ads might sound like just another trivial item on a long list. The predictions are that if newspaper classifieds are replaced by free online listings at sites like Craigslist.org, Salespider.com, Web-ads.com and Google Base, then newspapers are not far behind them.

18. Phone Landlines

According to a survey by the National Center for Health Statistics, at the end of 2007, nearly one in six homes had cellular phones only. Of those homes that had landlines, one in eight only received calls on their cell phones.

17. Movie Rental Stores

While Netflix’s sales keep increasing, Blockbuster keeps closing store locations by the hundreds. It still has about 6,000 left across the world, but the numbers keep dwindling. Their stock was down considerably in 2008, especially since the company gave up on Circuit City . Movie Gallery, which also owned the Hollywood Video brand, closed up shop last this year. Countless small video chains and mom-and-pop stores have given up and closed their doors.

16. Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs
Maryland ’s icon, the blue crab, has been gradually disappearing in Chesapeake Bay . In 2007 Maryland saw the lowest harvest (22 million pounds) since 1945. Just four decades ago the bay produced 96 million pounds a year. The crab population is estimated to be down 70% since 1990, when the first formal count was completed. There are only about 120 million crabs in the bay and it’s estimated that 200 million is needed for a sustainable population. Over catching, pollution, invasive hostile species and global warming are blamed.

15. VCRs

For the better part of three decades, the VCR was a best-seller and a staple in nearly every American household until it has now been almost completely replaced by the DVD and the Digital Video Recorder (DVR). In fact, the only reminders of the VHS age are the blank tapes at the local Walmart or Radio Shack and the recorded tapes stored away in your closet. Pre-recorded VHS tapes are largely gone and VHS recorders and players are practically nowhere to be found.

14. Honey Bees

Perhaps nothing on our list of the disappearing America is so dreadful as the vanishing honey bee. It is so necessary to the survival of our food supply, yet it plummeted so enormously. It’s quite scary. ‘Colony Collapse Disorder,’ or CCD, has spread throughout the U.S and Europe over the past few years, wiping out 50% to 90% of the colonies of many beekeepers and along with it, their livelihood.

13. Ham Radio

Amateur radio operators enjoy personal (and often worldwide) wireless communications with each other and are able to support their communities with emergency and disaster communications if necessary, while increasing their personal knowledge of electronics and radio theory. However, proliferation of the Internet and its popularity among young people has caused the decline of amateur radio. In the past five years alone, the number of people holding active ham radio licenses has dropped by 50,000, even though the Morse Code is no longer a requirement.

12. News Magazines and TV News

While the TV evening newscasts haven’t started to disappear over the last several decades, their audiences have. In 1984, in a story about the diminishing returns of the evening news, the New York Times reported that all three network evening news programs combined had only 40.9 million viewers. Now, 24 years later they have only half that.

11. Incandescent Bulbs

A few years ago, the standard 60-watt bulb was the mainstay of every U.S. home. With the green movement and all-things-sustainable-energy crowd, the Compact Fluorescent Light bulb (CFL) is largely replacing the older, Edison-era incandescent bulb. The EPA reported that 2007 sales for Energy Star CFLs nearly doubled from 2006, and these sales accounted for approximately 20% of the U.S. light bulb market. According to USA Today, a new energy bill plans to phase out incandescent bulbs in the next 4 to 12 years.

10. Answering Machines

The increasing disappearance of answering machines is directly tied to #18 our list, the decline of landlines. According to USA Today, the number of homes that only use cell phones jumped
159% between 2004 and 2007. It has been particularly bad in New York; since 2000 landline usage has dropped 55%. It’s logical that as cell phones rise, many of them replacing traditional landlines, that there will be fewer answering machines.

9. Hand-Written Letters

In 2006, the Radicati Group estimated that, worldwide, 183 billion e-mails were sent each day. That’s two million each second. By November of 2007, an estimated 3.3 billion people worldwide owned cell phones, and 80% of the world’s population had access to cell phone coverage. In 2004, half-a-trillion text messages were sent, and the number has had a tremendous increase since then.

8. Wild Horses

It is estimated that 100 years ago, as many as two million horses were roaming free within the United States. In 2001, National Geographic News estimated that the wild horse population had decreased to about 50,000 heads. Last year, the National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory board stated that there were 32,000 free roaming horses in ten Western states, with half of them
residing in Nevada. The Bureau of Land Management is said to be seeking to reduce the total number of free range horses to 27,000, possibly by selective mercy killing.

7. Personal Checks

According to an American Bankers Association report, 23% of consumers plan to decrease their use of checks over the next two years, while 14% plan to increase their use of debit cards. Bill payment remains the last stronghold of paper-based payments, at least for the time being. Checks continue to be the most commonly used bill payment method, with 71% of consumers paying at least one recurring bill per month by writing a check. However, on a bill-by-bill basis, checks account for only 49% of consumers’ recurring bill payments, down from 72% in 2001.

6. Dial-up Internet Access

Dial-up connections have fallen from 40% in 2001 to 10% in 2008. The combination of the improving infrastructure to accommodate affordable high speed Internet connections and the disappearing home phone have all but pounded the final nail in the coffin of dial-up Internet access.

5. Mumps and Measles

In spite of what’s been in the news lately, the measles and mumps actually, truly are disappearing from the United States. In 1964, 212,000 cases of mumps were reported in the U.S. By 1983, this figure had dropped to 3,000, thanks to prioritizing the vaccination program. Prior to the introduction of the measles vaccine, about half a million cases of measles were reported in the U.S. annually, resulting in 450 deaths. In 2005, only 66 cases were recorded.

4. Cameras Using Film

It doesn’t require a statistician to prove the rapid disappearance of the film camera in America. Just look to companies like Nikon, the professional’s choice for quality camera equipment. In 2006, it announced that it would stop making film cameras, pointing to the shrinking market. In 2005 it amounted to only 3% of its sales, compared to 75% of its sales from digital cameras and equipment.

3. Drive-in Theaters

During the peak in 1958, there were more than 4,000 drive-in theaters in the USA, but in 2007 only 405 drive-ins were still operating. No new drive-ins have been built since 2005. Only one reopened in 2005 and five reopened in 2006.

2. Analog TV

According to the Consumer Electronics Association, 85% of homes in the U.S. get their television programming through cable or satellite providers. For the remaining 15%, or 13 million individuals, who are using rabbit ears or a large outdoor antenna to get their local stations, change is in the air. If you are one of these people, you’ll need to get a new TV or a converter box now in order to get the new stations which will only be broadcast in digital.

1. The Family Farm

Since the 1930s, the number of family farms all over the country has been declining rapidly. According to the US Department of Agriculture, there were 5.3 million farms in 1950, but this number had declined to 2.1 million by the 2003 farm census (data from the 2007 census hasn’t yet been published). Ninety-one percent of the U.S. farms are small family farms. Soon only large commercial farms will be productive.

Leftovers are gone, weight gain is on, favorite presents used and worn. No more holiday cookies to bake, just New Year’s Resolutions to make — and later not forsake! Here is a brief, fun, and innovative list of resolutions that not only involves the whole family, but can also change how you relate to each other. 1. Take more responsibility for yourself in the family. Every family member can offer a New Year’s Resolution for another person in the family! For example, a daughter can make the resolution for her older brother that he won’t eat up all her favorite snacks. Or, a wife can say her husband must resolve to put his laundry in the basket and not on the closet floor. If the person accepts the resolution, then that person gets to make a resolution for the family member who made it. Perhaps the husband, for instance, says he’ll be more careful about his laundry if his wife promises to watch a favorite television show with him. 2. Build in family rewards for keeping the resolutions. Decide on a family reward if everyone cooperates. Some families agree to go on a vacation. Others decide to get a pet, redo a room, or buy a family item such as a television, DVD player, or computer. Determine how many stars or points each person must have by a specific time in order for the whole family to redeem the reward. Keep a chart of stars or points for each member’s successes. 3. Build cooperation by mutually helping other family members with their resolutions. Helping each other with these promises promotes teamwork, openness, and caring amongst all family members. If you offer help, you must agree to receive help from someone in return. 4. Maintain the Golden Rule through kindness and not criticism. Pay attention to the tone and words you use with other family members. Be sure you are speaking and acting toward others as you would like others to speak and act toward you. 5. Apologize so you can sustain an atmosphere of mutual respect. When families value and support saying “I’m sorry,” they teach everyone that apologies are more valued than being right. We learn from mistakes, not from being defensive or insensitive. 6. Plan specific ways to spend quality time with each family member so that you can teach your family that there is enough room in everyone’s heart to love all. Sibling squabbles often stem from lack of quality time with each parent or caregiver. Spouses and partners can also feel disconnected from each other when work and family needs override their intimate time. Think about what each family member needs from you — and what you need from each family member. Some families do something as simple as go for walks together or watch a favorite television show and talk about it. Other families pair up with someone whom they haven’t spent very much time with. For example, if Dad is always going to soccer games, make sure Mom goes to some too. Spouses and partners should make a resolution to establish private time together at least once a week. 7. Promise to focus on solutions instead of who-did-or-said-what. When a problem arises, recruit the necessary family members to get solution-oriented instead of wasting time reviewing whose version is right. 8. Prioritize so that you can be in charge of your time at home. Observe how you are spending your time, especially at work. Are you chatting, e-mailing, surfing the Internet too much? Use your time wisely so that you don’t have to bring your work home. 9. Plan a community-giving activity. Choose a charity or charitable event where everyone in the family participates. You might go through the cabinets and pack up all your unwanted food items to give to the local food bank, for example. Integrating community responsibility builds empathy and social responsibility. 10. Include laughter, learning, and silly times. Do something fun, silly, and out of the ordinary or something where another member can feel the family support when he or she tries something new. Teach Dad how to snow ski. Bring little sister to the bowling alley. Rent funny movies or go to the children’s museum and local weekend events. Get everyone to paint each other’s faces! Happy New Year! About the Author: Dr. LeslieBeth Wish is a psychologist, clinical social worker, and author who is nationally recognized for her contributions to women, love, relationships, family, career, workplace, and organizations. LeslieBeth is writing her next book, “Strong Women and Love,” to help women get over their mistrust, fears, and unhappy, unhealthy dating patterns and learn to date and love smart! To participate in the research for this book project, to read her articles, or to send her a question, visit http://www.lovevictory.com Check out the Experts page for LeslieBeth Wish, the Official SelfGrowth.com Guide to Family.