between whiney clients
a demanding 8-6 job
and family duties i stopped answering the phone today
couldnt take another rant about email or fronptage

anybody fight your way through similar?

advice appreciated


el_g

Get yourself an Xbox, buy Dead Or Alive 3 and just kick the crap out of everybody(no joke, I seriously do this as a stress reliever :)

Originally posted by mlip129
Get yourself an Xbox, buy Dead Or Alive 3 and just kick the crap out of everybody(no joke, I seriously do this as a stress reliever :)

Xbox - check
Dead or Alive 3 - check

Its sad when I get beat by my 4 year old :angry:

Quake 3 is on every workstation in my building....if it's a slow day we play a few rounds, if we've had a bad day we go to war :D

Its sad when I get beat by my 4 year old

LOL. that's definitely not a good stress reliever then.

Gotta find some kind of music that will calm ya down, or some video game. Everybody has something to relieve stress, finding that is a necessity in life.

You could try this:

http://www.karatedepot.com/store/catalog/scan/se=tr%2dta%2d41/sf=0/sp=large/ml=1.html?id=HKdNtwy9

This also works for me :)

http://www.overgrow.com/photooftheweek.php

:pimp:

cocaine. lots and lots of cocaine.

-Brendan

what am i the only one?

I prefer coke

www.covenantcove.com

Just got back from 3 days myself.

Here's my recipe:

Comfy foldout chair.
Rod n Reel
Some bait
fifth of Jack Daniels
3 litre Coke
Cooler of ice
Big glass

Directions: fling the rod n reel into the nearest bush, chunk the bait into the water, kick back in your chair and empty the bottles, pee into the lake when necessary.

If you're in a pinch for time, 3 words: 3 margarita lunch.

3 litre Coke
Cooler of ice
Big glass

What is this for? :)

We try and have fun things for all of the employees as much as possible. A couple of cookouts each year. Everyone gets together and rants about customers and generally has a good time. Last one we got one of our old 386 servers that had been in a closet for a long time and took turns beating it with a bat. After it was pronouced dead we burned it (not environmentally sound I know, but fun).
Drinking nights, stress balls, and other small things tend to make the job a little better for our techs as well.

For me... Nothing relieves stress like riding a roller coaster. Just scream your rants out as loud as you can, and people don't look at you funny. Superman : Ultimate Flight baby!

I just kick my dog.

Have a nice sleep...or pick up a good book and Read..!

Or probably, one can stand on the tallest building nearby and scram at the top of his/her lungs !

:)

I have a lava lamp sitting right next to my screan. When things get me all worked up ( and the past 3 days, including today have been aweful ) I stop and watch it for about 5 minutes. I also have a fish tank, which works wonders for your blood presure. If I were you, I would look into getting some Kava ( or Kava Kava ) Tincture from your local naturopath or natural alternative store. The stuff works wonders for me.

Edit: Also, music, really hard, heavy loud music. It works for me :)

Bottle of wild turkey

Some hardcore tekno

Topped off with a shag

----

Doesn't help the next morning tho :|

Originally posted by mlip129
Get yourself an Xbox, buy Dead Or Alive 3 and just kick the crap out of everybody(no joke, I seriously do this as a stress reliever :)

I do this almost daily... but recently Dead Or Alive 3 has been replaced by James Bond 007.

The problem with DOA is that sometimes you get your A** kicked and it makes you even worse; but in 007 you have the ability to zoom in on your prey and snipe them; this will release all of your tension in one shot. :) :) :)

Originally posted by dandanfirema
Its sad when I administer a beating to my 4 year old :angry:

Yes, it is.

Originally posted by j2sw
We try and have fun things for all of the employees as much as possible. A couple of cookouts each year. Everyone gets together and rants about customers and generally has a good time. Last one we got one of our old 386 servers that had been in a closet for a long time and took turns beating it with a bat. After it was pronouced dead we burned it (not environmentally sound I know, but fun).
Drinking nights, stress balls, and other small things tend to make the job a little better for our techs as well.

About 3 weeks ago, my networking class wanted to celebrate the senior graduation... So we took an old dual 133 server and made it into a stove, and cooked beer brauts outside the school in a friends front lawn.. Needless to say it was good laughs and got some great looks from school officals :D


We generally set down and play CS and blow the living hell outa each other, or DMC or DOD.....

Day of Defeat is an excellent mod.

1. A 12 pack of any kind
2. two or more very large speakers (12" or bigger preferred)
3. A good AC/DC or Metallica tape (Master Of Puppets Preferred)
4. Loud volume!

IS everyone going through this? It has been hell week since last thurs for me and all weekend, Did they release a new version of Frontpage or something? Why can't people understand that they must ftp and check email at username@domain.com I mean it says it when signing up AND in the welcome email? Anyway I just bought a season pass to six flags so I am going to head out to the one out here in MA tomorrow then take a trip to NYX and Jersey over the weekend and hit the one out there, I really need some time off hope you guys/gals days start going better and see ya in a week.

I prefer playing GTA3 to DOA3 (button smashers aren't my thing)

Nothin' like blowing up police helicopters, carjacking old ladies, and beating pedestrians to work out the anger.

I am with MadSkilage, GTAIII is the game for me. Great stress reliever.

Get yourself a nice camper, a bag of weed, a few cases of beer and a pack of hot dogs

go camping, when you get there park your ass in a chair, tell the wife NOT to talk to you until it's time to go back home, drink the beer during the day, smoke the weed at night (hot dogs are for the wife)

It works wonders for me :cartman:

get away from computers and internet

to be honest... the last few weeks have been hell for me and my team as well. i was wondering what the heck was going on, but at least i know it is a shared increase in stress factor.

what i do:

- get a 12 pack (per person)
- get the newest Maxim or FHM mag
- call some friends over
- go to the pool (where there is NO connectivity)
- grill bbq'd chicken and sausages

--> seems to work for me :)

Good ole Eagles music (can we say tour 2002?)
Take a long drive on a quiet highway
Alcohol
Sleep

In that order. :D Safety first. :)

Originally posted by CRego3D
Get yourself a nice camper, a bag of weed, a few cases of beer and a pack of hot dogs

go camping, when you get there park your ass in a chair, tell the wife NOT to talk to you until it's time to go back home, drink the beer during the day, smoke the weed at night (hot dogs are for the wife)

It works wonders for me :cartman:


Ahhhh........ that's the way to do it.. :smokin: just like the good old days Carlos..

Originally posted by HRBrendan
cocaine. lots and lots of cocaine.

-Brendan
Thats ilegal and bad for you:angry:

Thanks for all the replies, it must be the cycle of the moon, seems its not only me getting killed.

my resolution- i got the flu and bronchitis took all my worries of admin away

replaced one headache with another.....

el_g



:)

For me it is either the computer games, a nice war sort or if im really fed up i kill some sims.
Music is also good, nice lound music always makes me feel better ............ but one of the best ways i find is to go to the gym or somewhere and take it out on the machines.....ur so tired when u come back u dont have the energy 2 be stressed and the endorfines make u happy :D

Compared to the other post, this is going to make me sound like a freak!

There are several things I do to relive stress, both for long term such as vacations and getting out of the house/office. And short term.

What helps the most for me as far as short term is Exercising. I hadn’t exercised for about 1 year after I started my webdesign biz. When I started to exercise again, I felt so much better! More energy, not so grumpy, and my body didn’t get mad at me for sitting at the chair for more than 10-15 hrs.

Also I hear the food you eat can help. Pets! Music! Games!

But I have to say, and I don’t know if everybody would agree but the biggest stress reliever, and the doctors will testify on this one… is sex. :eek:

Turn of the puter for at least 3 days... Go out and get super drunk --- avoid computer usage at all costs or take a mini vactation. It feels good to come back. Your brain isnt all mooshie.

I agree with littlest.

I wonder why most people here forget to mention sex ;)

Buy some expensive weed, cocaine, and angel dust from your local dealer. Then put the weed out and put some cocaine on the weed and roll it. After that, dip it in angel dust and you're all set. If this doesn't help you relax, then I dunno what would.

Originally posted by AtomiX
I agree with littlest.

I wonder why most people here forget to mention sex ;) It would need to be readily available.
If not; it's just adding to the stress factor. :D

LoL..you guys are funny.


play counter-strike or HALO for XBoX with a bunch of newbies, therefore you don't get frustrated when you die cuz you dont die with newbies.lol..or just if you have 1337 skillz like me..You never die.haha

hmmm.i wondor if any Admins Pm'3d me yet.

This is what happens when you believe your customers are everything and let them complete run your life. I've been their several times. It's a cycle, if you don't want it to continue you have to set limits.

All the CEOs I've gotten advice from told me their best advice is to set times where you DO NOT do work. Like once you leave the office you are DONE with customers for the day. END OF STORY. You just have to make some sacrafices, even if you are a one man show customers won't leave you because their hosting question wasn't anwsered right away.

First of all; I second inkhead's statement. Even thought I'm just a uni student so far I try to be disciplined. 8 hours of study and then _no more_. I'm not doing anyone a favour by mixing up work/school life with my free time.

A few more things that work for me;

BodyCombat - exercise discipline, it feels damned good to jump around and play Jackie Chan, accompanied by 70's funk music.
Painting - really.
Playing an instrument/singing - it does wonders. It releases endorfines, you improve your physical skills (better lung capacity/better hand-eye mobility), hopefully you get to meet people etc.
Shutting off the computer. I've heard that it's possible. ;)
Socialising outside of your work/school sphere. It's more a matter of changing the view for a while.

And finally - buying socks (hey! I'm a woman, I'm allowed to) and computer parts, cooking (no, NOT the microwave!) and... alright, I admit, having sex. :blush:

Dodger Baseball, Heineken and Sex.

Don't Lie, people in the web hosting business don't have time for sex. :-) If you want to enjoy the free time and the work you do, you need to have boundries, if your work is constantly crowding over into free time, then when you do work it will be halfass. When you quit for the day or end, DO NOT work, concentration on something else. Multitasking may have advantages but it means you do all of your many tasks with less concentration and poorly. Like the jack of all trades, while everybody envies his talents; he dies pennyless because he never was really, really, good at just one thing.

!If nothing else works the below advice is FOR last ditch efforts only!

You will need the following:
(1) High Quality 9 IRON Golf Club (Available at any Wallmart/Target)
(2) One solid wood baseball bat (Available at any Wallmart/Target)
(1) Living Room, Old House, Stained Glass Front Door, Vehical, Face (not recommended) of your choice

Directions:
Start with the 9 IRON take even solid swings at everything. Scream and yell while you take each swing. Switch on and off between the baseball bat. Repeat the cycle until you feel better or are hauled away to a mental institution. The mental institution is a great choice if you wish to feel nothing or enjoy habitual mind bending drugs.

Okay I will be quiet now.

It appears that this all goes back to the holiday that we had during the beginning of this week. For some reason we just couldnt wait for it to end.

Top it off with customers whom you have to teach basic HTML to and you've got yourself one heckuva week.

Not complaining though. I'm very blessed no matter how new to web hosting my users are <nervously bites fingernails>

:eek:

At least your only on your fingernails. Somedays I look down at all four fingers I have left and wonder when i will start nibbling on the remaining ones.

I've heard that screaming "Serenity Now" or "Hoochie Mama" at stressfull moments instantly relieves stress ;)

Hoochie Mama

lol. :D

Hi,

I really face this problem of customer interfering in private life and disturbing all the times. I mean i am sort of 24 hour available to customers. This gives me nihtmares sometimes.

I gnerally go out for a 4-5 day break at least once a year to do some camping and trekking and chill out in mountains. It is very inspiring and helps me recharge myself.

I want to go twice a year, since stress level is rising with the risk factor and amount of work, but dont get time.

Would love to go out for a trek with a fellow "hoster" if you plan to visit India in near future.

My trip is due for a long time.

Regards,
abhishek

maaan.have I got a lot to buy for this "burning out"..oooh wait..I might be building a new computer soon so I can break up my old one..mwhahahaha.

Possibly get a punch bag..

POW!

Or stick with the traditional X-Box fighting games.

Don't Lie, people in the web hosting business don't have time for sex. :-) Unless you're married to the sysAdmin :D Ok...I've said too much and I've only just begun!

Music...MUST HAVE MUSIC -- spice up whatever you like by making it just a lil harder and a lil louder...

Lava Lamps on Top of Fish Tanks - I have two 55 gallon tanks and a 29 gallon tank and all three have lava lamps on top... It helps soooooooo much to be able to just stop and watch them for a while. Some fish even end up with "Client Names" -- so and so is a bully fish and such and such just goes round and round for reasons unknown -- you get the idea ;)

Go OUTSIDE!!! You must get up and walk out!! For me this became routine since I am a smoker and made a rule a couple of years back not to allow any indoor smoking. Every hour or two I get up and walk out for 5 to 10 minutes. That 10 minute break OUTSIDE every couple of hours is what keeps me going no matter what!

Kill'n Zombies -- Whatever game you choose ... nothing beats Kill'n Zombies. I thought EVERYONE DID IT??? Yes, I've been known to name a zombie or two the same as I've named the fish :stickout XBox rulz :D

Another important little tid bit.... HIRE HELP!!!!!!! If you can manage find someone that can take over when you just can't cuz you're too busy kill'n zombies :cool:

masturbation and sex.

got my head together

besides the flu my solution was

going to the beach getting sunburned
meeting nice people
playing with my family en la playa ( beach fun 4 da gringos )

to all the nice folks that took the time to post

you're alllwwwwwrrrrrright !!
havent laughed this much in a while

thankyou (gracias a me hermanos)


el_g

:cool:

Agree with a lot of the replies here... :)

Beer, some loud music, some hardcore gaming and going for a good, long run down the quiet lanes where I live works pretty well ;)

Nobody's even *mentioned* Star Trek - Next Generation :confused:

I've only been playing a couple of months, but once your out there, you forget all your worries.

Here is my idea of camping :D

http://www.skycasters.com/mobile_solutions.htm

My favorite way to get away from it all (besides sex of course) is to take my AR-15 assault rifle and all my other guns out to the range for some good wholesome fun shooting Bin Laden targets... :D

Seriously, emptying 3 or 4 30-round mags as fast as you can pull the trigger will alleviate some serious stress.

Originally posted by Frosty
I just kick my dog.

Too bad my dog died.

redrum... redrum!

Originally posted by lets.pretend
Nobody's even *mentioned* Star Trek - Next Generation :confused:

Bad acting and lousy scripts always get me nice and relaxed :D

Actually I'm just poking fun, I didn't watch enough TNG to have a real opinion but I do like Enterprise.

Now, "Star Trek the Next Penetration" that'd be a stres releiver, though Kirk would really be the man for this job, has any captain ever gotten as much play as Kirk? Blue chicks mmm mmm
:D ehehe

Bad acting and lousy scripts always get me nice and relaxed

:uzi: Dixiesys

It's Captain *Picard* :)

Thanks to everyone !


I have a lot of ideas now :D


Great to know all the things that can be done,:cartman: and proven ofcourse!



:homer:

Originally posted by Kulman:
Too bad my dog died.

LOL...go nail a cat instead then.


Oops, i hope you were joking about your dog.

I just started Tae Kwon Do about 2 months ago. Its excellent for stress management. And for losing that 40 lbs I've gained sitting in front of a computer 12+ hours a day for the past god knows how many years. :-)

Take care,

Brian

Allright..how about this: National Get Off the Computer Day

Ok, ok, it sounds stupid, but just imagine it, one day where there aren't any admins or hosts, the customers won't know any different, and it'll give us time to do whatever we want, especially kicking and beating the hell out of the punching bag.

Also, it's important to take a break every hour or every other hour or so (just for 5-10 minutes), otherwise you'll get RSI (repeated stress injury) and it really sucks, I got it, and I couldn't even move for like a week (the scary thing is I'm still young!).

Anyway, it's time to go take a break :)

dmitler, i'm 18 and i got RSI in my wrist :-(

Originally posted by Frosty
I just kick my dog.

That's just wrong.... I hope you get mauled by a police dog someday...

Get yourself a punching bag or one of those dummies from the link above. Hitting a 100lb full length punching bag is much more satisfying then hitting a dog anyway. That and drag racing on the weekends are what keeps me sane!

Originally posted by John[H4Y]


Get yourself a punching bag or one of those dummies from the link above. Hitting a 100lb full length punching bag is much more satisfying then hitting a dog anyway.

...

Definitely. We have those water filled punch/kick dummys at our Tae Kwon Do school. Its amazing how satisfying it is when you get strong enough from practice that you can knock it down in one blow. Fortunately they have like 30 of them, so if you knock one down, you can move right on to the next one. :-)

Take care,

Brian

Favorite stress relievers:

-Mortal Kombat 4
-4:20
-sex
-Star Trek TNG Marathons
-hentai

Before I decided I was too old for that crap and retired, moshing was my number one stress reliever.

All the stress you take with you gets left behind in the pit, and you feel reborn. It's like one of those new age rebirthing workshops, only it doesn't cost a fortune, and the music's better.

Originally posted by Phoenix
-Star Trek TNG Marathons

I knew I wasn't the only geek in here :D

Nothing is better than boxing. Something special about hitting a guy until he falls down!

You guys are awesome!

spend some cash on a full body massage.
Preferably you should have it done every day,
if you can afford it.

You should also run on a treadmill and exercise every day.
Remember to eat properly. Eating is everything.
Eat proteines and avoid carbos. Carbos slow you down
and make you feel tired. avoid sugars as well, they give
you a boost and then, drag you to the floor.

Outsource all the cooking, cleaning, shopping, picking up children etc.

This is what many executives do to release stress
and they are able to work many, many hours per week.

They have to that, otherwise they will pop.

2- Lower your prices and offer no support at all. Automate the sign-up
process as well as billing.

3- You can also hire additional people to unload yourself of nasty and
repetitive work.

These are efficient solutions that do work.
You just have to be committed and then have discipline to do it and follow through.

(3)You can decide to go crazy and make more money
or make less money and have more time to yourself.
(eventually you will make more in the long term because
you will be able to handle more accounts and concentrate
on sales, marketing and partnerships)

If you are not making enough money to hire someone after 2 years,
you should consider quitting this business. You are not
making enough money and you are destroying yourself.
The way you are running it, brings to your company very low margins
and a very slow growth rate. If you are patient and can handle it
running it this way, may be your granchildren will benefit the little money
you will have saved in the next 30 years.
You are also running the risk to spend the money you will eventually
make in fixing your back pains, hiring psychologists to fix your mental problems
and overall fixing what is left out of a carcass of a man.

You are taking the risk of arriving to a point of nausea,
where you don't care anymore about working and dealing with business issues.
Be careful, it is very dangerous.

CEO's work hard and make a lot of money,
but they also spend the money to the best food,
the most comfortable beds, penthouses, massages, limousines,
flying in private jets when they are
being massaged, gorgeous women that tell them how great they are,
many secretaries and assistants available 24/7etc.
This is how they can handle 90 hours a week and more,
not because they are superior to the rest of the human race.

Don't listen to the BS stories of "it came to this country with 2 pennies
and now he is a billionare". Don't believe what the press says.
Look at yourself, see what you are really delivering and if it is
going anywhere. Some people start doing something as a hobby
and then they will figure out after many years of struggling,
that this is not what they wanted to do with their lives.
They wake up one day and ask themselves "what am I doing? why?"

You may also want considering getting a partner with either money or knowledge.

Another solution is to raise your prices. This will stimulate your motivation.
People that are usually stress out, don't receive enough from what
they give. You will then, for the same amount of time you dedicate,
be remunerated much more.

It is like selling 100 accounts at $10 each and dealing with 100
customers or selling one account for $1000. The profit is the same,
but the first business owner have to deal with 100 people,
the second deals with only one. They both make the same money.
Besides, businesses are not going to bother you every day with
senseless questions.

now:
was it easy to start selling accounts at $10 each ?
yes. everyone can buy a reseller account and call themselves
the best web hosting company in the world with the best support.

why is it easy ? because there are a lot more people willing to
spend $10 than $1000 every month.
But these are the consequences you have to deal with.

Why do you think huge companies have higher prices than you
and leave you this "great" business to you?
Are they stupid ? no at all. They leave people like us dealing
with the left over of the heavy bulk of customer service,
for little or no money at all. Customers that most of the time
are hard to please or they require maintenaince like babies.
Once you teach them everything they need to know, they
will leave you for a bigger company.

Small players in the web hosting business as well as internet access don't
make money. They give all their time and start out of passion or
curiosity, but they make no profits for the time and effort they invest.
Looking just at the compliments you receive from your customers,
without looking at the profits and groth rate of your business,
is not a healthy business practice.

To make money with consumers you need to have a very large user base.
You need industrial strenght automated accounting software, as well as a great amount of money for marketing in order to get many new users, fast.
And to support a large user base you need to have many customer support people.
If you want to deal seriously in the consumer arena, get some VC lined up for you and go for it.

If you want to make money before you become a grandfather,
deal with businesses and forget about consumers.

Sleeping next to the phone and answer e-mail personally
selling web hosting accounts to consumers is not going to
make you wealthy. It is just a game for people that want to have
fun or they want to say they run a web hosting company.
It is also for dreamers that think they will make eventually
tons of money "in the future". The smartest probably will think
they are going to make money selling their company and user base to interland.

You want to keep your daytime job and spend time with your family as well as professionally run a company part time, that makes money. You also want to be relaxed and have time to yourself.

You are stressed out for a reason, unfortunately it is not a coincidence.

Stop what you are doing for a second,
look at the reality of the market and yourself,
and write a strong and realistic business plan.

Work smart, not hard.

Though kind of out of season, go skiing :) Though many people say to drop contact with the world when you're stressed out, I personally find that more stressing. What if this, that, etc. Turn the phone off and just do email support on your own schedule. Find something to occupy most of your time, then allow yourself just enough time to make sure everything is running smoothly. The key here is diversion, do everything possible to make hosting the last thing on your mind while you're on vacation.

I screen all my calls at home. My answering machine is set to answer after one ring.

This way, I'm not a slave to my phone and it helps me feel like I'm in control of at least something that's technical in my life.

haha.

But when I'm really "burnt out", I go to the library and check out a few books about history. I find the perspective tends to wind me down a bit.

Cheers!

From tb1's huge post
Outsource all the cooking, cleaning, shopping, picking up children etc.



Outsource....lol....sorry, thats the first time I've seen that word used for normal day-to-day activities. :D


Anyway, I think I'm going to try everyone's suggestion. I don't know if I would call it stress, but I have been a wreck recently. I feel like sleeping all day, when its time to eat I don't want to, I never want to go into the office, I never want to go do things that are needed (haircuts, groceries, etc.), etc. :rolleyes: Oh well.....I've got a new doctor and I've got an appointment this Tuesday....maybe he'll have something that I can add here!

The first thing I'm going to do is try to budget my time. I do feel like work has taken me over and I never think about anything. I guess I just have a lot of projects and stuff going on. :rolleyes:

I will admit....that "taking a bat to an old computer" does sound rewarding. :D

i just put a big chew in and play foosball or darts.

dmitler, i'm 18 and i got RSI in my wrist :-(

That probably wasnt from using the computer :laugh:

Originally posted by SplashHost.com

That probably wasnt from using the computer :laugh:

Oh man! Now that was funny. :stickout

I am reading The Lord of the Rings again right now. I tend to get a little stressed towards the end of the day and that is when I turn off my laptop, try to spend some time with friends, read, and sleep.

I am not married yet so I cannot go for the special fun some here have mentioned and I do not have any little kids that beat me in video games.

Reading really appeals to my personality.