If you experience a sudden shortness of breath during physical activity, the first thing you should do is temporarily discontinue that activity. Take a break from whatever you're doing and give yourself at least a few minutes to sit down and rest until you catch your breath.  Sit down, relax your shoulders, and focus on your breath. Do not attempt to resume any strenuous activities until you've caught your breath. Even then, you may want to talk to your doctor to determine the cause before resuming strenuous activities. If you're feeling short of breath, your natural instinct may be to try and breathe as rapidly as possible. However, this can actually make your situation worse. The best way to catch your breath is by taking long, slow, deep breaths down into your diaphragm.  Find a comfortable position. Do not abruptly halt your exercise. Slow to a walk until you catch your breath if necessary. Try to relax your neck and shoulders. Take a slow, deep breath into your diaphragm (below your ribs). Your inhalation should be slow and spread out over two to five seconds. Feel your belly rise as you inhale, and hold the breath for two to five seconds. Exhale slowly through your mouth. Make sure to exhale as slowly as possible because this will help to relax your muscles. If you want, you can also press gently on your belly to put pressure on the diaphragm. Repeat until you feel like your breath has stabilized. Some people find that lying on the floor can make breathing easier. It allows you to stretch out your body and facilitates an easier flow of air into your lungs without the pressure that may come with sitting or standing.  Lie on a blanket or rug to make the floor a little more comfortable. Keep your back and neck straight with your legs outstretched and just slightly apart. Your arms should be at your sides without touching your body, and your palms should be open and facing up. Breathe through your nose, and keep your mouth closed. The hairs in your nostrils can help filter out dust and other irritants from the air. Breathe deeply through the abdomen. You should feel your belly rising and falling with each breath. Repeat until your normal breathing patterns resume. Breathing through pursed lips can help slow down your respiration rate and ensure that you get adequate air into your lungs. You should continue to inhale as you would for normal deep-breathing exercises, then exhale slowly by forcing the air out of your mouth.  Breathe in slowly through your nostrils. Extend the inhalation over two to five seconds. Purse your lips. Your mouth should look and feel as though you're about to blow out a candle. Breathe out through your pursed lips. Your exhalation should be very slow and extended over two to five seconds. Continue breathing through pursed lips until you feel like your respiration has returned to normal.
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One-sentence summary -- Discontinue any activity that made you lose your breath. Take long, deep breaths instead of short, shallow breaths. Breathe while lying flat on the floor. Try breathing through pursed lips.


Don't hit the snooze button, linger in bed, and watch TV at the very start of your day. You probably didn't factor in an extra 10 or 15 minutes in bed when you planned out what time you'd need to wake up in the morning in order to get to your scheduled events on time. By getting up late you are setting a pattern of lateness for the rest of the day. Those extra minutes in bed will add up and push everything else back, so get up as quickly as you can.  Place your clock on the other side of the room to help force yourself to get out of bed. This gets you up and moving, and makes it impossible to hit the snooze button. Try stretching, splashing your face with water, and brushing your teeth right away to wake your body up more quickly. If you can't get out of bed on time, you may be going to bed too late.  Go to sleep earlier to see if that helps. This makes it a lot easier to get up on time and helps you stay on task during the day. Unless you know otherwise, assume you need eight hours of sleep every night. For example, you might be under the impression that you take a 15-minute shower, assuming that starting at 6:30 you can leave at 6:45. But, what about the time you spend before and after the actual shower? It's quite possible you really spend 20 or even 30 minutes in the bathroom, and that's why you can never leave by 6:45. So, think about the things you do every day, and try to keep an estimate of how long it takes you. Time yourself a few days in a row to see how long it actual takes you to perform certain tasks. Use a stopwatch and record the times over the course of a week, then average the times so you'll have an accurate indication of how much time to plan for each activity. What do you get caught up doing that prevents you from getting out the door? "Time sinkholes," like getting distracted while checking emails, spending too long curling your hair, or stopping at a coffee shop on the way to work are often unnoticed by us, and can throw off daily planning. When you discover a sinkhole, try to change your habits around the activity to make it faster.  For example, standing up while quickly checking your emails makes it hard to lose an hour randomly surfing the web. Set the time 5 minutes earlier than the actual time. This means you should always be at least 5 minutes early for an event or meeting. For instance, if you have to leave your house at 8 for work, tell yourself, "It's 7:20, I should be getting in the shower." "It's 7:35, I should be brushing my teeth." This will help keep you on track. It is useful to think up a morning schedule to get used to this habit. Consider printing out a schedule you can reference throughout the morning. Post it up in your bedroom, office, kitchen, and other places where you'll be sure to see it. Maybe you're often late because you schedule back-to-back appointments without leaving enough time in between to move from place to place. Examine your schedule and make sure each activity is buffered by several minutes before and after so you can spend that time traveling, resting, eating, and doing other things you need to do between appointments. If you tend to space out and forget what time it is, you probably need more clocks in your life. If you don't like wearing a watch, have your cellphone on hand at all times. Wall clocks are attention-grabbers that help people stay on task, too. Make sure all your clocks are set to the same time, so you don't get confused.  Utilize timers, alarms and reminders throughout the day as well. For example, you might want to set your phone to vibrate or ring when you have 10 minutes to go before your next class or meeting. Some people intentionally set their clocks several minutes fast in order to trick themselves into getting to places early. You could try this to see if it works for you, but many people find that they just mentally adjust their concept of what time it is to account for the extra minutes, and they end up late anyway. Knowing what time it really is will help you stay grounded and punctual.
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One-sentence summary --
Get up the second your alarm goes off. Re-examine how long your daily tasks really take. See where you often waste the most time. Change the time on your watch. Make a note of where you should be in regards to time. Don't overbook yourself. Surround yourself with timepieces.