This is time I can think about projects, things I want to do or simply muse about life. No interruptions of any kind. I have enjoyed—or at least survived—another day and I feel balanced and in harmony.

I try to keep my routine pretty much same every day with a couple of exceptions. Tuesdays I usually play a morning round of golf with a couple of clients. While I don’t consider golf exercise, it’s mentally very relaxing because by very nature of game I am forced to slow down.

Saturday mornings, it’s tennis with boys. After a leisurely lunch with good conversation and a lot of laughter, I head to office for around 3 hours of work. Again, I’m far more relaxed when tackling spreadsheets or responding to e-mails after having exercised.

Sundays, I answer some e-mails from home, but spend most of time with my son doing a variety of athletic things.

By Sunday night I’m back in spa considering week. Usually I can say that every one of my days indeed was filled with things I had to do as well as things I wanted to do. I look forward to next morning when I get to start all over again.

Here are some things you can do to get into a similar rhythm:

1. Try to live close to work to avoid long, stressful commutes. 2. Join a fitness center near work and negotiate with your boss to extend your lunch to 90 minutes. Offer to work a half hour late to make up time. 3. If you have a long commute, don’t waste time in homebound traffic. Go to fitness center after work and get on road after traffic has cleared. 4. If you have no other choice and you are a morning person, get to gym before work.

Once you’ve been able to balance work and health, I can promise that benefits you enjoy—including financial thanks to greater productivity—will have you wondering why you didn't start sooner.

Colon Cancer Colon Cancer is one of most common types of cancer, but it is also one of most preventable. Among many ways that men and women can lower their risk of this disease is to maintain a healthy weight. Data shows that obese people are 50 percent more likely than lean adults to develop non-cancerous growths in colon that have potential become cancerous.

So instead of opting for maybe a possible malignancy with those extra helpings, help yourself to a mindfulness of determining whether or not really are hungry, and congratulate yourself for making a healthy choice.

(Some excerpts printed with permission from The Nurses Health Study Annual Newsletter /November 2003, vol. 10)

Link: Assess your own cancer risk: www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa