Psychiatrist Fernando Sarráis. PHOTO: Manuel Castells

In his book Aprendiendo a vivir: el descanso, from the collection 'Persona y Cultura', Dr. Sarráis makes the following recommendations to people who have important responsibilities or who present great tension in their ordinary life due to their hyper-responsibility:

1. Distract themselves with recreational activities, since enjoyment is necessary for mental rest;

2. Disconnect through travel, since physical distance is often accompanied by mental distance;

3. Change activities periodically, to take a break from one activity with another activity that is less stressful;

4. Be in a good mood: laughter goes hand in hand with a more festive sense of life and, therefore, financial aid to de-dramatize responsibilities;

5. Ask financial aid and committee to people around: we get less tired if we share the weight;

6. Delegate part of the responsibilities;

7. Trust in others: distrust leads to excessive and obsessive control of the environment, which is exhausting;

8. Put order in the sense of responsibility: give more importance to the responsibility of being happy than to that of being perfect or successful;

9. Do not try to prove the value staff with the exact fulfillment of each thing you do; perfectionism is exhausting;

10. Learn to say 'no' (without feeling bad) to new responsibilities as long as the previous ones are not finished, because having pending things tires more than doing them.