“Are you getting more calls lately from customers who are desperate? Angry? At their wits end? If you are, raise your hand.” I asked 100 customer service reps that question the other day during a presentation. It’s no surprise that every hand in the room went up.

If your job involves serving customers you know that dealing with cranky people can be a challenge even on the best of days.  As the economy worsens, lay offs multiply. As a result, even the best customers are struggling to pay their bills. Many are desperate.

Reggie, a customer associate who works for a utility wrote me to say, “I really feel for these people because I can’t do anything besides tell them to pay their bill. I can give them the number for Energy Assistance but they probably won’t qualify. Even if they did, that program is about out of money. What’s scary to me is that I’m losing my patience and it shows.”

My advice to Reggie and anyone feeling overwhelmed and stressed: Unplug for a few minutes each day. That’s right, remove your headset and unplug from the chaos. Unplugging is the technique that helped Olivia, a service rep and the main character in The Napkin, the Melon & the Monkey deal with the many challenges of her job. It literally transformed her life. You don’t have to take my word for it. This simple technique for quieting the mind has been around for thousands of years and is used by millions of people every day.

I guarantee that if you make a habit of quieting your mind for even 5 minutes a day it will change your life for the better.  You’ll be more relaxed, less stressed, more creative and more productive.  If you want an easy read that tells you how this idea works, buy the book. There is no better time.