I am often amazed at how lifestyle issues can create attention, behavior, processing and learning symptoms. Our society is trained to run for the drugs when we have a problem. Sometimes it can be as easy as changing daily habits in your everyday life. In my work with kids and families, I have personally seen these things help a lot!
1.) Get some sun on your skin. If it isn't around, like us lucky midwesterners experience every winter, check with your doc about your vitamin d level as well as your kids. There is a huge body of evidence out there that says that vitamin d deficiency contributes to all kinds of problems including depression and attention problems. I've heard it said that we are more cavemen than the cavemen were. We wake up, drive to work or school, go inside and work, come home and get in front of our TV or computer and then go to sleep. Those that do go outside usually bathe in so much sunscreen that they are cocooned. Is it any wonder that illness is going up including autoimmune illness. I find it so interesting that people who live closer to the equator and in sunny climates, have much less incidence of these illnesses and generally feel happier. Those of us who live in the Midwest and lose the sun for much of the year need to either supplement or find other options. Ok..... most people would find me nuts, except for my dermatologist who tells me I am doing things exactly right (isn't it great when someone tells you that you're doing the right thing). I wait until between 2-3 PM in Summer and Fall and then we go out with at least legs and arms exposed to get our D's without sunscreen. This way we miss the strongest sun, but get the benefits of the rays too! If you want a somewhat different way of getting sun rays in the winter, check out Dr. Joseph Mercola's site and look up stand up tanning systems. 
2.) Exercise. They say the difference between life and death is exercise. We have become a computer and gaming driven society. Instead of meeting at the park, kids chat online. Instead of going outside to get sun, they look into the light of a computer screen, while sitting still in a chair. All of us do it. Adults usually work from computer and of course, in this economy, we are spending more time doing that, either working harder than normal or trying to find something to do for work. At my docs office, I heard something that I thought was really smart. For every hour, 20 minutes should be sitting, 20 minutes looking away from the computer and 20 minutes moving. I know it doesn't sound like good productivity, but sometimes, we need to think longevity. Exercise helps promote Serotonin levels which helps sleep. It also increases the "happy" brain chemicals that fight depression. Ultimately this makes for better productivity! Defining exercise is an interesting thing. A lot of people think it's about beating yourself up and being breathless in a gym. Brisk walking 30-45 minutes 3-4 times a week is good too! Just get moving!
3.) Smile and laugh frequently! Smiling and laughing is good for the heart, soul and spirit. It bonds you with others. It makes you feel good, even if things are bad. Belly laughing actually works your muscles out (you can't cheat though and call this your exercise for the day). Have you ever had a moment with someone where you were laughing so hard you couldn't catch your breath? That is the most wonderful feeling and is so good for you. We are creatures of habit. We are what we do repetitively! So if we frown repetitively or look down all the time, that is what we feel all the time. If we smile and laugh repetitively, we will feel better no matter what is around us. I have found that I am more creative and find ways to make things work when I am in a happy mood, than the other way! So, smile and laugh as often as you can!
4.) Look at the gifts around you! Ok, we are in very hard times. The future looks bleak, if you listen to the "talking heads". It's almost heart stopping. So it is more important for us to look at the gifts we have around us in our life. We all have them, even in bad moments. My gifts are my husband and children! The time we spend together is priceless. Even when I am on my computer doing work for long periods of time, I can look at them or hug them and it is rejuvenating. You must focus on your gifts! It will get you through. 
5.) Openly love your children and tell them how much they mean to you at least once a day. They need to know this. We can sometimes get so wrapped up in work and struggle that our kids normal behaviors can set us off. Especially now, with the economy like it is. When you are feeling the most frustrated, it is time to take a deep breath, focus on the sweetness of your kids (even if they aren't being sweet at the moment-if you have to.... remember them from the past), sit down with them and tell them how much they mean to you. Not only will this do a lot to cement your relationship, but I found over 24 years of working with kids with behavior problems, the ones who feel open and overt love from parents often, want to do the right things more for their parents. 
6.) Eat right. This seems like a no brainer, but it is tough. There are so many bad things in processed foods and the name of the game these days is processed and fast. You have to start reading labels and try your best to go with foods that have only a few natural ingredients. Mike Huckabee once said that "if it wasn't a food 100 years ago, it isn't one now". I totally agree with that philosophy. You should avoid the biggies like partially hydrogenated oil and high fructose corn syrup. Think about it logically...the first one is there to preserve the food forever on the shelf. Think about the potential of what that does to your body. The second one is sugar. Sugar has been implicated in inflammation in many articles. Inflammation leads to disease, cognitive impairment, pain, emotional upset and sleep disorders. In fact, many of the people who have come to me for behavior and attention help have found that after following my diet, exercise, happiness guidelines, that much of their symptoms disappear and then the rest we take care of with my program. This is why my work with people tends to be permanent. If they follow the advice, they are not just changing behavior or skills. They are changing life habits which has far more lasting benefits. 
7.) Sleep right. Bar none, I believe this is the absolute reason for most problems that people face. Sleep deprivation. I saw a study once that just floored me. They took a 19 year old healthy boy, put him in a sleep lab, hooked him up to EEG and EKG machines and let him go to sleep. During his sleep, every time he would reach deep sleep, they would ring a loud bell and wake him up. He would then be allowed to go back to sleep until the next bell. They did this all night long. Within 1 day, all of his vitals were way off. His blood sugar was bad, which of course is the pathway to most disease. We are living in a time of high stress, economic fear and fast living. We have loads of caffeine in our world as well as sugars in our foods. We always think that one or two nights of bad sleep won't hurt us. Think again! The best way to get healthy and happy is to sleep well. The best way to do that is to make sure you are taking care of yourself the right way. What I like to do is to have turkey with milk for dinner. Then a few hours later, I take a cup of 1% milk, warm it in the microwave and indulge in my one chocolate pleasure of the day, an Equaline calcium-magnesium chocolate. I eat it with the hot milk and it tastes just like cocoa. It is wonderful. Obviously the cal-mag is not for everyone and you should check with your doc before supplements, but the hot milk, as long as someone isn't allergic, is a great thing. Milk, when heated, produces Tryptophan, the brain chemical that produces Serotonin...the sleep chemical. Lots of people take sleeping pills. I don't like those personally because they all tend to have Diphenhydramine which is like Benadryl and can dry you out. I don't like that feeling. Of course, everyone has their preferences. There are also Melatonin supplements out there. Just be sure to NOT get the natural ones in this situation. Also check with your Doc before taking anything. For kids, I believe that the warm milk (of course not if child has allergies), and taking out the sugars is the best thing. One other thing that I found amazing.....you need to have some good fat to go to sleep. Think like a bear! The worst insomnia I ever had was when I was on a low to no fat diet to try and lose weight. When I added back in the fat, sleep came back. Now this is not an excuse to pig out before bed! Good fat....olive oil, vegetarian fed eggs, a little bit of milk fat, fish oil. 3 of 4 of these are Omega 3 fat. I found an article I read about fat very interesting. It said that 30 years ago when we ate more fat as a society, we had less obesity. Now, we have replaced all the real fat, with the partially hydrogenateds and have more obesity now. Also, a little fat makes you feel full so you don't go grabbing for the munchies which are loaded with the partially hydrogenateds. Good sleep helps you to lose weight, feel good, have good cognitive skills, be happy, be healthy with healthier sugar levels and better productivity. A small amount of good fat can help good sleep which can help you get to the rest of those. I have watched good sleep get rid of 90% of adhd symptoms in my clients. Once good sleep is happening, the rest of it falls into place with my program. 
8.) Get away from your computer for a little while! Good advice for me too! Lots of work needs to be done now. More than before. We need to make sure we are interfacing with humans during the day too!
A healthy, happy life is not hard to do by doing the basics!
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