More than 50 percent of adult Americans suffer adverse health effects due to stress. While significant events such as challenges at work, family problems or financial difficulties often contribute to stress, small challenges that we face on a daily basis also play their part.

Daily stressors can be just as harmful as more obvious stressful events. We are faced with an excessive number of intrusions in our daily lives--consider cell phone calls, telemarketers, TV commercials, and even junk e-mail--that constantly clutter up our time.

Further, we are all expected to work, parent and socialize close to 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is no wonder that some of the leading causes of death in the United States, including heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver and suicide, are all linked to stress.

The good news is that stress is reversible. One of the easiest ways to cut out a handful of interruptions to your day is to get rid of telemarketers by signing up for the National "Do Not Call" Registry. This new, free service, put out by the Federal Trade Commission, adds your number to a list that most telemarketers are forbidden to call. About 25 million people have already signed up for this service. Additionally, Junkbusters has a free service, Declare, which should help to reduce your junk mail.

Private Citizen has a more extensive paid service. For $20 a year they will list you in a directory that goes to junk call firms, which allows you to sue the firms if they call you. More than $2 million has been collected from sued firms and most people report a dramatic reduction in junk phone calls from the service. They also have a similar service that costs $10 a year for junk mail, which works quite effectively.

Although it’s impossible to avoid stress entirely, cutting out some daily interruptions will add up to more free time for you. Use the time to read, call a friend or relax--anything but taking on another stressful activity.

Time is an extremely valuable resource and one that cannot be increased. It is equal in that we all get the same amount--24 hours in each day--but what is unique is the way in which we spend it. Don’t let stress get you down--make the most of your time by allowing time for the things most important to you.

Also remember that the way you perceive things plays a large role in how stressful they are to you. If you are stuck in traffic and constantly blow your horn and yell at those around you, you can be sure that you are receiving more stress than the person who sits back and listens to music while waiting for traffic to open up. A common sense application of this applies to TV commercials. If you find yourself feeling anxious or stressed by TV ads, simply turn off the TV and focus your attention on something more enjoyable.

It has been estimated that up to 90 percent of illness and disease is stress-related. If you feel that stress is taking a toll on your health, consider using Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), a type of psychological acupressure. EFT is remarkably effective in relieving stress associated with all kinds of events, from work to family to trauma. You can check out my free, 25-page EFT manual for some guidelines on how to perform EFT. Beyond that you can try my EFT Series on DVD or VHS, which provides in-depth instruction on EFT.

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