If I see anything over a C4, I know to be extra patient with people, budget for a longer commute due to foggy drivers causing problems on the freeways. 

When an M-Class comes in, or if the wind speed gets up around 600,  I try to stay in as much as possible. Great time to read a book or take a nap. Problems are just way more likely on those days. I don't ask much of clients or friends, because I know I'm less likely to get it, and pushing might lead to an argument. Especially on Facebook. Lord, the stupidity I have let myself get sucked into on that site. Trolls flourish on flare days. Just say no to flamewars. 

When an X-class comes in, or if the windspeed gets over 700km/sec I try to duck and cover. I cancel any sort of emotional heavy lifting with my recovery clients. I also try to put off anything that involves unnecessary driving into a dense populations, or undergoing a procedure like dental work. Mistakes are just more likely to made on those days.

Second step is to hydrate and eat extra healthy. Most of us aren't getting enough h2o anyway, and you definitely need more when your spaceship is in the midst of a giant fireball.

​

Third step, is to ease off the stims. Lord knows I love my coffee. But I know that I will pay for it that night, when I'm wide awake with every last last little nerve ending buzzing like a hornet.

Insomnia is one of the more noticeable and unpleasant aspects of a big storm. The CME's can take a few days to arrive on Earth, and they are basically fast moving clouds filled with highly charged particles. They overwhelm our electrical systems. It's like running a 100 watts through a 60 watt bulb.

If the storm is bad enough, and I have something imperative to do the next day, I will occasionally take a sleeping aid. Otherwise I'll just lay there and buzz all night. Be careful though, quite a few of those helpers are really addicting.

Benadryl works for me, as does Kava and Valerian. Melatonin is especially beneficial, as it helps produce serotonin, a happy chemical.

For some reason, the storms seem to make everything in our lives seem way seem worse than it is.  My friends and I have learned to not make important decisions based on the temporary emotions that arise during these times. (We've also learned that we were unnecessarily attaching physical pains to emotional circumstances, but that's another thing entirely.)

For some reason when the storms come in, I feel like I'm worthless, and that what I'm doing doesn't mean anything, and that my life is a waste. 

I don't know why the solar storms trigger the negative self talk, but I do know that once I am able to drag myself to the Laptop to check spaceweather.com, I invariably see that a sizable storm is in, and this is a massive relief, because I know the source of the suffering is external, and like all storms, will eventually pass. 

If I dropped this link on your post, this is what I wanted to share with you. The horrible feelings you're experiencing will not be so bad once the storm passes, and you will be stronger for having endured the experience.

 Step 4 is the hard one. Try not to take anything personally. People are just way more likely to be jerks on these days. Don't buy into the sickness. The person spewing bile out their USB-hole online or gunning their Harley at 3:27 in the morning on a Tuesday is easier to accomodate when you know what's up.

Learn to just navigate around them, and meet them with kindness if you can. Believe me, I know the temptation to heave your Latte back at the idiot who's tailgating you at 72 mph. (Done it. Several times. Sorrynotsorry.)  But that just perpetuates the cycle.  
 

That's not to say we shouldn't hold them accountable for their actions. It's not their fault, but it is their responsibility. We're all getting pounded, and we're all experiencing trauma. So what separates the Jedi from the Muggles is how we handle it. Some lash it out unfairly on others, some people rise to the occasion and endure it with dignity and grace.

So here's another piece of simple info that has the power to unlock a new level of life. Our problems both on a personal and planetary level mostly stem from the fact that we have a natural tendency to over-react to perceived threats.

You see, our fight or flight mechanisms are still calibrated to Saber-Tooth tiger days. This means that when somebody cuts in line at the post office, our body dumps all the adrenaline and other kill-or-be-killed chemicals into our systems.  We rev up on the go-juice and launch into beast mode, the one designed to out run, or rip apart another apex-predator.