How To Stop Being So Cranky

Motivational speaker and business consultant Leslie Charles asks, "Why is everyone so cranky?" in her new book by the same title.

CBS News Correspondent Russ Mitchell reports her book is full of quizzes to help readers understand whether they are cranky, why and what can be done.

For example, she asks: "Are you pressed for time?"

"Do you have time for fun?"

"Are you more irritable or impatient?

"Do relationships need attention?"

"Are you working more and enjoying it less?"

"Is something missing?"

These are just some questions that Charles includes in her book to bring to light the cultural crankiness we live in.

Among the 10 trends that have changed the landscape of our culture into an anger epidemic include compressed time, communication overload and lack of connection, Charles says.

These trends have led to people speeding up their lives so they are overworked, overspent and their brains, bodies and budgets are stressed to the max, causing stress for all, she says.

"Stress causes crankiness; crankiness is an OK place to visit, but you don't want to live there because it's a short trip from anger to rage," she adds.

What she suggests is to stop every now and then and do a quick check. Ask some of her questions.

"It's not the big things that make us cranky but the little things. This book is about 100 little things that have the potential of making us cranky," she adds.

Charles became interested in this topic because she says she was a trendsetter in crankiness before it was even fashionable.

Once she identified she had a problem in this area, she was able to do something about it.

"Most of the time it requires being a little more patient, using our sense of humor and being able to just identify with other people," she suggests.

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