The days of the market closing at 4 p.m. are long over. Over the past decade, technology and globalization have transformed finance into an all-encompassing, 24-hour faucet of breaking headlines, price action and trade. From Sunday night to Friday afternoon, money never sleeps.

In the U.S., futures contracts for every major stock, bond and commodity trade literally around the clock. Personally, they haunt me: prices for gold, stock indexes and bond markets are the first thing I look at when I wake up and the last thing I check before I go to bed. Even some amateur investors are accustomed to waking up and gauging the premarket futures. In modern markets, you simply don t get a break.

During waking hours, it s also easy to get overwhelmed. Between following prices, reading reports and evaluating companies or funds, there s an endless amount of research one can do. Of course, none of it makes any difference in how shares of XYZ will ultimately perform.

The past year has seen some of the biggest volatility, both on the way down and the way up, in stock market history. Beyond the economic loss, the turmoil on traders nerves has been unmatched. There was Joseph Luizzi, he CME floor trader who committed suicide after losing a fortune of the floor of the exchange. Or Agnes Wu Man-Ching, the Hong Kong stock commentator who broke down in tears on air upon seeing shares of HSBC (HBC) plummet 24%.

To that end, every investor needs a respite from the daily uncertainty and stress of the markets. Something as simple as a walk, a bath or an hour of mindless TV can provide the necessary distance to help stay grounded, even when it feels as if the markets are turned upside down. I m certain you ve got a number of your own favorite distractions, which I d like to hear about. Below I ve listed a few of my own.

I ve written before about the bizarrely calming effect of Food Network and its restorative qualities are even more pronounced during tough economic times. I ve never once heard Bobby Flay or Paula Deen mention the yield curve or spend even a moment discussing the creeping inflation being created by the government s stimulus efforts.

For that reason I find Food Network a wonderful way to escape. After a long day wrestling with the stress and uncertainty of the economy, there s something about watching Guy Fieri eat a hamburger or Giada De Laurentiis chop fennel that calms me like nothing else.

Exercise

I often joke that while my money might travel around the world, my butt tends to remain firmly planted in a chair. No matter at what level you operate, investment is a rather sedentary business. The most exercise I ever got in investing was as a floor-running clerk at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) . Even then, I rarely broke a sweat.

Investors are constantly forced to make decisions, a process that is benefited greatly even by a short 20-minute walk each day. Exercise promotes a clear mind and gives you an opportunity to collect your thoughts away from the stress of flashing tickers and fast-moving markets.

Take a Tub

Alan Greenspan is famous for his morning ritual of reading in the bathtub. And like the former Fed chairman, I also find the tub to be an excellent escape from the tension of the investment world.

So much of investing involves dealing with factors totally out of our control. The tub, however, is an environment we control completely, and being pampered even just slightly unquestionably will improve your mood when the market isn t behaving as you d like. So turn the ringer off, light some incense and retreat to a long, quiet soak. For mental health, it s a low-cost indulgence with a high return on investment.

or politicians feeling obligated to do something. That impulse can quickly wreck an otherwise solid portfolio.

EBay (EBAY) provides a welcome distraction for traders who feel as if they want to transact, to trade, without having to upset their portfolios. If I m on the fence about adding a particular ETF or stock, for example, I might first buy an old book or DVD on eBay before delving in, giving myself a few extra days to consider the position more thoroughly. The company s auction platform provides the satisfaction of stalking and perhaps making a trade, albeit for usually a relatively small amount.

Of course, eBay also affords anyone the ability to sell, and for those burned by losses in the markets in recent months, there s a sincere satisfaction that comes with packing up the unused stereo in your rec room, sending it to some random address in Omaha and getting immediately PayPal-ed $45 in return.

Music

With the exception of Joey Ramone s Maria Bartiromo," there aren t many pop songs about commodities, interest rates or finance. As obvious as it might seem, music provides an excellent escape from the constant drone of economic data and news. "I think music in itself is healing, said Billy Joel. It's something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we're from, everyone loves music.

Up until recently, one took a risk in paying $15 for an unknown CD, or ended up wasting plenty of money when there were only a few songs on the album you know you actually wanted. Thankfully, Apple (AAPL) and others like Napster have made experimenting with new music or finding the tunes you actually want an inexpensive and low-risk trade.

Take a Break

One of the dark benefits of the downturn is an abundance of deals for cars, for computers, for almost anything. That savings includes vacations. Travelocity reports that the average domestic airfare is now $299, down 17% from year-ago levels. Hotel rooms are down 14% from last year.

Stressed and overwhelmed from the markets, many investors would be well-served by logging off for a few days. Even if it s a regional inn or B&B, getting some distance from your investments, if only for a long weekend, permits you to approach it with a fresh perspective.

For an active investor, any modern brokerage accounts can afford you some sense of control via the use of preset orders, freeing you from being logged in to the market every minute of the day. Good-until-canceled (GTC) stop loss orders, placed below the current market price, will ensure you cut losses short even if you re laying on a beach or eating a turkey leg at Disney (DIS) Magic Kingdom.

You can even use buy-stop orders that get you into the market. If you ve been eyeing shares of Makita Corporation (MKTAY), for example, but only want to add shares above $26, buy-stops will insure you enter the market weather you are sitting by your screen or not.

Now that I ve shared a few of my favorite stock-market escapes, what are yours? Leave your top ideas in our comments section or drop me a line directly at capitalistpig.com.