I've found that meditation is the best way for clearing ones mind of the daily stresses. I'm not sure of other ways.

As far as the lucid lifestyle goes, dream recall is very important. I would suggest working on that first before going on to other types of lucid dreaming. However with that said, I would work on RC's. Doing RC's during the day is a great way to get into the LD spirit of things. Anytime something odd happens during the day, you just do a quick RC. One thing to remember is that you have to really make it mean something. What I mean by that, is don't just do it in passing. Ask yourself seriously, "Am I dreaming?" and do an RC. I like plugging my nose as other RC's have failed for me in the past. I also like to think about what I would do if I were dreaming in the certain area that I do the RC. For instance, if I do the RC while at work, I then think about what I would do while at work if I were in a dream right now.

Anyway, those are my two cents. Hopefully they help and hopefully others have some good suggestions also.