Stress Management
Stress happens when you analyze demands placed on your shoulders, such as work, school, or relationships, that exceed your ability to cope. Some stress can be good stress. For example, studying for a huge test for the next day. You produce a drive and energy to get through the situation. Too much stress can have health consequences whether it be physical or mental. To control the stress I follow a few easy steps that help me get back on track.
- Figure out the source of the stress
- Replace unhealthy reactions to that stress with healthy ones
- Get Moving
- Connect with others
- Make time for fun
- Manage your time more efficiently
- Maintain a healthy lifestyle
- Meditation
Avoid, Alter, Adapt, Accept is an easy way to think of how you should deal with stress. Some people like to keep a stress journal to help identify sources of your stress in life and help deal with them if you are having a hard time analyzing what the sources are. Each time you feel stressed, record it in your journal and also record how you acted in response to that stress. If you continue this process then you will begin to see patterns and common themes.
Prioritize tasks, create a list of all activities you have going on for the day or week then rate these by how urgent they are. Not important tasks are the ones that don’t need to be done. Important tasks are those that are meaningful or important to you, such as spending time with your family, helping friends, paying bills, etc. Urgent tasks are those that must be done right away to avoid a major problem, such as paying the water bill today or your water will be turned off tomorrow. People will sometimes not deal with important things until they are urgent, which leads to stress.
Here is a quick cheat sheet you can use to help keep you stress free.
- Avoid people who stress you out
- Take control of your environment
- Learn how to say no
- Do not take your stress out on others
- Do not zone out looking at your phone
- Pare down your to-do list
- Do something you enjoy everyday
- Workout
- Watch a comedy
- Delegate responsibility
- Take your dog for a walk
- Adjust your standards
- Create a balanced schedule
- Use the perception process
- Do not overcommit
- Share your feelings
- Eat healthy
- Break projects into small steps
- Learn to forgive
- Look at the Big picture
- Be grateful for what you have