Top Tips for Managing Your Stress
There are times that stress gets on top of us and all we want to do and curl up in bed until the bills go away, your responsibilities stop being so demanding and all the problems in your life magically disappear. Although, a comfortable way to hide from your stress, it’s important to begin to manage this so that you can cope better.
Sometimes squeezing a stress ball just doesn’t do the trick so here are some great tips for managing and coping with your stress.
Identify the sources of stress in your life
The first step is most definitely to identify what is causing you stress. There’s a solution to every problem. For example, if you find that you’re constantly worried about work deadlines, identify why this is. Is it because you spend a lot of time procrastinating or is it that your workload is just too big? There are solutions to both these problems. The act of taking control of your stress is empowering and it’s a crucial part of combating the stress in your life.
Have a Chat!
The classic saying ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’ became so well known for a reason – because it’s true! Having a good chat with a friend, a colleague and family members can ease your troubles and help you to see things in a different way.
Have some ‘Me Time’
With such busy lives it’s often difficult to find any time for yourself. Without this time it’s easy for stress to consume our lives. Set aside a couple of nights a week for some quality ‘me time’ away from work, bills, cooking and cleaning and enjoy yourself.
Be Active
Some obvious advice from an online fitness company here but physical activity really can change your state of mind. If you have stressful problem, physical activity can get you in the right state of mind to be able to identify it’s cause and help you find a solution. Regular exercise boosts your mood and benefits your mental wellbeing greatly so why not make exercise one of your ‘me time’ activities.
Time Management
Good time management means quality rather than quantity. For example, if you have a lot of things to do that day, you may find it easiest to write a checklist, prioritising what you have to do from top to bottom. Being able to draw a line through what you have managed to achieve makes you feel much more satisfied. Concentrate on tasks that will make a difference to your stress levels.
Be Positive
Look for the positives in life, and things for which you are grateful. Write down three things at the end of each day that went well or for which you’re grateful.
It can be quite difficult for some more naturally pessimistic people to just start thinking positively so it will require a shift in perspective. It can be done though! Have a read of the book ‘The Secret’ as it offers some great positive thinking advice.
Challenge Yourself
Setting you goals and challenges, whether at work or outside, such as learning a new language or a new sport, helps to build confidence. That in turn will help you deal with stress. Learning new things gives you even more drive and realize just how much you can do!
Accept the things you can’t change
Changing a difficult situation isn’t always possible. Therefore, if this proves to be the case, recognize and accept things as they are and concentrate on everything that you do have control over.
If you can’t remove the stress, remove yourself.
If you find yourself in a stressful group situation, slip away once in a while for some private time. These quiet moments may give you a fresh perspective on your problems. Avoid stressful people. For example, if there’s that one person in your friendship group you don’t get on with, don’t invite them to places …only joking, just make sure there are plenty of others around you too. Having other people around will absorb some of the pressure that you normally feel.
Go to the Doctor
If you feel that stress is getting the better of you then seek some professional help. For example, you may identify that it’s your insomnia that is causing your stress to become unmanageable and a doctor will be able to help with solving your sleep problems.
We hope that these tips have helped to give you some ideas about how to manage your stress.