Stress is not an illness, but it is a reaction to our life experiences. When you stress your body triggers hormones that prompt fight or flight mode. By learning how to manage these stressors we can begin to respond differently to things that bring us stress.
Stress management is important for physical and mental wellbeing. Chronic stress can directly impact your body which in turn affects your mental health, thereby reducing your quality of life. This is because when people are stressed, they end up turning to bad habits such as smoking, vaping, drinking and eating junk food. Furthermore, long term stress can lead to mental health conditions like depression. So, combating stress in our daily lives is key.
Studies have shown that our brains are incredibly adaptive. Which means that we can learn and develop skills that are useful to managing stress. Even for those who are more predisposed to stress than others to due factors such as traumatic past and upbringing. There is hope, there is hope for everyone. That is why we talk about wellbeing.
3 ways that you can manage stress.
I was determined to find ways to manage my stress as I saw how it was starting to affect my mental health. The level you are in now, requires that you are equipped with skills to you manage stressful situations. Giving into to stress only makes things worse for you.
1 .Take Note of the things that stress you.
Sometimes we generalise what makes us feel stressed to statements like ‘work’, ‘school’, or just life. But in that there are specific things that actually cause you stress.
The first way to manage your stress is to identify the things that stress you directly. You can do this by physically noting it down Sunday evenings for example, before you start you week.
Note down during that week the things that stress you out then narrow them down. Is it your manager, the workload, a colleague, the pressure of deadlines? What is it that causes that stress? Also make sure to identify how you were feeling when that happened.
Step 2
When you identify the things that cause you stress. Begin to explore how many of these stressors you can eliminate from the list. You don’t have to do this by yourself. You can ask your friends, family and loved ways to help you.
With factors such as work deadline consider how you reach those targets. Time management is a big factor. As giving yourself time to complete tasks can help alleviate some of these pressures. Make sure to work through the list one by one not all at once.
2. De-clutter your schedule
Another thing that causes people stress are the number of commitments that they have on a day-to-day basis. This pressure means that you don’t get time to rest your body and mind. Therefore, are not able to carry out these responsibilities properly which then leads to guilt, anger, sadness and stress.
Solution
First thing to do is cut down on the tasks and prioritise the most important things for you. That way you can focus on the quality of what you are doing rather than the quantity (list).
Remember that you are not superman or superwoman, sometimes this mindset puts unrealistic expectations on us. So, reducing your list can help you to achieve your goals without feeling pressure.
You can also delegate or share responsibilities when you can. Delegation is key, don’t do everything by yourself let others help you. Even if it is a little help, it can make the difference.
3. Exercise
I am a big advocate for exercise and fitness as a tool to general wellbeing. Exercise is often associated with factors such as weight loss and muscle building. All valid reasons. But exercising does more for us.
Exercise helps your mental health. When we exercise the body produces serotonin and reduces what is often called the ‘stress’ hormone, cortisol. Therefore, exercise is very important to relieve stress.
There are different forms of exercise you can engage with such as; taking a walk and listening to music, cycling, or swimming.
4. Assumptions, Assumptions, Assumptions.
One thing that causes people stress are false assumptions. When I say people, I am talking mostly about myself and you who worries. False assumptions and ideas can have a damaging effect on the mind. Assumptions can come as a result of fearing past experiences happening again. They are also a result of over worrying about things happening. Think about all the negative ‘what ifs’ that have kept you up at night. How many of those assumptions have turned out to be the true. Every time I have worried or assumed someone was going to respond a certain way, I’ve turned out to be utterly wrong.
Solutions
The first thing to address with assumption is asking yourself if there is another likely scenario. This is an important question as people tend to worry and assume the worst possible thing. They ‘are not going to like me at the interview, what if trip and fall in front of everyone, what if I fail in life.’ These are just some of many assumptions and worries that people may have. I won’t even touch on the worries and assumptions in relationships with others. But as you can see, we cause ourselves stress by focusing so much on the negative that we neglect to consider other possible scenarios.
5.Your Faith
I can’t talk about stress management without mentioning the key role that religion has in this. Hundreds of studies have reported on a significant relationship between religion and better health. The encouragement that I get from reading the Bible and praying is very tangible and has helped me when I get very stressed. Just remembering countless scriptures about not worrying, anchors me at times when I worry and stress.
Stress management can be achieved in many ways which is why I did not neglect to list the different ways that you can manage stress in your life. Part of wellbeing is using these different dimensions in order to attain optimal results
