Best Tips & Coping Strategies To Deal With Stress & Pressure
Get Yourself Organized
The New Year is seen as a great time to take stock and organise. However, you don’t need to wait till New Year – organization can begin at any time. A lack of organisation in your home, in your office or elsewhere in your life, creates stress and anxiety. In order to get organised however, you need to have a plan. If you feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start, create a plan that you will stick to. For example if you need to organize your house or study, put aside blocks of time to dedicate to this task. Don’t try to do everything at once or you will fail and give up.
Manage Your Time In Small Blocks
Manage your time effectively and you will feel less stressed. Don’t try to pack in too much in one go. It’s stressful and you will often fail. Managing your time well will help make you feel more relaxed. Make a “To Do List” then prioritise the items and create (achievable) deadlines. Always complete the unpleasant tasks first as once they are out of the way everything else will feel easier. Break down large tasks into smaller steps and always finish one task before moving on to the next. It takes discipline but you will reap the rewards.
Nuture Your Friendships and Family
One of the best ways to counter stress is to meet regularly with friends. According to research, socializing with others is one of the best stress busters there is. If you’re feeling under pressure and feel you can’t spare the time, just make time for a quick coffee, or a short walk. The benefit of meeting for a walk is that it’s free, good exercise for you both and you will kill two birds with one stone. In fact, recent studies have even shown that even engaging with strangers helps lift ones mood. So that chat with check out attendant or the person serving you coffee, also helps boost your immune system and helps lift your mood.
Meeting with people causes the body to produce opioids which help reduce pain, anxiety and stress. Physical exercise also creates a sense of well being – so doing both together is a great boost. Try to prioritise regularly make time for your friends and family. If you don’t have a wide circle of friends, join some clubs or volunteer. Maybe you have a neighbour you can help? Maybe you can volunteer at a local old people’s home?
Go Outside Into Natural Light Within One Hour Of Waking
Another strategy to help you feel less stressed and anxious and is to make sure that every day you go outside within one hour of waking. Apparently, being outside in natural light for just a few minutes (ideally go for a walk if you can) has an amazing effect on the way you feel and sets you up for the whole day. If you don’t regularly do this, give it a go and feel the difference!
Learn To Let Go
Learn to let go of everything over which you have no control. This is easier said than done but if you manage this you will automatically feel a sense of relief. Accept that certain things happen (or have happened) and just move on. If you feel you are mulling over negative thoughts, do something completely new to distract yourself. Go on a day trip, discover a new town, immerse yourself in nature, go on a spa day, visit old friends or relatives. Find peace in the fact that yesterday is over and there are new and exciting opportunities waiting to be discovered.
Change Your Point Of View
Sometimes we become so entrenched in one point of view that we lose perspective. If you’re stuck in one mindset, try for a change to look at the situation from the other person’s point of view and try and reassess. At the same time it helps to be less “judgey” towards other be more empathetic. Maybe your negative stress factors are unfavourably influencing your relationships and by re-assessing your viewpoint you can become more accepting and relaxed and less stressed.
Think Positive!
An important thing in dealing with stress is finding the ability to think positively. Try not to ruminate on negative thoughts and even in a bad situation try to find something positive. Most things don’t end in disaster and there is nearly always room for manoeuvre and for hope. Ask yourself what you can learn from this situation and learn from it. Believe in yourself. Think of optimistic people you know and see how they deal with difficult situations and try to emulate them. Most things are not nearly as bad as we imagine them to be. Think positive!
Stop Trying to be a Perfectionist – Do Your Best
So many people beat themselves up as they try in vain to be a perfectionist. Don’t get me worong, it’s always good to aim high! However, the idea that we have to do everything perfectly is so outdated. Aim to do things as best you can, given the circumstances. Everyone makes mistakes and we can’t all be perfectionists. Just do your best and be happy with your achievemnets. Each achievement will drive you on to do more.
Make Sure To Get Enough Sleep
One of the most important ways to help with stress and anxiety is to get enough sleep. If you feel this is an area you need to work on wait for our follow up post coming soon. One important tip is for the room you sleep in to be as uncluttered as possible. Another tip is to have good bedding. You might like to read this article on weighted blankets which have been proven to help with sleeping.
Make Time For Yourself!
Make sure to create free time for yourself! Do things you really like, find a hobby or devote tme to discovering a hobby or pastime you really enjoy. Don’t make excuses and don’t let work get in the way. Whether you paint, cook, go to the gym or play and instrument, make time for things you really like to do. Devote yourself to your hobby and why not try something you have never tried before like mindfulness, or maybe yoga or pilates?
This article was written by Claudia Schmidt for TravelStyleFun.com. Claudia is currently writing her first book.
Further resources:
You might also like to read this article on Self Care Tips for when you’re stressed
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