Stress and anxiety are two of the most common and inevitable problems in today’s world. The good news is that it’s possible to control how stressed you get and how often it happens. If you build a system of habits and rules for dealing with stressful situations , you can avoid the negative consequences. Some are pretty disturbing and include depression, burned out feeling, anxiety attacks and so on.
“Intelligence is sexy” t-shirt?!
You’ll find yourself feeling destroyed in the middle of the week!
We hope this article can help you not only to prevent stress, but also help you manage a stressful situation when you’re right in the middle of it.
Here are 15 tips that will help you deal with stress that work for me, I hope you find them useful too:
1. Make time for your hobbies
Make sure you finish your duties quicker by prioritizing them and working smarter. That way you’ll have more time for your hobbies – they are important for you! No matter if you enjoy playing basketball , singing , taking photos or writing, make sure it’s in your schedule. After all that’s what hobbies are about – something you love doing – one of world’s best stress relievers.
2. Deal with distraction sources at your work place
Nowadays it’s pretty easy to get distracted – if it’s not a phone call it would probably be your messenger beeping to interrupt you again and again. Don’t worry, it’s not (that) hard to deal with this problem – just take a few minutes before work to eliminate the distraction sources. For example , turn off your phone or leave it In another room, turn off your social media notifications , eat before you start and so on. By doing so you can concentrate and be more efficient while working – it feels a lot less stressful for sure!
3. Information intake control
Maybe one of the biggest reasons for being stressed out in the age of information! We are literally flooded with information thanks to the Internet and TV. Remember this, you can’t follow everything at once all the time. You can’t absorb all the information out there or you’ll probably go nuts ! You can deal with this by some smart information intake control – let the flow of information you take everyday contain only stuff that really matters and is useful to you. You have to know what information you need for YOUR life and goals!
4. Ask for help
We are social beings and crave contact with other humans. We are meant to cooperate in order to survive and live well(there are exceptions of course). So why not ask for help when you need it? It’s a simple as that and it can change your day!
5. Exhale the stress
Just close your eyes and breathe with your diaphragm for a few minutes, it does miracles! It clears your mind pretty fast and lets you think unaffected by emotions and stress. Concentrate on your breathing or count backwards to reconnect with the present moment. There are various breathing techniques on the Internet, just choose the best for you.
Read: Why You Shouldn’t Ever Stress Or Worry
6. Stay in the present
You can easily get stressed out by disconnecting from the present. If you spend too much time missing/regretting the past or worrying too much about the future, a huge dose of stress is sure to follow. Not to mention that talking too much about the past and missing it indicates that you probably have serious problems with the present. So whenever you find yourself disconnecting from the present take a few minutes to concentrate on it. Just feel it, hear it, see it, smell it – anything to bring you back and hold you in the NOW.
7. Have a lunch with your good pal – relaxation!
In other words don’t forget to chill out while eating! Avoid stressful fast foods and find a quiet, cozy place to enjoy your food. You should have enough time in your lunch break, it’s not a good idea to gulp down your lunch in 5 minutes. This will only bring you stress, not to mention how unhealthy it is. Make sure you enjoy every single bite! Feel the taste of your food, smell that relaxing, pleasant aroma coming out of it! Put down the flatware between bites to make that easier, enjoy the combination of full stomach and relaxed mind and body! What a reward for the work you’ve done before lunch, huh!
8. Manage your day smart
This one is easy. Set clear boundaries for your working day, depending on your lifestyle. Depending on the type of person you are – a “night owl” or you prefer having a good night sleep, try and build your schedule smart!
Example: I’m trying to achieve a good balance between work and rest so I don’t work before 8 in the morning or after 8 in the evening.
9.Mind reading is a tough job!
Try to avoid reading other people’s actions and words. Yes, you could be good at it but this still you can’t be right all the time! Misunderstanding will lead to conflicts and is a waste of time ,energy and emotions to both sides involved. So next time you have doubts, just ask questions. Tell the other person what you’re struggling with and avoid guessing and mind reading!
Read: Want to Combat Stress? Break out the Coloring Books!
10. Avoid multitasking
It’s proven that the brain can’t multitask things that need lots of brainpower. It just switches really fast between tasks which worsens the potential result. Try doing stuff one at the time and fully concentrated. It’ll increase your efficiency, improve the results, decrease the brain overload and reduce stress. Of course you can walk and eat, dance and mop the floor, dance and sing or even run on the treadmill and watch TV. Those particular things are okay to multitask, because they do not require a lot of brainpower.
11.Carry a notepad with you
If you have too much to do and feel like you could forget something, you can solve that problem with a simple notepad. No need to stress out on fear of forgetting something – just write down your schedule in and check it constantly throughout the day!
12. Simplify your schedule
Make sure you keep it as simple as possible. After all, if you overload your to-do list, you won’t feel any less stressful. Decide which tasks are the most urgent and important and concentrate on them when building your schedule.
13. Save some stress in the morning.
Try helping yourself out by doing a simple task before going to bed. No matter how simple it is, It seems pretty stressful if it has to be done in the morning when you’re in a rush. Prepare your office/school bag before going to bed for example. That’s a pretty important and simple task which you can easily get wrong in the morning when you’re sleepy.
14.Always be early.
Why begin your meeting with a handful of stress when you can take a 10 minute break while waiting instead?
Read: 4 Signs That Your Stress is Sneaking into Your Relationship
15. Is this the biggest problem in the Universe?
As much as I don’t like clichés this one is pretty accurate. It takes empathy, understanding and concern to actually apply this tip. If you find yourself dealing with a really big source of stress and several tips haven’t helped you – this is one of your alternative last options – just get the bigger picture and try to understand your problem is not the end of the world. It takes actually a lot of goodness and compassion to think “gosh , there are starving children in Africa dying every day , I guess my “big” office problem is complete bullshit compared to that”. And not just say it but actually feel better and relieve your stress – the ability to zoom out on your narrow perspective.
Here are some motivational quotes to inspire you through the weekdays:
“Money doesn’t mean anything to me. I’ve made a lot of money, but I want to enjoy life and not stress myself building my bank account. I give lots away and live simply, mostly out of a suitcase in hotels. We all know that good health is much more important.” – Keanu Reeves
“Many of us feel stress and get overwhelmed not because we’re taking on too much, but because we’re taking on too little of what really strengthens us.” – Marcus Buckingham
“You must learn to let go. Release the stress. You were never in control anyway.” – Steve Maraboli
“We must have a pie. Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie.”– David Mamet
