Being a little bit stressed every now and then is not a problem; in fact, it’s a good thing. It means we are ready to protect ourselves by going in to ‘fight or flight’ mode and in some cases that can even save a life. Stress can also help us to get work done to deadlines and work more efficiently in general.
However, chronic stress has a hugely negative impact on your daily life and health and should be avoided where at all possible. If you leave stress unchecked, you run the risk of developing issues such as depression, obesity, heart disease, and heart attacks among other problems. Take a look at the following great ways to keep your stress levels down so that you can be as healthy as possible. If you are worried that you are unable to combat this yourself, please don’t hesitate to speak to a professional.
Table of Contents
Know The Signs
To begin with, it’s important to understand when you are feeling stressed. You need to recognize how you feel when it happens, because knowing when you are stressed means you can change this feeling in the future. Also, when you know you are stressed, you can stop it before it becomes too intense (if possible), thus reducing your chances of developing problems. Remember, though, that if you have already developed these issues, you will need a doctor’s help. You can take escitalopram for depression, for example, or even have surgery for heart issues.
If you can avoid the problem that is causing you stress, then that is a good way to begin, but if you can’t, you will need to work on ways to calm yourself down.
Learn To Relax
One of the very best ways to combat stress is to relax. Finding the time for relaxation exercises each day, perhaps just 10 minutes at a time, can help immeasurably. You could do this when you go to bed, or when you wake up in the morning, for example, and the difference being relaxed can make on your day to day life, and your stress levels will immediately be apparent. Relaxation can be anything that works for you. A hot, bubbly bath will be some people’s favorite way to relax, others will prefer a brisk walk through the woods, or perhaps listening to music or reading a book will work for you.
Really, what you do doesn’t matter as long as you are doing it. This relaxation time will give both your body and your mind a chance to settle, and you will probably find that whatever issue was worrying you becomes more easily solved and less problematic.
Be Organized
Being disorganized can be a big part of why people feel stressed. Everyone is busy, and there are only finite hours in the day, and that can sometimes mean that tasks are left undone. Or you might have done everything and then be landed with more work, which can raise your stress levels even if you were feeling good. When this happens, the work is less likely to be done because you will be unable to concentrate and will be spending your time worrying about actually getting it completed on time. If it is done, you may not be able to do it to a high standard, so you might even have to do it again, taking up even more of your time.
To combat this, make a to-do list of everything you have to do. Don’t worry if it looks daunting – the next step will help you. When you have everything written down, you should split the list into two. One side will be the things that have to be done, and the other will be things that you can do if you have time. That way, you will always hit deadlines, and you won’t feel so overwhelmed and stressed.
Enjoy Yourself
Although you will have lots to do each day, if you plan out your week in advance then you will have the chance to add some fun to it, and this is extremely important. It can be anything that you like as long as it brings a smile to your face and you are going to look forward to it. It’s even better if it doesn’t relate to work, or whatever else it is that is making you stressed, as this will boost your confidence and enable you to get your work completed to a high standard and on time to hit your deadlines.
Having something to look forward to that is planned in advance will give you a more positive outlook and enable you to better deal with those areas of life that aren’t quite so enjoyable. This will help to lower your stress levels so that when you do need to confront these areas, it will be easier for you.
Practice Positive Thinking
When you think back over the past, it’s easy to become focused on mistakes and failures that you might have had. Although these are useful because you can learn important lessons from them, constantly having them in your mind will give you an all-around negative mindset. This is a problem because it means that you can easily miss out on other opportunities that could be extremely beneficial to you.
Remember that everyone makes mistakes, and wishing you could change things is all part of human nature. However, if you can practice positive thinking and always look to the good of every situation, you will find that life becomes bright and better and that you are able to take part in more chances to improve yourself. This will lower your stress levels and will make you healthier.
Keep Physically Healthy
When you’re in good shape, it is much easier to deal with any stress that you may be feeling. Poor health is one of the biggest causes of stress, along with financial worries, so eating a well-balanced, healthy diet, exercising regularly, getting enough sleep, and generally looking after yourself will all help to balance out any stress that you are feeling. Many of these factors will even release positive hormones into your body that fight against the negative ones and make you feel much happier.
