Stress can wreak all sorts of havoc on a person’s life and can often make day to day life a nightmare. When you’re stressed out, it’s normal to feel agitated, anxious, physically and mentally exhausted. Stress can cause all kinds of ailments and it’s important that you learn how to manage it effectively so that you keep healthy and don’t let inevitable worries take over.
Tips to reduce stress
Positive Thinking
Half of the problem with stress is that it makes you feel as though there is no solution to the problem in hand. If you have a deadline, for example, but have three pieces of work that need to be completed in the amount of time you have to do one, you can feel as though there is no way around it. Looking at a situation with a positive frame of mind will always pay off, negativity won’t get you anywhere.
Taking a step back from the situation and looking at it from another person’s perspective can often highlight ways around an issue, without instantly coming to the answer that it is simply ‘impossible’. The power of positive thinking can play a crucial role in your ability to handle stressful situations, as it will allow you to stay in the right frame of mind to get the job done. Positive thinking will let you plan a way around the problem and see an answer, rather than simply push it to one side for further stresses to take over.
Take Up A Hobby
When you have a busy lifestyle, whether that be due to family commitments, work, education or a combination of different factors, you can let slide any activities that make you happy. Losing interest in a hobby because it takes up time won’t help you in the long run.
A way around stressful times is to have something to look forward to. This could be an hour playing the piano, or a much needed long session at the gym to release endorphins. You should never let your daily responsibilities stop you from taking the time to do activities that you enjoy. After all, what motivation to get a job done will there be if there’s no reward at the end of the slog? If you don’t have a hobby, why not take one up? You’ll be surprised what a difference a little time to do something you love can make.
Find Time To Relax
Just like the importance of taking part in activities that interest you, finding some much needed ‘me’ time where you can just relax is also necessary to maintain a peaceful and happy mind. Even if this is an hour a day in bed with a book, or listening to some relaxing music, it’s vital that you always set aside time to just chill out. Don’t let any other commitments fill up this time, otherwise you won’t properly be able to wind down and can come across many health problems due to being rushed off your feet constantly as well as being full of tension.
Organise Your Work
The biggest killer of productivity is a lack of organisation. When you’re disorganised things can get forgotten about and then work can pile up. If you struggle to keep organised, you can find yourself becoming very stressed out because you don’t actually know the full extent of your workload.
Fortunately, taking a few small steps is all it takes to start seeing a big difference in how smoothly your work life can be. Invest in a diary and a notepad so that you can jot down anything that pops into mind that you may forget about shortly after. Fill out deadlines as well as meetings in the correct places in your diary, as well as marking in highlighted reminders at various intervals before the event. Checking your diary every day and keeping it updated can help you keep on track of your tasks and, in turn, get jobs completed on time to keep you stress free.
Clear Out The Clutter
Clutter and a messy environment can also cause stress. Not only is it difficult to find important documents when there is a pile of them on your desk, but also things can get lost and not get seen too. Make sure that you deal with things as and when they come in. A simple In/out tray on your desk can help you put documents in the right places so that they are seen to if you can’t manage them straight away.
Having a cluttered home can also be a big stress factor. When mess and disorganisation surround you, it becomes near enough impossible to fully relax. Don’t let your scattered mind be reflected in your home, it will only lead to problems. Believe it or not, a combination of a cluttered home, hectic lifestyle and busy workplace can even push people into a bad period of mental illness, even depression. If you simply don’t have the time on your hands to do regular housework, you may want to ask close family or friends for some help or you may want to consider purchasing some professional cleaning service. This can give you the opportunity to put your feet up without worrying about mess. After, all your health is more important.
Health benefits of stress reduction
When you begin to take the steps towards a stress free life, the benefits you will see can be huge. Not only will you feel better, but you’ll find that your life seems easier, and your health will be grateful for the change in environment. The list of benefits to your health is extensive and includes:
- A strengthened immune system;
- Prevention of hair loss;
- Depression and sadness significantly lowered; and
- A happier you.
Remember that even though the Pharmaceutical industry is improving all the time and there are intense software packages that deal with the testing of pharmaceuticals (read more here) but despite that there is no specific drug that can help you and a lot of closely related drugs that deal with anxiety usually have side effects so pursuing natural methods of stress relief is extremely important.
Putting it all together
So, if you have stress in your life, remember that it doesn’t have to take control of your life, and with the right management, you can manage stress properly. It’s inevitable that life will throw stressful circumstances your way, but if you know how to deal with them properly, they don’t have to have a detrimental effect on you.
Categories: Health | Tags: health, Stress | Permalink