5 Tips For Managing Stress
We all know life can be stressful. Sometimes life just feels like it’s too much for you to handle. There are always more bills to pay, more work to do, more cleaning to do… If this sounds like your life, there’s a solution to your issue. You can control the stress that is bringing you down! Just breathe and we’ll take you through some top tips on how to manage your stress maintain your mental well-being.
1. Keep moving!
Exercising for at least 30 minutes per day releases endorphins that boost your mood and make you feel good, and you don’t have to be a professional athlete to do it. If you feel like dancing, put on some loud music in your living room and dance like no one’s watching. If you have a new puppy, take it for a walk! If you have kids, play ping-pong with them!
2. Engage socially
Being surrounded by the people you love, meeting new and interesting people, talking and sharing your experiences will help you to calm down. Scientists have proven we feel safer while hearing, seeing and feeling non-verbal cues. So reach out with your colleagues, have a lunch with your friends, call your best mate, schedule a dinner date per week, take classes or join a club to meet new people!
3. Eat healthy
It’s no secret, but having a healthy lifestyle is the key to feel good. As they say, healthy mind, healthy body! Eat a healthy diet, try to reduce your caffeine and sugar intake and ensure you’re getting a good night’s sleep. And avoid the unhealthy stress-coping mechanisms, such as alcohol, drugs and cigarettes!
4. Relax
Nurturing yourself is a necessity, not a luxury, so take time to have fun and relax! Try your best to keep a positive mindset. Reward yourself at the end of every big and painful task. Set aside relaxation time and do something you enjoy at least every day.
5. Find out the source of stress and counter it
Now that you have a healthy mind in a healthy body, let’s focus on the stress sources. Take some times to look inside yourself and outline the sources of stress that you have. Now that you know your stress triggers, adapt your behaviour to it. Change your expectations and attitudes to these stressful situations. Reframe the problem for every stressor by finding a positive perspective. Then, try to look at the big picture and put this stress-trigger in a long-term perspective. You will find that this stressful situation is actually not as big as you thought it was. Finally, try to adjust your standards. You have to stop demanding perfection and start setting reasonable standards for yourself and for the others.
6. Avoid unnecessary stress
You know how to make you feel better; you know how to manage stressful situations, so take also control of your environment. There is no point accepting unnecessarily stressful situations. Learn how to say “no” and know your limits.
Pro-tip: the first step for it is to avoid people that stress you out…
Managing your stress is not going to take a few minutes. However, once you start the process, you will be able to feel some improvement. Take control of your life now!
