There is an epidemic that we experience more than ever in this day and age. It can affect your life and your health, completely taking over. It can even wreck your relationships and career. What am I talking about? Stress! It is an insidious problem, and it needs to be dealt with. We can all suffer from it, but we don’t have to let it consume our lives. How can we better deal with it all, though? Here are a few suggestions and methods to cope.
Choose One Thing At A Time
Dealing with stress can’t be done all at once. There will be several things that have led to you feeling stressed, so it is important to clear one or two things from your life at a time. Today, it might just be that you need to clear your desk.
Tomorrow it might be that you need to learn to say no to additional things in your life that you don’t need. From there you can move on to doing more, but it should be done one thing at a time.
Get Moving
When you do something each day to be active, it makes a massive difference. It could be walking, a bike ride, a hike, or hitting the gym. Boxing or yoga might be useful for relieving stress too.
You just need to figure out what works for you and then go from there. Making sure that it is fun is part of the reason why it works. So don’t choose something that makes it a real chore for you.
Do Something Calming
When you feel stressed, it can be hard to sit down and do something calming, as you might be thinking of so many other things that you need to do. But doing something calming is really important.
It might be going for a deep tissue massage, reading a book, taking a nap, having a bath, or doing some mindfulness coloring in. Try to do something like this daily, however, for many people that might not be possible. Once a week or every couple of days is a good idea too.
Simplify Your Life
Getting back to the simpler things matters. If you find that you are finding it hard to fit in time to do everything that you need to, then you need to simplify your life. First of all, you should start off by saying no to things.
Don’t do anything that you don’t necessarily need to do. Clear your schedule of unimportant things and focus on the things that you need to do, as well as the things that will make you the happiest.
Declutter
Going through things in your home that are just taking up space and that you no longer use is so important. It can be like a form of therapy in itself.
It might be simply throwing things out, or moving them to more suitable places in the home. When your home isn’t a mess and isn’t cluttered, it will help your mind to feel less cluttered too.
Decluttering is my favourite way to destress, it feels so satisfying.
I think a key element of combating stress is prioritisation! This especially applies in the working environment where it is easy for numerous things to come along at once. What to do is to get someone to help you prioritise all that you have to do, and then tackle the items starting from the top priority and working downwards… and then when each new thing comes in then you ascertain what priority it is compared to the tasks that you already have on your plate. If you get the answer “it’s the same priority as xyz” then that is simply not the right answer, although it is possible to carry out multiple tasks concurrently (depending upon, at work, your job) the priority concern is which needs to be COMPLETED first, and work on that basis.
Awesome advice. Also, great to see you back in the blogosphere ♥
This is a very important and ever present topic. I am a stressed out person by nature, but I got a lot better in recent years. I learned to take things more easily but it was a long process, more a mind training. My day job is itself quite stressful; I wait tables in a very famous restaurant in my hometown and I don’t stop one second for nine or ten hours; my colleagues are stressed out, shout information all at the same time, they get angry, they swear, they complain and this happens every single day. But I have a goal. And in order to reach that goal, I need this job. It is the best money I could afford and I have to get through it until November. My goal keeps me focused and makes me forget the noise. Besides, my colleagues and bosses make jokes too and this helps!
A big hug, Christy.
Keep going, reminding yourself of your goal, Alessandro! You WILL get there as I can feel the fire in your spirit. Hugging back!
I think decluttering is an important, and undervalued, point!
Great point!
Hi Christy:
Like you say stress can come in many forms and can eventually eat you alive along with all you love in life. I have held a few positions in my working career I have stepped into that have done just that.
The greatest key as you say is seeing it through your own eyes and setting healthy boundaries. If your employer fails to listen to your pleas of far to much of a work load then it is time to move on. Chances are you will be replaced at the drop of a hat.
Personal health and well being are far more important than working at an endless struggle. It is refreshing to see companies starting to recognize stress as a killer and are in the process of offering help.
Hugs as always
Some great suggestions! I would like to add ‘drink tea’ to that list!!
Great advice Christy. Stress is becoming a mounting problem with so many these days. I can attest to this and say that the only thing that keeps me sane is remembering to say ‘One day at a time’. Thinking of the big and overwhelming picture just adds to the stress. <3 xx
Thanks! Good advice and I definitely need to declutter!
LOL, I need to give this one to my hubby to read xxxxxxxx
#5 is the big one for me. I keep hearing Thoreau say, “Simplify! Simplify!” I’m still a work in progress and appreciate the reminder, Christy. Sorely needed! :) ❤
Excellent points, Christy, all of them. I especially like your advice to deal with one thing at a time, otherwise life can feel even more stressful. Thanks for these wonderful reminders! <3
De-cluttering is a fab tip for de-stressing!
Also, I love walking as you already know. Walk the *&% away!
Nice post.. I should really try to simplify and declutter.
Nice post <3 <3 <3
Great post!💯💯💯