When it comes to handling stress we all are so different. Not all stress is bad, but more often than not it is a nuisance in our lives. Dealing with stress, managing our worries, and working our concerns is fundamental to achieving your goals. Here are some tried and true tips to dealing with stress in your life:
Identify the Stressor
Stress can come in many forms in our lives. It can be good stress like wanting to do really well on assignments, or push ourselves to the next level, or it can be the stress that eats away at our happiness. Whichever type of stress you are experiencing identify where it is coming from. We spend the majority of our time running around being “stressed” but over what? Take the time to figure out the real cause of your stress. Is it that upcoming holiday party, a work assignment, new people to impress, or are you pushing yourself really hard? The first step to limiting your stress is to know where it is coming from.
Identify Your Options
Now that you have the source of your stress identified it’s time to take action. What can be done to help eliminate that stressor in your life? Can you plan ahead, make reservations, finish the project now, or attack the problem head on? Dealing with your stressor will instantly help ease the pressure and anxiety you have about it. I will fully admit that some stressors can’t be dealt with so easily. For situations that have no straight forward solution take a look at the next step to dealing with stress.
Commit to Real Problems
Still to this day I can hear my mother telling me, “only worry about things that are real.” It’s easier said than done. They aren’t joking when they say that 99% of our worries never actually happen. If you are truly wanting to cut down on the amount of stress in your life start practicing the art of not stressing about problems that aren’t real yet. When we allow ourselves to forget about stressors in our lives that aren’t even real yet, or might happen someday, we then have the time and mental capacity to worry about the problems we can solve today.
Make a “Stress Free List”
Stress affects us all differently. Depending on the situation or your personality something that works for your friend to de-stress their life might not work for you. For that reason, you want to have a “stress free” list at your fingertips. This is a list of all of your favorite things to do—things that help you take your mind off of stress. When we are stressed and in the thick of dealing with problems, thinking of fun/relaxing/calming things to do is harder than you might think. So have this list in your phone, written down, or tucked away in your planner to help you deal with stress when it strikes.
Xoxo,
Abbi J