Stress plagues our everyday lives. It’s sad, but true. When we’re not worried about dodging deadlines at work, weaving through strangers on hot, overcrowded subways, or precariously avoiding family drama, we’re stressed about what to wear to that party on Saturday, and how on earth we’re going to make time to get our nails done before then.
The fact is, stress is everywhere, and it permeates all aspects of our everyday living.
And if you’re anything like me, getting bad news can take the relaxation out of my sails and make something as pleasant as a stroll in the park or a day at the spa somehow “stressful.” While I’m not trying to be Polly Pessimistic, it’s something that we have to embrace and deal with. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing we can do to help mitigate the unpleasantness and succumb to the terrors of stress (which for me, includes sleepless nights, terrible skin rashes, internal havoc, and periodic eye-twitching).
Because stress is but a mere symptom of our physiological and psychological breakdown, we can still alter the situation and manage to keep our sanity before things turn awry. When we learn to recognize and deal with burnout, we will have the power to do what we actually want and take better care of ourselves.
Being mindful of your stress, and integrating different practices into your daily routine can help minimize the likelihood that you’ll have a nervous breakdown. Here are some ways you can keep control of your stress throughout the day:
1. Pause and refresh
When you’re at work and you’re having one of those moments where you’re ready to kick over the water cooler, take a moment. And to prevent those inevitable freak-outs, try and pause for 5 or ten minutes every 2 or 3 hours. Stand up, stretch, and get fresh air. Meditate.
Also, throughout the day, try drinking an excessive amount of water and organic herbal tea. Not only is water great for flushing toxins out of your body, but it’ll force you to take more frequent bathroom breaks, which equates to more time away from your desk to help recalibrate your brain.
2. Try to take things one at a time
All day long, we’re multi-tasking to get a million things done. And sometimes, it feels like there is just not enough time in the day, week, or year. Well, that’s life. Embrace it. And instead of panicking about everything you have to accomplish this millennium, try to limit your anxiety to what you need to get done today. You have all day to worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.
3. Give yourself some credit
I’m awesome. Go ahead, say it out loud. This may sound a bit narcissistic, but it’s important for us to recognize the accomplishments that we have made each day – no matter how insignificant they may seem. When we are stressed-out, everything around us seems chaotic and we get disappointed because we cannot put things in order no matter how hard we try. By giving yourself a little credit, it may give you an extra boost of optimism and that kick-in-the-ass you need to just get things done.
4. Make every day a “healthy” day
While smoking cigarettes, binge drinking, then sitting around all day eating Cheetos may sound fun, your system and your stress levels won’t agree. Going to bed by 10pm and getting regular physical exercise are basic steps of any stress reduction program because they helps calm the nervous system. Sustained exercise, like aerobic, produces more of the natural soothing hormone endorphins in the body.
Healthy balance can also be achieved by reducing our sugar intake. Too much sugar can deplete B-vitamins, which are essential for a healthy nervous system. More importantly, we have a tendency to stress out about our skin, our weight, and our overall health – so why torture yourself via self-destruction? Feeling good about our health and our bodies gives us one less thing to stress about.
5. You can cry if you really want to
Repressed feelings are often intense and destructive — like monsters that slowly eat us from the inside. We have to let go of our emotions when we feel like it. Modesty and professionalism should not stop us from expressing our feelings, but keep it balanced – nobody wants to be known as the office lunatic. Sure, crying not only helps release toxins from the body, and it is also liberating, but have some discretion. Cry under your desk or in the supply closet, and feel free to punch the paper towel dispenser in the bathroom to get some anger out. Just release your emotions before you attempt to discuss your frustrations with co-workers.
6. Laugh all day, at least at yourself
Finding humor in simple things is not synonymous with being mischievous. Instead, it means accepting the fact of life that we are imperfect and we put ourselves into awkward situations every now and then. When those awkward moments happen, try and let yourself appreciate how funny awkwardness actually is. It’s hard “not to take things so seriously,” but laughing at yourself is easier than it seems – and you can still take life seriously at the same time. There are lots of ways to have fun, and stay productive. So laugh – it’s a contagious de-stressor.
At the end of the day, it’s up to you to decide how to deal with stress. While we can’t control every stressful situation that surrounds us, we can certainly control how we let stress control us and our emotions.
What are other ways you’ve been successful at keeping stress at bay throughout the day?
Dancing is my way to de-stress. For many, lying down and sleeping is the best way to relax their body and mind, but for me shedding some sweat is more relaxing. Whether I am angry, frustrated or stressed, dancing is my way to free my mind and body from all those bad energies and it’s helping me.
I am college students and my stress at school is really high. All the projects that we needed to submit with deadlines and also the exams we needed to pass to graduate is really exhausting more often than not. But I know it is all part of studying, it is good that I have a good influence group of people who are always ready to help when I am already struggling. Good people, family, and friends are the good source of support to fight stress.
Taking care of a toddler and working at home is not an easy task. Every day I am stress not because of my work but my responsibilities at home. Do not get me wrong, I love my family and it is also my choice to be a WAHM but there are really times that my stress level is immeasurable. What I do is that I diffuse my favorite essential oil and then play my favorite music while my baby is sleeping and then I start my work.It is my routine every day and so far it helps my mind to relax.
Don’t ever be too hard on yourself. That’s what causes stress to people nowadays. They try to achieve so much that they forget to tap their own shoulders to say they’ve done a great job.
If you’re feeling to stressed, the best thing to do is take a whole day break. I don’t think a few hours is enough, really. To take a way that kind of feeling. You deserve to take a break from everything else whenever you feel like it. I don’t believe that there’s anything in life that’s too important for you to not take a break from.
Vacation is much better but most of the time expensive. I agree with taking a break for an hour or day. Also, take vitamins and tea. It helps a lot. 🙂
In my own experience, it’s true that multi-tasking really creates too much stress. Not only that you won’t be able to finish one task and get it out of your way immediately, you’re just bound to panic all day because you’ve been half-assing all your tasks. The best way to do it is cross one thing out of your list as you progress through the day instead of spending half the day doing everything without finishing anything at all.
I see my manager doing this all the time. In the end she’s always late for all the reports that need to be done. In the office, no one likes approaching her because she looks like she has her own rain cloud looming above her head because of stress. Yet she can’t accomplish it all on time because she multi-tasks alot.
Stress isn’t the best feeling in the world. If you don’t want it anywhere near you, or atleast have effective ways to reduce it, you have to keep looking through articles like this until you find what can work best for you.
I remember this office mate of mine who always cries before any big events in the company calendar. She’s always under so much stress that she ends up crying in her own cubicle half of the day. As much as I think it’s a little funny, nobody wants to experience that.
Life is easy to manage, but only if you make it seem easy. I’m not talking about being happy-go-lucky or not tending to your adult responsibilities. I’m talking about not being too hard on yourself and just enjoy every moment of your life while engaging with the different aspects of life.
Yeah that’s true. If you look at things in such a complicated way, it will always be like that.
I dislike the feeling of crying just to let your emotions out. Personally I’d rather talk to someone who wants to listen rather than cry my heart out. Crying makes me feel worse.