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For some people, “stress” is not simply a temporary emotion. They don’t have stress and then get over it. They deal with it constantly. This is better known as chronic stress, but there are a lot of people who might not even be fully cognizant that their stress is as serious as all that. If you feel like you’re in over your head more often than not, the following tips can help. Aside from temporary stress-busting, we are going to look at the ways you can make life a little less stressful for yourself.
Create a less stressful home environment
Our environment is going to have a bigger influence on our life and our body than we might think. For instance, there are scientific links between having a cluttered household and being more stressed. Your home should be there to soothe you when you come in, not to compound your stresses, and guides such as How To Create A Stress-Free Home Environment offers some tips on how to do that. Using calming colours, houseplants, and even aromatherapy can all do wonders in making the home feel a lot more like your own private zen retreat. Even if you only have one space dedicated relaxing you, it can help you get on an even keel when dealing with a tough day.
Invest in healthy habits
The mind and the body are intrinsically connected. In fact, in medicine, there’s often little distinction between them. Some of the major causes of stress are not only lifestyle factors, such as dealing with financial worries or family troubles. There are physical contributors, as well. For instance, sleep and stress are very closely connected. When we don’t get a good enough night’s sleep, our body’s ability to regulate the production of cortisol, aka the stress hormone, goes down. This is the hormone that is responsible for the physical feeling of stress. Exercise regularly and eating healthily are just as important for managing your stress in the long-term as well. Even if they can’t get rid of the causes of stress, they can improve your body’s response ot stress significantly.
Free up a little time for yourself
Self-care, and stress management techniques such as yoga, creative pursuits, exercise, and meditation can be very important. However, you may justifiably say “how can I possibly do that when I have zero time to myself?” Through no fault of your own, you might be wasting some of that time that could be used in looking after yourself. Sometimes we’re so busy dealing with one urgent matter to the next that we don’t have the time to ask ourselves if we’re really doing it all in the most efficient way. Guides such as Tips To Be More Organized In Life can show you ways to free up a lot more time than you expect. This time can then be used on some much-needed self-care.
Adopting a positive mindset
Sometimes, we can be our own worst enemy. We can make matters more stressful than they need to be. For instance, catastrophizing is an unfortunately common mental habit and even more common to those who have experienced anxiety, where we tend to imagine the worst-case outcomes for scenarios, which makes us feel more stress when dealing with those scenarios. It’s not as easy as simply stating to oneself that we are going to be more positive. Guides such as 5 Common Mistakes When Switching to a More Positive Attitude do not simply tell you to be more positive but can help provide practical tips that encourage a more positive mindset naturally.
Talk about it
A problem shared is a problem halved, as the saying goes. It’s not always that simple, but in the majority of cases, venting about stress does feel good, meaning that offers a temporary reprieve and, sometimes, it might help even more than that. Being able to communicate your concerns and worries with close family and friends allows you to get another perspective on the problem you’re facing. Sometimes, this can result in them offering a real solution that you haven’t fully considered yet. Otherwise, they may simply be able to convince you that things aren’t as bad as you might imagine. Simply taking the process out of your own head relieves a lot of the pressure that can come with stressful thoughts, as well.
Don’t be afraid of getting professional health
Above all else, if you feel like stress is getting too much for you, then it might be worth talking to your doctor. They may be able to recommend counselling or tips that can help you in your specific situation, too. For instance, if you’ve recently had a child, then the post The Things Nobody Talks About Postpartum can highlight just a few of the unexpected ways that such a change can affect your mindset for a long time to come. If you think there may be a specific health-related cause to how you are feeling, then it’s worth getting some help with it. There may be more answers than you expect.
Learn to say no
A lot of people are dealing with stress because they have more responsibilities than they are currently able to handle, or haven’t yet figured out the best way to manage those responsibilities. If that description fits your current situation, then perhaps it’s worth looking at whether you should be dealing with those responsibilities in the first place. A lot of us have concerns that if we don’t make ourselves as available to others as we can that it can hurt our relationships and do more harm than good. However, learning how to say “no” is just as if not more important for our long-term health. Your first responsibility is to yourself. You’re not going to help your friends and family by sacrificing yourself to whatever cause comes your way.
Hopefully, the above tips help you create a less stressful life or at least begin to plan out an approach that’s much more mindful of your mental health. Remember that you don’t have to cope with it alone, too.