Five simple stress management tips for busy people.
We’ve all felt it. That racing heart before taking an exam, the nerves walking into a job interview, or the tension of starting a difficult conversation.
WHO defines stress as ‘a state of worry or mental tension caused by a difficult situation’ and ‘a natural human response’ that prompts us to deal with challenges. It either comes in a subtle form, in which it can be unnoticeable (chronic stress), or acutely, in which case a person experiences an intense reaction to a specific situation.
In today’s hectic world, we can’t avoid experiencing stress daily. However, we can learn how to engage with stress management to lead a healthy and happy life.
Why is that important? When left unmanaged, stress can lead to medical problems such as a higher risk of cardiovascular illnesses, trouble concentrating, irritability, and other physical outbreaks. People who ignore stress can also learn unhealthy coping techniques, like smoking, substance abuse, overwork, gambling at physical or online casinos, overeating, and other maladaptive coping mechanisms.
Now, we will look at 5 tips on how to deal with stress you can do daily to avoid burnout and those stated above.
1. Start with self-care
To manage stress, the first thing you should consider is how much time you dedicate to yourself. Though the idea of prioritizing yourself might sound selfish, self-care habits are a crucial tool to handle stressful times. When your mind is constantly in somebody else’s shoes or occupied with responsibilities, shifting your attention to your needs and wants can be liberating.
Here’s a list of some self-care ideas put into different categories that you can work into your schedule:
- Physical self-care: exercising, going for a walk, gardening, crafting,
- Emotional self-care: journaling, practicing gratitude, acknowledging what you’re feeling, asking for help,
- Social self-care: spending time with people who love you, volunteering,
- Mental self-care: creative hobbies, activities that clear your mind,
- Spiritual self-care: prayer, meditation, spending time in nature.
2. Physical activity
Another great way to reduce stress is to get active. When talking about physical activity in relation to stress reduction, we are talking about chemistry. This involves three key hormones: adrenaline, cortisol, and endorphins.
Exercise reduces levels of the body’s stress hormones, adrenaline and cortisol, and releases happiness neurotransmitters, endorphins. A combination of these causes an improvement in mood and relaxation.
Also, movement serves as a distractor from responsibilities and worries. What that means is that when your body moves, your mind thinks more freely, forgetting what it’s filled with during the day.
Whether it’s walking, jogging, or group exercises, find something you enjoy and watch your stress levels decrease.
3. Breaking tasks into smaller steps
Family, work tasks, and other responsibilities might feel overwhelming. Fortunately, there are ways to let go of the constant stress about getting things done. This is where smart task management comes in.
You might have a big project on your plate that you don’t feel like starting because you know it will take a lot of energy and time to complete. Instead of looking at it as a mountain to climb, try to break it into smaller tasks. Completing these small steps will motivate you to keep going.
Secondly, prioritize what’s important. If you focus all your energy on tasks that don’t matter that much while ignoring urgent tasks, you will lose time on the latter, and stress will increase. Instead, prioritizing tasks gives you time to focus on what matters.
It’s also wise to set limits and reminders. If you don’t do it already, start noting and labelling deadlines to a calendar, a digital or a physical one, depending on your preferences. Estimate how much time each task will take so you can realistically fit it into your schedule.
4. Avoid unnecessary screen time
Digital overload is a common trigger for stress. According to research, more than a half of employed people use a laptop every day, so, adding more screen time after an 8- hour workday is just an enormous stress load for the body.
On top of avoiding stress from the information overload and stimuli received from electronic devices, reducing screen time will allow you to spend more time on self-care, socialising, or just relaxing.
5. Mindful exercises
Finally, mindfulness is an efficient exercise to deal with stress management that can be practiced anytime and from anywhere. Mindfulness isn’t limited to meditation, as many people assume.
The purpose of mindfulness is to stay in the present moment, and accept it as it is. Mindfulness exercises are all based on non-judgmental observation of the surroundings, or sensations in the body.
Almost any everyday activity can be turned into a mindful exercise. Next time you’re having a meal, put away your phone and fully focus on its taste. When you’re having a conversation, listen carefully and speak cautiously. When walking, shift your attention to the simplest feelings like your feet landing the ground, the sounds you hear as you go, the wind, and all that you walk past.
As you can see, there are many ways to cope with stress. Stress management is important, especially because it fosters health and improves life quality. Any of the 5 tips will serve you well, but for starters, you can choose one and gradually try to incorporate more of them into your daily routine.
