We have all heard about stress, we are facing it each day, yet stress is very difficult to describe. The reason for this is because we are all different and what may cause stress to some people might be insignificant to others, for example some people become tensed or stressed by the slightest change of a daily routine, whilst others may cope with major changes smoothly.
Stress can be acute, short-term, but most of the times it just builds up and makes you feel as if you are chronically stressed and overwhelmed.
Significant signs of stress building up include:
- Minor problems causing you to have “short fuse”, being impatient or irritable.
- Not being able to concentrate because to many things are going through your mind.
- Not being able to get some quality sleep, because of all the worries going through your mind.
- Drinking or smoking more.
- Being unable to relax, always in a rush as if something needs to be done, even when it doesn’t.
- Feeling very tense, like having a ‘knot’ in the stomach.
- Headaches and muscle tension in the neck and shoulders.
And here are our top 10 picks on how you can avoid it and remain calm and healthy much longer:
- Avoid people who stress you out.
If someone is a constant source of your stress and you know it, all you need to do is just to drastically limit the amount of time you spend with that person, or that relationship entirely.
- Change your point of view.
Practice viewing stressful situations from a more positive perspective, for example instead of getting stressed out about sitting in traffic, look at it as an opportunity to pause, to listen to your favourite music, call a friend or to just enjoy some quiet time.
- Practice positive thinking.
It has been proven that people who maintain a positive attitude and practice positive thinking experience less stress than those who are pessimistic. How you think can have a profound effect on your emotional and physical well-being, therefore whatever you do or don’t just make an conscious effort to stay positive.
- Stop striving for perfection.
We should push ourselves to improve and to always do our best, but instead of striving for perfection accept that most of the time you just need to do thing the best you can.
- Get organized.
Take the time to get organized; then do the little things each day to stay organized.
- Make a list with priorities.
Writing down everything you need to do in a prioritized order is an excellent stress reducer. When you are doing exactly what you should be doing in the exact sequence in which things need to be finished, you will feel more at peace and much less stressed
- Set aside relaxation time.
It is extremely important to schedule each day time to rest, relax, and recharge your batteries. Do something you enjoy during these blocks of time, or just take a break and rest.
- Avoid heated topics. You already know the topics that may stress you out, and cause your blood pressure to rise, so be wise and just learn to avoid them.
- Practice relaxation techniques.
Relaxation techniques such as yoga, meditation, and deep breathing when practiced regularly, can boost your feelings of peace and calmness, and increase your ability to remain calm under pressure.
- Don’t try to control everything.
Accept that some things in life are uncontrollable. Those things, like for example behaviour of other people are beyond your control, so instead of stressing out over them, you can focus on the things you can control.
- Be grateful.
The power of gratefulness and its impact on the quality of our daily life should not be underestimated. Take time each day to reflect on the things you appreciate in your life, you can even write a list at the end of each day what is it that you are grateful for. This will increase your happiness and decrease stress tremendously.