How to Manage Stress

Stress can disrupt emotional balance and overall physical and mental health. Unfortunately, we all live in a high-stress environment, putting our well-being at risk. This article outlines steps to build a personal stress management strategy to effectively deal with stressful situations that life throws our way.

Identify the Sources of Stress in Your Life 

Starting is always the hardest part. Identifying stress sources is not as straightforward as it seems. While it’s easy to recognize significant stressors like unstable national conditions, tense news streams, job changes, moving, or divorce, identifying sources of chronic stress can be more challenging.

 

To determine what truly causes your stress, pay attention to your habits, attitudes, and excuses:

Until you take responsibility for the role you play in creating or maintaining stress, its level will remain out of your control.

• Do you explain stress as a temporary phenomenon, even though you can’t remember the last time you took a break?
• Do you see stress as an integral part of your life?
• Do you blame others or external events for your stress, or do you consider it entirely normal and unique?

 

Keep a Journal 

A journal can help you identify consistent stress triggers and how you cope with them. Whenever you feel stressed, make a note of it in your journal or use a stress tracker on your phone. Journaling will help you see patterns and common themes. Record the source of stress, your feelings, responses, and what you did to feel better.

 

 

Avoid Unhealthy Ways of Coping with Stress 

Many of us experience stress to such an extent that we resort to unhealthy and unproductive coping mechanisms. These strategies may temporarily reduce stress but cause more harm in the long run:

 

• Smoking, excessive drinking, or drug use to relax.
• Overindulging in unhealthy or comfort food.
• Spending hours on social media.
• Withdrawing from friends, family, and social activities.
• Excessive sleeping.
• Procrastination.
• Taking out stress on others.

 

Avoid, Alter, Adapt, and Accept 

These are the four key ways to manage stress. Avoiding stress involves dealing with trivial stressors. Learn to say "no." Know your limits and stick to them. If someone constantly causes stress in your life, limit your time with that person or end the relationship. If the evening news makes you anxious, don’t watch it. If traffic jams stress you out, choose a longer but less congested route. If grocery shopping is a chore, buy food online.

Altering the situation means working on yourself. Express your feelings instead of keeping them bottled up. Bottled-up resentment will only increase stress. Be ready to compromise. When asking someone to change their behavior, be prepared to do the same. Don’t take a back seat in your own life.

Adapting to stress means regaining control by changing your expectations and attitudes. Try to view stressful situations more positively. Put stress in perspective. Ask yourself how important it will be in the long run. Will it matter in a month? It's especially important for perfectionists to adapt. Such individuals have a harder time dealing with situations that don’t go as planned. Set reasonable standards for yourself and others, and learn to accept less-than-perfect outcomes.

Accept the things you cannot change. Some sources of stress are unavoidable. You can’t prevent or change stressful factors like the death of a loved one, a serious illness, or war. In these cases, the best way to cope with stress is to accept things as they are. Acceptance is a difficult path, but in the long run, it's easier than fighting an unchangeable situation.

Don’t try to control the uncontrollable. Especially in our current realities, sharing your feelings is crucial. Expressing what you’re going through is cathartic, even if you can't change the situation. Talk to a trusted friend or see a therapist.

 

 

Maintain Balance with a Healthy Lifestyle 

 

 

In addition to regular physical exercise, other options can boost your stress resilience:

 

• Healthy Eating: Start your day with a nutritious breakfast and maintain your energy and mental clarity with balanced, nutritious meals throughout the day.
• Reduce Caffeine and Sugar: The temporary energy boosts from caffeine and sugar often end with mood swings and fatigue.
• Avoid Alcohol, Cigarettes, and Drugs: Self-medicating with alcohol or drugs may provide an easy escape from stress, but it’s only temporary relief. Don’t avoid or mask the problem; tackle it with a clear head.
• Get Enough Sleep: Adequate sleep nourishes both your mind and body.