Make A Schedule Of Worry
Oftentimes, when things are stressful in our lives, we feel like we need to worry about them all of the time in order to solve them.
Sometimes, that just isnt true.
Say Im worried about future results of a medical test. I can spend my whole day stressed about it, or I can say, okay, I am going to give myself 15 minutes to worry and stress about them at 10:00am, and then after that, no more.
Give yourself permission to bottle up some of that stress into specific time periods so you can spend the rest of your time knowing that you cant do anything to change it and should instead get on with your life.
Its the same thing if youre stressed about a busy schedule or upcoming performance.
Your schedule is only going to get busier if you fill it with stressing out, and the more time you spend stressed, the less time youll have to practice for your performance.
Accept that stress is a natural part of life, but tell it that it only has a few minutes and stick to it.
You Struggle Feeling Motivated To Do Daily Tasks
When youre life is stressful, feeling the motivation to do daily tasks can feel really hard. Clean your house? Go grocery shopping and do cooking? Workout and study? These things that require effort can feel impossible. You might feel too sluggish, too tired, or too busy to find the motivation to take action.
What to do about it: Create time in your schedule for one small step toward your goal. It should be both manageable and realistic. . Another idea is to find an accountability partner to help keep you on track.
So You’ve Got A Bad Day Again
You’ve got rid of everything that gets you down, but still dont quite feel right
Its nearly the end of 2020 , youve been watching and your home is now spotless. Youve gotten rid of the old makeup, friends, and exes that you should, but you still feel stressed out You might need to take a step back and do some mental oosoji .
Here are three tips that can help you refresh and reset your mindand hopefully help you make 2021 a better year for yourself.
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Quick Ways To Reduce Stress
Taking care of your long-term mental and physical health is an important part of stress management. However, there isnt always time to take a nap, hike a fourteener, or read a novel. Thus, here are 25 ways to reduce stress in five minutes or less. From eating chocolate to meditating, there is a quick stress-relieving tactic for everyone.
1. BreatheSlow, deep breaths can help lower blood pressure and heart rate. Try pranayama breathing, a yogic method that involves breathing through one nostril at a time to relieve anxiety. The technique is supposed to work the same way as acupuncture, balancing the mind and body.
2. Listen to Music No matter what the song, sometimes belting out the lyrics to a favorite tune makes everything seem all right. If youre in a public place, just listening to music can be a quick fix for a bad mood. Classical music can be especially relaxing right before bedtime.
3. Take a Quick Walk When youre feeling overwhelmed or having trouble concentrating, go for a quick stroll around the block. Youll get the benefits of alone time, physical activity, and a few minutes to gather your thoughts.
4. Find the Sun If its a sunny day, head outside for an easy way to lift your spirits. Bright light can be an effective treatment for people who suffer from depression, and can even cheer up otherwise healthy people.
8. Rub Your Feet Over a Golf Ball You can get an impromptu, relaxing foot massage by rubbing your feet back and forth over a golf ball.
12. Be Alone
Reasons Why You Could Be Stressed About Nothing
The first three points are likely causing you to feel overwhelmed at times . The latter two are the probable results and are signs that the demands on you outstrip your resources.
And, lets face it, on top of everything else that could befall you in life, youre probably now also have to cope with the fall-out from the pandemic. Covid lockdowns, quarantines and/or closures with all their financial, social consequences are, of course, super-stressful with an inevitable impact on our mental health.
Then there are the less obvious things that contribute to you feeling stressed for no reason.
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Highly Effective Tips For Relieving Stress
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all option when it comes to stress relief, however. What works for one person might not work for another.
And what works for you at home might not be an option when you’re at work or in the community .
So it’s important to have a variety of stress relief tools at your disposal. Then, you’ll be able to pick a strategy that works best for your current circumstances.
Exam Stress: 8 Tips To Cope With Exam Anxiety
Exam time is really not easy, so you won’t be alone in feeling a bit overwhelmed by revision from time to time. But remember: you got this and these stress-busting tips can hugely help.
Credit: Dean Drobot , Rebecca Fondren Photo – Shutterstock
Ah, that old familiar knot in your stomach that tells you exams are looming. While some people like to believe a bit of anxiety and pressure can be beneficial around exam time, science suggests otherwise.
When we’re stressed, our brains release high levels of cortisol which can cloud the way we think and gets in the way of rational thoughts. Because of this, it’s important to stay as cool, calm and collected as you can during the exam period.
Yes, easier said than done.
Follow the practical steps below to relieve exam stress and the awful symptoms. The tips will also improve your productivity, help absorb more information from revision notes, and increase your chances of absolutely smashing it in your exams.
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Talk To A Relationship Coach
Connect now with an understanding, non-judgemental, expert relationship coach for immediate help and support.
Jr, Russell Noyes. The Familial Prevalence of Anxiety Neurosis.Archives of General Psychiatry. American Medical Association, 01 Sept. 1978. Web. 30 Sept. 2019.
Can Genes Be Turned on and off in Cells? Genetics Home Reference NIH.U.S. National Library of Medicine. National Institutes of Health, n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2019.
LiisaTyrväinena. The Influence of Urban Green Environments on Stress Relief Measures: A Field Experiment. Journal of Environmental Psychology. Academic Press, 24 Dec. 2013. Web. 30 Sept. 2019.
Epigenetics between the Generations: We Inherit More than Just Genes. ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 17 July 2017. Web. 30 Sept. 2019.
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Cut Out Caffeine Alcohol And Nicotine
We know, we know, cutting out coffee during exam time seems like an impossible task. How are you ever going to stay awake long enough to memorise that 300-page textbook without your good friend caffeine to get you through? Or cigarettes to help you relax afterwards?
Well, caffeine is a stimulant and will increase your stress levels rather than reduce them, and the same applies to nicotine. Avoid drinking more than one cup of coffee a day and cut the cigs if you can. And remember, fewer fags means more savings!
If you can’t cut them out completely, try to at least monitor your consumption. You could always try swapping the coffee for herbal tea or water, which will keep your body hydrated and allow you to cope better with stress. Plus, you can swap the ciggies for chewing gum.
This might sound obvious, but try to avoid alcohol during exams periods too. Alcohol can act as a depressant when consumed in large quantities and as a stimulant when consumed in smaller quantities neither of which is helpful as they can both send your stress levels through the roof.
Cutting out all of these substances will also improve your sleep which, now more than ever, will help you massively.
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Call Someone Who Doesnt Make You Stressed
If you dont have time to get together with someone, pick up the phone and call someone who doesnt make you stressed.
I say this because its important to call someone who you know will be a comforting presence on the other end of the line, not the friend who is so frantic herself that youll spend the entire time listening to how her world is falling apart.
Reaching out for that social connection can be the last thing we want to do when were stressed, but the chances youll feel a lot better afterwards and less alone in your stress are high.
Recognising Your Stress Triggers
If you’re not sure what’s causing your stress, keep a diary and make a note of stressful episodes for two-to-four weeks. Then review it to spot the triggers.
Things you might want to write down include:
- the date, time and place of a stressful episode
- what you were doing
- a stress rating
You can use the diary to:
- work out what triggers your stress
- work out how you operate under pressure
- develop better coping mechanisms
Doctors sometimes recommend keeping a stress diary to help them diagnose stress.
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Tend To Your Spirituality
If you consider yourself spiritual, developing your faith can also help improve cortisol levels.
Studies show that adults who expressed spiritual faith experienced lower cortisol levels in the face of life stressors such as illness (
69 ).
If you do not consider yourself spiritual, these benefits may also be available through meditation, developing a social support group, and performing acts of kindness .
Summary
For those with spiritual inclinations, developing faith and participating in prayer can help manage cortisol. Whether youre spiritual or not, performing acts of kindness can also improve your cortisol levels.
What Can One Do For Better Management Of Emotional Well
It is possible to better control emotional stress by attempting a variety of approaches.
- Give yourself some time to relax and rejuvenate. Take a break from reality, even if its only for five to fifteen minutes a few times a day.
- Mindfulness is learning to focus your attention and be more aware. You can learn to experience your bodys physical changes as your emotions shift. Understanding the mind-body link is the first step to properly managing stress and emotions. Mindfulness can also help you focus on the present what can I do to soothe my mind and body? Youve identified a stress trigger and what works to control it if you can identify what makes you feel calmer and more relaxed.
- Distract yourself from the source of your tension. Have some fun. Enjoy a hilarious film, a game, or a beloved hobby a volunteer can use one for a charitable cause. Do something fun with friends.
- Journaling is the process of writing down your feelings and thoughts to understand them better. It is a technique that encourages you to slow down, pay attention, and reflect on your life and your feelings and reactions to it. Emotional stress triggers might be revealed by journaling. You can identify negative thoughts and feelings and replace them with positive ones. Journaling is a helpful approach to dealing with emotions. Healing or change can occur when emotions are faced.
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You Have Trouble Sleeping
Maybe you have trouble falling asleep, or staying asleep. Or maybe the quality of your sleep doesnt leave you feeling refreshed and energized. When your stressed, your body isnt able to get into that deep, relaxed state you need to feel completely rested.
What to do about it: Aside from trying a guided meditation, practice deep breathing exercises before you fall asleep or journaling. When youve got a lot of stress, you might not have a constructive way to release it all. Writing it all down can help release it and give you some clarity around your issues.
Tips To Manage Stressful Situations
It might surprise you to learn that biological stress is a fairly recent discovery. It wasnt until the late 1950s that endocrinologist Hans Selye first identified and documented stress.
Symptoms of stress existed long before Selye, but his discoveries led to new research that has helped millions cope with stress. Weve compiled a list of the top 10 ways to relieve stress.
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Get Hold Of Your Emotions By Focusing On The Present
Properly focusing on the moment you are in can be accomplished in many different ways. Theres meditation, breathing techniques, focusing on sights, sounds, or other sensations. Whatever works best for you is what will help you to get out of your head. Pull back from whats bothering you, and focus your mind on the present.
My mindfulness trick is relatively simpleI can concentrate better when things smell good, so whenever I start to feel like things are getting out of control, I stop and put some lotion on. Its good for my skin and the scent and action itself brings me back to what Im doing at the present.
Meditation is a common way to address mindfulness as well. You can visit a temple for a quick yoga session with complete strangers or travel to Akita for a Buddhist meditation weekend retreat. Of course, you can also practice it on your own at home. The point is to change your environment for a moment and give it a genuine, honest tryin this way youll give yourself reasons to look at things from a better angle.
Ready to move on? Keep in mind that to destress and regain your confidence you first need to declutterand that involves every part of your life. Just keep going!
How To Avoid Stress
This article was co-authored by Chloe Carmichael, PhD. Chloe Carmichael, PhD is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist who runs a private practice in New York City. With over a decade of psychological consulting experience, Dr. Chloe specializes in relationship issues, stress management, self esteem, and career coaching. She has also instructed undergraduate courses at Long Island University and has served as adjunct faculty at the City University of New York. Dr. Chloe completed her PhD in Clinical Psychology at Long Island University in Brooklyn, New York and her clinical training at Lenox Hill Hospital and Kings County Hospital. She is accredited by the American Psychological Association and is the author of Nervous Energy: Harness the Power of Your Anxiety and Dr. Chloe’s 10 Commandments of Dating.There are 15 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 53,248 times.
Sometimes stress seems like something we just have to accept. In order to get ahead in this day and age, you’ve gotta be running, running, running. Unfortunately, it’s not good for our health — mentally and physically. Take the following steps to manage your stress and get more out of your day.
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Get The Right Amount Of Sleep
Prioritizing your sleep may be an effective way to reduce cortisol levels. Chronic sleep issues such as obstructive sleep apnea, insomnia, or shift work have been associated with higher cortisol .
One review of 28 studies in shift workers found that cortisol levels were higher in workers who slept during the day rather than at night .
Those on rotating shifts have been linked with poorer health outcomes, such as obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and worsened mental health (
18 ):
Summary
Practicing good sleep hygiene can help to keep cortisol in a normal rhythm. Keeping a consistent sleep schedule, avoiding caffeine 6 hours before bed, and staying off your cell phone right before bed are effective strategies.
How Can I Lower My Stress Level
Here are some ideas for different activities you can do to lower your stress. Pick a couple that look interesting to you, and try them out. If these ideas help you de-stress, you can include them in your daily or weekly routine. If not, you can try others on the list, or come up with a list of your own. Talk to your parents or another trusted adult about how they de-stress. They might have some good ideas you can try out.
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How Stress Affects Your Body/mind
Your adrenal glands are the heroes of your moment-by-moment response to pressure and stress.
- They are the size of a walnut and sit left and right at the top of your kidneys
- They make and secrete adrenaline , cortisol the stress hormone and other hormones.
- They turn processes automatically up and down 24/7 depending on need.
However, when the demands on you outstrip your resources, your adrenal glands, like two members of your 24/7 personal protection team, step up their protective processes. Theyre now constantly alert. Theyre beginning to feel the strain because they were designed in ancient times for short bouts of stress only to help you escape from marauding animals,
So, after a prolonged and highly stressful situation or event, the demand on your adrenal glands is above that which they were meant to do. No wonder then that your body/mind begins to buckle!
