4 Easy Ways To Reduce Stress By Taking Control
If stress relief causes you stress, you need a different approach. Even though stress is part of everyday life, prolonged, excessive stress can cause serious ill health so proper stress relief is essential if you want to stay healthy. But whilst some people find it easy to relax after a busy day, others find active relaxation so stressful that it makes a visit to the dentist look attractive. If you find meditation too difficult when you have so much on your plate, you need to take a different approach to stress relief. But how can you relax when what you actually want is more hours in the day?
Although everyone feels stressed to different extents even in the same circumstance, one thing is constant. We all get stressed when we feel we are not in control. Whenever you are faced with a situation where you are have lost control, or have no control of the outcome, your stress levels will soar as time goes on. You will become tense, your mouth will be dry and you will probably have difficulty sleeping. To compensate for all this, make sure you identify ways in which you CAN take positive control in your life. This will have a calming effect on your life and will help you feel more in control in the stressful areas of your life.
For example, whenever you have a critical work deadline approaching, make sure you do not volunteer to organize a social outing for the parents of your children's classmates or the works social outing. Saying no is very empowering and can radically reduce your stress levels.
If you embark on a project which requires input from other people, make sure you do all of your research beforehand. Let everyone know if, when and what input you will need from them, AND make sure that they give you what you need in a timely fashion. This will enable you to stay in control and actively in charge of your stress levels.
Adopt a problem solving approach to as many different areas of your life as possible. This may or may not include your specific stressor but because you are in control of so many other areas of your life, this will have a psychological knock on effect on your overall demeanor and on your overall stress. Here are four techniques that can help you to do this:
1. Plan effectively. Set out and follow daily, monthly, yearly and longer term plans. This will help guide your decisions in both your business and personal life. Learn to say no to those things that do not support your goals.
2. Communicate properly. When planning and making decisions, make sure you consult everyone who may be affected by them. This will get everyone's buy in from the outset and prevent unnecessary tensions building up.
3. Be flexible. There is more than one way to skin a cat and more than one way to run a project. If you focus on the end result rather than the process, you will get less stressed when unexpected events arise, especially if they are beyond your control. Work around them.
4. Breathe easy. Take a few moments to take some deep breaths and intentionally loosen your muscles before you settle to work. This will help you relax and improve your focus, allowing you to get more done.
Using these different approaches to increase the control you have over as much of your life as possible, will act to reduce the stress in your life overall.
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