Seven Easy Steps Toward Stress Management

Good stress helps us perform better providing the strength and energy to overcome a challenge or flee from danger. Bad stress, on the other hand, can actually make us sick causing headaches, insomnia, chest pains and nausea. Excessive stress can also affect us mentally and emotionally causing confusion, anxiety, depression, impatience and irritability.

While many stressors are often beyond our control (noise, bright lights, and rude or careless people), some things we do actually increase our stress.

Lifestyle choices like smoking, too much caffeine, not enough sleep or an overloaded schedule can increase stress. Pessimistic thinking, self-criticism and taking things personally are other internal stressors we can control to some degree.

The following are seven suggestions (techniques) we can use to master stress and give our adrenal glands a
break:

Decrease or stop caffeine: Caffeine (coffee, tea, chocolate and cola) actually generates a stress reaction in the body. Stopping caffeine helps us feel less jittery or nervous, sleep better and have more energy. Since caffeine is a drug, however, one must wean gradually to avoid withdrawal headaches decreasing by one caffeine drink per day, and then abstain totally for three weeks.

Regular exercise: Physical activity every day or two (three times per week at the very least) is an essential ingredient in any stress reduction program. Choose activities you like (walking, jogging, swimming, bicycling) so they will not feel like a chore.

Relaxation/meditation: Some relaxation and meditation techniques can be learned through training courses at your local community centre or through books and tapes.

Sitting quietly by a lake or fireplace and other restful activities for even as little as twenty minutes can significantly reduce stress.

Time-outs and leisure: short walks, 20-minute meditation, a refreshment break or listening to music can provide the chance to reduce our stress levels.
These time-outs allow you to return to issues feeling more rested and in a better frame of mind. Regular leisure activities and vacations are also keys to stress reduction.

Venting and support system: Keeping things all bottled up can increase stress. The old saying goes, a problem shared is a problem halved.A trustworthy friend with whom we can help us process and discard stressful feelings.

Reframing: Reframing is changing the way we look at things in order to feel better about them; seeing the glass as half full rather than half empty. Look for ways a stressful situation can actually be a blessing in disguise.

Keep a sense of humour: Humour is an antidote to upsets since laughter relieves tension physiologically. Keeping a humour file at work can be an effective strategy. In addition, learning to laugh at ourselves can be part of reframing stressful thoughts.

It is important to remember that it is not always those external stressors (the weather, boss, children, spouse or stock market), that upset us. Recognising that we create most of our own upsets is an important first step to managing our stress. This article listed seven techniques for reducing stress that are practical and which even the busiest professional can start implementing right now. After all, one of the most important things we can do, not only for ourselves, but also for our loved ones is to manage our stress effectively.