Here are some things you can do to address stress:
– Be active. Exercise won’t make your stress disappear, but it can reduce some of the emotional intensity that you’re feeling and clear your thoughts.
– Take control. The action of taking control is empowering and is a crucial part of finding a solution that satisfies you.
– Connect with people. A good support network can ease your troubles and help you see things in a different way. Talking things through may help you find solutions to your problems.
– Have some me time. It’s important to take some time for socialising, relaxation, exercise or whatever else makes you feel more calm and happier.
– Challenge yourself. Setting yourself goals and challenges, whether at work or outside, can help build confidence which may help deal with your stress.
– Avoid unhealthy habits. Don’t rely on alcohol, smoking or caffeine as your ways of coping. They might provide temporary relief, but in the long term they won’t solve your problems. They’ll just create new ones.
– Help other people. Evidence shows that people who help others often become more resilient. Try to do someone a favour every day. It could be something as small as helping someone cross the road.
– Work smarter, not harder. Working smarter means prioritising your work, concentrating on the tasks that’ll make a real difference. Leave the least important tasks to last. Accept that you will not have time for everything.
– Try to be positive. Look for the positives in life, and things for which you’re grateful. Try writing down 3 things that went well, or for which you’re grateful, at the end of every day.
– Accept the things you can’t change. Changing a difficult situation isn’t always possible. Try to concentrate on the things you do have control over.
Stress can affect our emotions and we may become irritable, angry or tearful, feel worried, anxious, hopeless or scared, struggle to make decisions, have racing thoughts of feel overwhelmed. Hopefully, however, our tips may help you to feel a slight bit better when you next experience stress.
