So Little Time, So Many Things

The pace in the world is getting faster and faster and everyone seem to be running around frantically to get things done but things that need to be done seem to be multiplying yet 24 hours feel like a mere 24 minutes instead.

Introduction to Stress

During our ancestors time, they are really glad that they can feel stressful because when humans faced threats, our body defense will be kicked into high gear which is a “fight or flight” response. This is a very useful attribute because they are living with threats like tigers or lions around them and the “fight or flight” response definitely aid their survival.

During those days ,stress will kick in when one was faced with physical threats, but In  the modern days, the stress that help our ancestors to run away from tigers and lions seems to be happening much more often. Does it mean that we have more tigers and lions chasing us all around and the zoo in the world seems to lack enclosures for our predators?

No, that isn’t the case. I would say the old triggers of stress (tigers and lions) are gone and here come the new triggers.

1. Filing your tax

2. Caring for the elderly or kids despite of your heavy work load.

3. Arguments

4. Deadlines

5. Bills

Some maybe see a bill with much more fear than seeing a tiger. All these are the new predators that will trigger our “fight or flight” response and we are facing a lot more of these situations than compared to facing a physical threat. This mean that our body is consistently in an overdrive mode and all these prolonged activation of the stress response will take a heavy toll on our body which may cause heart disease, chronic pain, high blood pressure and much more undesirable health conditions.

15 Ways To Deal With Stress

Here comes the 15 tips to help you deal with stress.

1.Mind your words - Change words such as “I have to” to “I choose to.” Put yourself back in control and remove negative words such as “have to” will help you to reduce the pressure and stress level. Even the worst tasks seem better when we choose to do it instead of being forced into doing it.

2. Learn to say no - Taking up too many tasks and try to make yourself slog through a list that even superman will say no to just isn’t worth it. Learn to say no to tasks that can be done better by others and decline assisting in other tasks when you are occupied by tasks that you have not completed yet.

3. Look at the bright side - Don’t keep dwelling on how bad things are going to be. Look at the bright side of life. Dwelling in negativity will only sap your energy and demoralize you. Focus on the good things you can think of your tasks, like recognition or the sense of achievement when you completed your task.

4. Breathe deeply - Take a minute off from your work, close your eyes and breathe deeply. Do a few counts of deep breathing and see your stress level reduced almost immediately.

5. Take a walk – Get out of your chair and take a walk in a nearby garden or somewhere close to nature. Forget about your work for a moment and enjoy the nature.

6. Set realistic goals – Set goals that are able to stretch you but not enough to burn you up. Setting goals should be able to challenge you, just make sure you don’t pile unnecessary stress on yourself with unrealistic goals.

7. Ask for help – Delegate, outsource or ask a fellow colleague for help. 2 brains are better than 1 and 3 brains are better than 2. If you are running a business, it doesn’t make sense if you are running everything yourself. Outsource the non core tasks to others that have the specialize skills to do it even better than you.

8. Celebrate – Celebrate your mini milestones that you reached. Once you completed an important task, take a break from it and do a mini celebration and have a small reward for yourself. You will be more refreshed and motivated to do your next task.

9. Focus – Don’t multi task and try to do multiple things at the same time. It is unnecessary burden and most probably multi tasking doesn’t help in producing quality tasks.

10. Have a toy - Stress balls are manufactured for a reason. Yes, reducing stress! Put them at your work desk and play with them when you need it. Playing with it help to reduce anxiety and it is an excellent outlet to let go of negative energy that you had stored up.

Image courtesy of programwitch

**I do not recommend this toy**

11. Sleep – Do not sacrifice sleep to churn out more work. What is worst than working with someone who is lacking in sleep and have a bad temper. Sacrificing sleep just aggravate your stress level. Get adequate shut eye and allow your body to work in optimal condition.

12. Exercise – Stop your work and do some exercises. It help to reduce your stress remarkably when you are exercising and it helps to move your focus off your work.

13. Don’t sweat the small stuff – Sometimes a little screw up is fine and we need do not need to be stressed over it. Just let it go and try to work it out.

14. Don’t be extreme – Don’t use words like “always” or “every time.”Extreme words will cause extreme reactions that do not help the situation and it just make the matter worst. “He screw it up every time” is an example of an extreme reaction. Slow down and think, did he really screw up every time? Probably no.

15. Laugh – Too stressed up in life? Catch a comedy and laugh your heart out. Can you look at the right and the left at the same time? That is the same as being stressful while laughing at the same time. So laugh more and allow your laughter to overcome stress.

When you are stressed up, just try to apply some of these tips to help bring down your stress level. Thanks for reading and have a good time relaxing!

Image courtesy of gabo2

Cheers

Vincent

Personal Development Blogger

**P.S** What are your triggers that lead to stress? Exams? Work? Bills? How you overcome them? Share with us in the comment section, it will be greatly appreciated.

If you like this article, please digg, stumble or bookmark it in de.li.cious. Want more convenience and have new articles like this to be send to your inbox for free? Subscribe to my RSS feed or Email updates

Hit Your Goals|Personal Development Blog

Post from: Health Money Success

15 Ways To Deal With Stress

Related Articles

• Biggest Mistake You Can Make To Stun Your Growth: Are You Being Choosy On Your Tasks? (8)
• 3 Important Lessons I had Learned From A Conversation (24)
• 6 Things That I Had Learnt From Playing Games (13)
• 7 Lessons We Can Learn From Michael Jordan (13)
• 15 Valuable Lessons We Can Learn From World Champions (13)