Stress Management Tip #3- Adjust to the Stressors

If you have tried avoiding the stress points in your life as well as altering the situation with the stressor, and you find there are still some stress points remaining in your life, maybe it is time for you to adjust and adapt yourself to the stressors. The best way to do this is by changing your own expectations as well as attitude towards the stressor and your life.

Change Your Viewpoint: We all know that everything we look at is colored by our own perspective and the moment the perspective changes, the problem looks different. It is now time to really apply this into your life. For instance, if a traffic jam is your problem, think of it as time you have to listen to your favorite music. Keep your favorite music aside to be played only at traffic jams. You may actually start looking forward to traffic jams so you can listen to your favorite music.

Look at the Bigger Picture: Look at the bigger picture of your life and where you want to be. Then look at the problem at hand and weigh its importance in relation to the bigger picture. If it is important enough, get up and do something about it. If it is not so important, just let the matter slide.

Manage Your Expectations: One of the most important things that cause stress is unmet expectations. Whether it is expectations you have of yourself or others, they are potential stressors, for instance, if you expected yourself to get grade A and you didn’t get it, or if you expected the bus to come on time and it was delayed. If you are realistic in your expectations, there is less likelihood of them becoming potential stressors.

More stress management tips next week.

Stress Management Tip #2- Alter Stressful Situations

The best way to manage stress is by avoiding stressful situations entirely. However, that may not be entirely possible. When you simply have to deal with a stressful situation, the best way to manage your stress levels is by altering the situation so that it causes less stress. You may need to make lifestyle changes as well changes in your existing relationships to make this possible.

Express Yourself: One of the biggest stressor of all times is bottling one’s feelings up. Most people bottle their feelings because they don’t know how to express is without causing an altercation. For instance, if somebody is annoying you and you are getting agitated, you may feel that the only way to express yourself is by shouting at or scolding the person who is annoying you. Instead, find a peaceable way of letting the person know that his or her behavior is annoying to you and you would prefer not to be exposed to it.

Assert Yourself: The other big stressor is allowing oneself to get carried away by the moment. For instance, if you have a test coming up and there is a neighborhood party, you have to learn to be able to assert yourself and refuse to join the party. However, it is important that the priority of studying over partying is clear for you.

Be willing to Compromise: It is important to understand that you cannot always have things your way and some stressful situations are likely to remain the way they are, no matter what you do. For instance, much as you may hate your boss, you still have to work with him, until you change your job. In cases like these, try talking to them and letting them know what your stressor are and you may find that it is possible to strike a compromise by changing behavior traits on both sides.

More stress management tips will be posted soon.

Stress Management Tip #1- Avoid Stressors

Learn How To Avoid Stressors and reduce the stress

It is impossible to avoid all possible stressors and at the same time, it is important to ensure that important issues are addressed. However, there are a number of stressors in our everyday lives that are quite unnecessary and can be avoided. Avoiding such unnecessary stressors can make a huge difference in your ability to manage your stress levels.

Avoid stressful situations: This is an important technique to learn. Most people end up in stressful situations because they are unable to say no. Whether it has to do with more work than you can handle or with going out for an evening with people you don’t like, saying no is better than letting yourself into a situation you know will cause more stress.

Avoid stressful people: If there are people in your life, whether at home or at work, who always stress you out, learn to avoid them. If they cannot be avoided, try and spend as little time with them as possible. If any particular relationship is causing stress, consider breaking off that relationship.

Avoid stressful topics: There are people who feel very strongly about topics related to religion, politics, environment, etc. If you too have topics that you feel very strongly about, it is best that you avoid them during conversation. The conversation may quickly dissolve into an argument and you may end up causing yourself a lot of stress. Avoid such topics or go out for a breath of fresh air if such topics come up during conversation.

Avoid other stressors: Identify other stressors in your life and try to avoid them. For instance, if the shortest route to work has a lot of traffic, and traffic is one of your stressors, avoid the short route and take a longer route instead.

Stress Management Techniques

Managing stress effectively is something that many people have to teach themselves at some point in their lives. The underlying principle of stress management is that stress is not something external but something within our control, something that we create for ourselves through the way we react to situations.

All of us are tempted to zone out and shut out things that stress us with unhealthy activities. These may include watching hours of television or spending hours on the computer, sleeping too much, smoking, overeating or undereating and so on. Other people procrastinate, take drugs or pills, withdraw from family and loved ones, or take to drinking. These are all unhealthy ways of dealing with stress and should be avoided.

Often, stress is not recognized for what it is, and there is a minority of people who believes that filling up all their free time with work will help to alleviate stress. This is also unhealthy, although many people would say that it isn’t as unhealthy as other activities. This is not so. Having no time to yourself or your family can take tolls on your well-being in the long term, even if there are recognizable short term benefits.

There is no one way or easy solution to managing stress. It depends entirely on the kind of thing that is bothering you. Sometimes, it is possible to avoid the stressful activity without any perceivable losses. When this is possible, it should be done. At other times, it is possible to change the activity to one that is not nearly so stressful and that can be done light heartedly.

When neither of these alternatives is possible, all we can do is change our attitude towards the activity that is making us feel pressurized. We have to accept it and adapt to the situation rather than aggravating it and ourselves by lashing out or feeling cornered.

It helps immensely to be able to say ‘no’ to things that you feel you cannot do. Knowing your limits will help you feel happier and more in control of your environment. You may even find that people respect you more for having the courage to refuse certain tasks.

Taking charge of the situations that you find yourself in is another effective strategy. While it is not possible to control your environment completely, it is possible to be proactive instead of inactive with regard to it. This is easier said than done, but keep in mind that there are always things that can be done to alleviate stressful problems. Taking steps to improve a situation can often make you feel better, even if there is no difference achieved.

Do something you enjoy every day. This will help you keep in good spirits when there are things around you that you can’t control. Have a group of friends that you can unwind with. Keep a sense of humour and learn to take things with a pinch of salt. You will feel a lot better as a result.

There are many other stress management techniques and you have to choose the ones that will help you to reduce the stress easily.