Stress is something that affects us all at one point or another. However, you may not always be able to control the circumstances and life events that cause stress in your life. But if left unmanaged, stress can lead to overwhelm and burnout, so you must learn how to manage it effectively.
Here are some simple stress management tips you can use to minimise stress and the effect it has on your mental health when you’re in the midst of it.
#1: Stress management starts when you know what stresses you out
Understand what situations, events and people cause you stress. It’s only when you understand them that you can begin taking steps to eliminate them from your life.
#2: Reframe your problems
Using humour, rising to the challenge, and adopting a positive attitude to solving the problem are all ways you can reframe difficulties you face. The Health Sessions website has an interesting article on 7 psychological tricks you can use to reframe how stress affects your health.
#3: Manage your environment
Your environment is another area you can control and adapt to minimise stress. This can include things such as minimising noise and distractions, as well as being mindful of what you watch on TV and how it makes you feel.
#4: Know what you can and can’t control
It’s often easy to get agitated over things you have no control over. Not only does this increase your stress levels, but it’s also a pointless exercise. It’s far better to understand what is within your control and implement changes to suit. Let the things you can’t control go!
#5: Don’t bottle things up if you want to manage your stress
It’s not always easy to talk about how you feel, but bottling things up isn’t healthy. If you want to manage your stress levels, start communicating your thoughts, needs, concerns and feelings with others.
#6: Connect with others
Isolation and feelings of loneliness can negatively impact your mental wellbeing, not to mention your stress levels. So look to stay in touch with your colleagues and friends. And if loneliness and isolation are issues you’re facing, check out this recent blog post on how to tackle loneliness when working from home.
#7: My top stress management tip – drop the perfectionism
There is no perfect. The quicker you accept this, the faster you can drop perfectionism and the stress associated with it. Look instead to focus on doing a job well rather than perfect.
#8: Look after your health
Your health has a massive impact on stress. Not only does it help you cope better when you have anxiety, but it also enables you to avoid it in the first place. So eat healthily, exercise regularly and give yourself adequate rest.
#9: Do something you enjoy every day
It can be all too easy to get focused on work and family commitments. But you only have one life, so you need to enjoy it! Look to do something every day that brings you joy, fun and happiness.
#10: Practice gratitude; it will help with stress management
Gratitude can help you focus on all that’s good in your life. It helps you with stress management because it changes your mood and makes you feel better. The better and more uplifted you feel, the more able you are to acknowledge, deal with and eliminate stress from your life.
Stress is something that affects us all at one point or another. Left unmanaged, it can lead to overwhelm and, eventually, burnout. Use the stress management tips above to help minimise stress in your life and equip you with the tools to manage your stress, should you need them.
If you’re an online business owner looking for more hacks on managing your mental health, check out this recent blog post. And if you’re looking to reduce stress by establishing where your time is going and what tasks you can outsource, opt-in for my free workbook: The Business Booster No-Brainer.