Feeling stressed out? What follows are five ways to beat stress and help reduce the anxiety in your life. If you apply these five tips to beat stress, you will see a dramatic change in your everyday stress levels.
- Integrate your life activities
I hear many time management "gurus" advocate splitting your life into two compartments: personal and professional. They theorize that doing do allows you to separate stressors, prioritize tasks, etc...I believe differently. I believe that you have ONE life, and how you divide your time between work, play, and family varies depending on situational factors, priorities, etc. Separating your life into a professional and personal life only adds more stress, in my opinion. So how do you integrate your life activities better? Do tasks when you are able to, and when you have the most energy to do so. You may have to take work home on Saturday, but you may also want to take the kids to the zoo on a Tuesday afternoon. Perhaps your workouts are more productive in the evening. Maybe you get inspired watching late night television and feel the urge to send out emails to friends you've been meaning to contact. Whatever the activity, do it when you are able and willing. By doing things this way, you allow for the ebb and flow of life to run its course. Some days you'll feel like doing nothing, but on other days you'll get the entire house cleaned, the lawn mowed, and still have time to take in a movie. It all balances out.
- Exercise It Out
Exercise is too often overlooked as an antidote to stress and chronic worrying. Not only is there a physiological change that occurs when we exercise (you've heard about endorphins, right?) but there is a psychological change. You allow your mind to take time out from your problems. Many times you can improve your problem solving ability merely by exercising-you'll find that your mind becomes refreshed with alternative solutions and possibilities you hadn't initially thought of. How to exercise is up to you, but my bias lies with making exercise fun. I much prefer playing basketball than running two miles on a track. I also prefer chasing my three year old son around the back yard to running. Actually, I prefer lots of things to running, but...the point is to make it fun, and get a good sweat going.
- Tackle The Biggest Task First
If you are someone who subscribes to the "to-do" list method of personal productivity, then this tip will apply to you in particular. Do the biggest chore first. Tackle the biggest task prior to any others. Why? Because doing so when you have the most energy (usually at the start of your day) will increase your odds of success. Maybe the task is to have a discussion with your boss about that raise you're due. Or maybe the task is to go work out at the gym. Or balance the checkbook. Do it early, and you'll also create instant momentum. I like to work out early in the morning, (when I have the most energy), so I can enjoy driving home by 10 am, refreshed and ready to get other tasks done during the day.
- Chunk Tasks Down (Into Bite-Size Pieces)
Frustration and feelings of being overwhelmed are direct results of tackling too much at once. Attempting to write an eleven page term paper at midnight the night before it is due? Have fun. You would be better served to "chunk" it down. Start a week prior to the due date, and write two pages. Then write two more the next evening, continuing on until you are done, one day early! But that is just one example. Chunk large tasks down into smaller, more doable activities, and focus on doing a little each day towards completion of whatever the task is. Do something, but don't put pressure on yourself to do it all immediately. That gets old real quick!
- Prioritize Hobbies
This is my favorite of the five tips. Prioritize your hobbies-set aside time each week to engage in those things that you enjoy doing. Maybe you like to work on cars, or perhaps you enjoy cooking, or maybe you are a movie buff. Maybe it means going to the golf course. Whatever it is that you enjoy-set aside some regular time and guard that time with your life. Put it on your schedule. If you don't, you run the risk of never getting around to it (which usually happens, because there is always something that comes up in our daily lives). Allowing yourself time to engage in those activities that give you pleasure allows you time to recharge your mental batteries. And we all need a little recharging on a weekly basis.
