There is no doubt about it – many of us are very stressed out. The question should be, how can we deal with it?
Let’s take a look at 10 positive ways to deal with stress.
Listen To Your Favourite Music
Often, we forget to turn to the simple methods when it comes to de-stressing. But this is the thing with relieving stress; you have to keep things simple. And a lot of the time, relieving the tension and soothing stress really is as “simple” (but oh so powerful and effective) as listening to your favourite music.
If you’re having a tough day, one of positive ways to deal with stress is to take a 5-10 minute timeout and play two or three feel-good tunes that you know always lift your spirits. Try it. Play blasts from the past that remind you of awesome times. Play happy, positive beats with inspiring lyrics.
And don’t forget to sing-along and dance!
Identify Your Triggers and Eliminate Them
Do you know what sets you off? Are you aware of what causes your stress levels to soar through the roof? It’s only once you identify your triggers that you can work on eliminating them and reducing stress.
One of positive ways to deal with stress is to spend some time thinking about this and write your triggers down. For some people, crowds cause them stress. In this case, avoid the city centre on busy days and times, and shop online as much as possible.
If never being able to find something causes you stress, de-clutter your house and make it your mission to be more organised.
Quit Multitasking
Why do we multitask? To save time and be more productive. However, multitasking saves us no time, makes us less productive – and more stressed. One of positive ways to deal with stress is to focus on one task at a time and you’ll be a lot happier. Be the tortoise and not the hare.
Get Up Earlier
One of the reasons we get stressed is that there never seems to be enough hours in the day to do all that we want to do. Ever get this? It’s 5pm and you’ve still got SO much to do. You’re tearing your hair out. What if you started earlier? What if you got up earlier and completed your first task by 8am?
“But I like lying in on the weekends.”
You need to ask yourself what causes you more pain: Sleeping in or finding it impossible to fit everything into one day.
Kick The Negotiable’s
There are things we have to do in life – these are our non-negotiable’s, and include taking our kids to school, cleaning our house etc. But there are also negotiables – tasks that give our lives no meaning but stress us out instead. So why do we do them? Identify yours and then kick them out, it’s another one of positive ways to deal with stress.
Nothing!
Some of us are constantly switched on. We find it hard to do nothing. We feel so lazy! But here’s the thing: Sometimes it’s perfectly okay to do nothing. Try it. Fall asleep on a hammock. Chill on a beach. Do absolutely nothing for a whole day.
Eat Properly
You’ve heard all about comfort food. Perhaps you even indulge in comfort food yourself. After a long, hard day you pig out in front of the television with nachos, chocolates, coke and Oreos. This is after you’ve already eaten a burger or a pizza. It’s junk, you know it’s junk – but if it makes you feel comforted in the short term, what does it matter?
It matters a lot, because a poor diet and high stress levels are entwined. Bad fats from junk food don’t just go to your thighs and your belly – they also go to your brain, where they run riot. This causes more stress, anxiety and even depression.
One of positive ways to deal with stress is to make good food choices. The foods likes of fresh fruit, vegetables, grains and beans can nourish your body, filling you with energy and vitality, thus diminishing stress.
Make Schedules
We get stressed when the day is over and we realise we forgot to do THAT. To make sure this stops happening, create weekly and daily schedules and prioritise your tasks.
Say No To People
We get stressed when we lock ourselves into doing something we didn’t actually want to do.
Picture it. Your friend asks if you want to go out tomorrow night for cocktails and meet a male friend of hers who she says is perfect for you. You really don’t want to go out, and the thought of a blind date terrifies you. But you say Yes because you don’t want to let her down. Then, you spend the next 24 hours stressing about it. You’re unable to focus on anything else!
Nip things in the bud instantly by saying No to everything you don’t want to do, it’s one of very effective, positive ways to deal with stress. It’s your life – take back control!
Exercise
Working out by itself doesn’t necessarily make stress go away. But it relieves the tension.
It feels good to exercise and let our emotions out on the treadmill. Take your stress out on a punch bag. Exercise those stress demons away!
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