A Checklist For Sanity When Dealing With Stress

Wouldn’t life be great if there were no such thing as stress? Well, believe it or not, we do need some stress in our lives. It’s when stress levels rise too high or are present all the time that stress becomes a problem. Integrating some of the following stress management techniques into your daily routine can help you maintain healthy stress levels and a more peaceful life.

Try taking up a hobby to relieve some of your stress. A hobby – whether it’s gardening, building model cars, writing, or whatever – can be a great way for you to forget whatever’s bothering you and just relax and have fun for a bit. Whenever you’re feeling stressed out, take some time to work on your hobby.

When you are stressed at work or in class, hold a stress ball. This will allow you to squeeze something every time you get aggravated to help appease the tension that you feel. Holding onto a stress ball for a good part of the day is a very healthy way to eliminate stress.

If you want to reduce the amount of tension in your life, go to your favorite store and buy a pair of shoes that you’ve always wanted. When you purchase something new and fresh, it makes you feel more comfortable with your appearance, which will give you more confidence and reduce your anxiety.

A great tip that can help you feel less stressed is to go back and finish something that you started. We all know the lingering feeling of leaving something unfinished. By going back and completing something that you left unfinished, your stress will go down and you’ll feel much better.

If you are dealing with a lot of stress do something that will take your mind off of it for a while. This could be reading a book or playing a video game. Then when you are sufficiently relaxed, go back to what you were working on and you will find it much easier to do with a clear mind.

If you’re feeling stressed out, try going for a walk. Walking will increase the circulation in your body and get your blood flowing. It also gives you a chance to get some fresh air and to clear your head. A quick ten minute walk can help you feel much more relaxed.

One way to properly deal with stress is to be sure that you do not speak ill of yourself. It is important because you have to be your own best friend throughout this process and putting yourself down can only cause the process to take longer than it has to.

A great way to deal with stress is to consider drinking more hot tea. Along with the relaxing nature of drinking a warm beverage, many teas contain healthy natural relaxing agents in them that can help to soothe you. Check out a variety of teas and see which suit you the best.

One great stress reliever is a massage. If you have a partner or close friend, see if they’re interested in trading massages. If not, pay to have one done professionally. Having the tension worked out of your muscles can have a profound effect on your state of mind and relieve a lot of stress.

Stop smoking. Smoking is often a reaction to stress. When stressed people actively seek out chemicals and activities that they perceive as providing relief. Tobacco contains nicotine and it is a powerful addictive chemical. Smoking also keeps your hands occupied, something your mind sometimes pushes you to do when you are stressed.

Don’t be tempted to use drugs, legal or otherwise. While it may seem the most natural thing in the world to turn to alcohol, cigarettes, or other drugs to reduce our stress levels, the truth of the matter is that these drugs only escalate our problems. They actually result in heightened stress levels, not reduced stress. We become oversensitized to the very things that are causing our stress in the first place.

Learning to play a musical instrument is a great way to relieve stress. Try to play some of the songs that you love on a guitar or the instrument of your choice. Learning something new is a great way to alleviate anxiety.

Schedule time each day to worry over certain items and let them go at all other times. Not every stressor in your life needs immediate attention and constant energy. Compartmentalize your thinking on these specific stressors to a certain, finite time each day. Then during the remainder of your day, let them go. By doing so, you’ll find that you are less stressed overall.

Now you have learned a few new techniques to help you keep your stress levels to a manageable level. While no techniques are guaranteed, none of them do anything at all unless they are put into practice. Give these tips a try, work them in to your daily routine, and see how stress management can improve your life.