Remember the last time you were so stressed that you couldn’t sleep? Stress is one of the biggest sleep stealers there is. Even if you fall asleep, stress can prevent you from entering deep sleep for physical recovery or REM sleep for mental recovery. Experiment with different ways to relieve and release your stress, each day, so that your nightly slumber becomes more peaceful. Try these tips and see how they work for you.
Hanging out with friends is a great way for you to improve the way that you feel at night. Instead of sitting home, where you may think about things that could cause you stress, go to a friend’s apartment. This will loosen you up and make you feel more at peace.
A great and simple way to reduce your stress level is to take a break, even if it’s just a minute or two. By stepping away from a stressful situation, you are allowing yourself to rejuvenate and recover for a few short minutes. By letting your body relax and your stress hormones to reduce, you are giving yourself a fresh start at the project at hand. With a new perspective after your small break, you might find that the task at hand isn’t as stressful as it first seemed.
A great tip that can help you keep stress down is to turn off the television. Studies have shown that watching television actually increases our stress levels. You don’t have to stop watching it completely but you should definitely limit how much television you’re going to watch everyday.
Saying “no” more often will actually reduce the stress caused by giving in to things you really didn’t want to be obligated to and keep you from having to do them! When you are already pressed for time throughout your day, so saying “no” to offers people make that you are not actually interested in will give you more control and definitely less stress!
Avoid grinding your teeth by forcing your jaw to relax. Stress has a tendency to make us tighten certain muscles, and the muscles around the jaw are most commonly affected. When you notice yourself becoming overly stressed, use your index finger to press against your jaw. Next, clench your jaw, inhale deeply and exhale deeply to release your jaw. This should make a positive difference in how you feel.
If at all possible, avoid negative people who only bring you down and stress you out! People with bad attitudes are often contagious and in order to preserve a positive attitude and keep yourself on track you need to keep away from them. A neighbor or co-worker who is always complaining is nearly always going to cause you stress so walk away!
Breaking big jobs into smaller chunks will reduce your stress in numerous ways! Most importantly this will make the job seem less overwhelming and more approachable; additionally you will be better prepared to actually complete the job in a timely manner. Failure to meet deadlines and fulfill duties is a major cause of stress so if you change your initial approach to a big job and can do it more efficiently you are one step ahead of the next one!
Make sure that if you are staring at a computer at work for the majority of the day, to get up and stretch your body. Stretching is really important, as remaining stagnant for the greater part of the day can increase stress levels. Move around and chat with co-workers to improve how you feel.
If you are very active during the course of the day, one of the things that you can do is to listen to music to calm you down. When you listen to music, your mind will be toned down, especially if the music is very fluid and soft. Listen to your favorite tune to optimize the way you feel.
Avoid stress when possible! High blood pressure can be the direct result of too much stress in our lives. It is, of course, natural to experience a short-term spike in blood pressure under stressful situations. Think, for example, about a typical trip to the doctor’s office. Many people experience such as spike under such conditions. Long term elevation in blood pressure due to stress, however, is considerably more concerning!
Exercise is wonderful to relieve stress. It gets your heart rate pumping and takes your mind off of the stressful events in your life. Consider activities such as walking, tennis, running, swimming or biking. Stress related chemicals are burned off during exercise and it is healthy for you and your heart!
Now you should have a few new ideas to add to your “stress management” tool kit. Everyone needs to know different techniques to manage stress, because stress is tricky because the same techniques don’t always work all of the time. Try the above tips and see if they can become part of your stress-fighting arsenal, to help you to better manage daily stress levels.