There's good and bad stress. Good stress comes from sense of urgency to get the job done. The bad stress is when we are overwhelmed and not taking proper breaks while working. People who are busy all the time experience stress all the time. Guess what? Stress can cause belly fat! Releasing the hormone cortisol into the blood stream. So here are some ways to prevent "bad stress." 1. Schedule your interruptions - you want to work when it is quiet and nobody is around 2. Focus on breathing - while taking breaks, do a series of 10 inhales and 10 exhales in about 45-60 seconds. Repeat this for 5-10 minutes, and you'll notice the difference. 3. Lose yourself - there's a song from Eminem that I like (yes I listen rap music), and it is called "Lose Yourself." What that simply means is that you want to engage in certain activity that's not related to your work and business or whatever you are doing for living or to get the job done. This will allow your subconscious mind to work on unresolved problems at your work or give you new ideas to cope with difficulties 4. Staying in control - most people get impatient when are stressful which often amplifies the pain even more. The more you resist the ugly it gets. Accept the tendency of stress as something natural. It is a way of the body that's telling you when you need a break. 5. Eat Small- eat more vegetables, and frequently. Eat about 4-5 small meals a day, containing 350-500 calories each. Do not snacks. When you eat, you eat, then stop. Wait 2-3 hours and eat again 350-500 calories meal. 6. Exercise - I am not talking about weight lifting and crazy cardio here. Simply walk for 30-60 minutes everyday would reduce the stress levels. When you exercise regularly, you'll be stress free. Exercise kills stress. 7. Pile Of Sandbags - there are no problems, only concepts. Having "a problem" often translates to more stress. Well, problems are simply ideas that our mind uses to label certain events and circumstances. They live only in our MIND. There's no such thing as "real problem" in the real world. They are interpretations of our own conscious thoughts and processes that are happening within our mind. You may want to remember that ever time "a problem" occurs 8. Self-deception - stress is often a symptom of nervousness and insecurity that life often brings us. See obstacles as opportunities. Turn the negative into a positive to reduce stress. 9. The Pin Ball Machine - the brain often jumps from one thing to the next so we often feel like a pin ball machines. This is causing tremendous a amount of stress. You want to work at one thing at a time until it is complete. 10. Rhythms of Pace - our body operates on rhythms, and this is a concept that I've learned from Tony Schwartz. Every 90 minutes the body renew itself, so you have to take proper breaks after every 90 minutes of work to use the maximum reserve of energy you have. When you work for more than 90 min, you begin to burn fuel, it is like driving a car with broken tire. This is when the stress comes, because of the lack of adjusting to the rhythm our body naturally has. 11. Kill two birds with one stone - often when we see similar tasks, do them all together. This is not multitasking, but you are levering the power of repetition. The more you repeat certain task, the better you get at it. And when you line up tasks of similar nature, you get twice as much done - reducing stress as a result 12. Day of silence - have at least a day every week or every month of silence and reflection. Shut down the world and get to know yourself better. When you come back the next day, you'll be much fresher. 13. Stop drinking coffee - when you get stressed out, and when you pour more coffee into you body, things are getting worse. Most people get more coffee to WORK MORE or be awake so that they can work like hell to get the thing done. Well, instead of getting that coffee get a glass of water with lemon, you'll feel much better.
Great tips on how to deal with stress! Whether you work from home or you work for someone else, there's always a certain degree of stress. Walking has been a great therapy for me to release those stress!
There are several things I've done recently to reduce stress on the job. Most of these have to do with what I do AWAY from my job, but some do apply when I'm on the job: 1. Reduce alcohol consumption at night before work. I really like beer, but I think it was effecting my mood when I drank it on a regular basis on work nights. So, over the past two weeks, I've been able to limit it for the most part to weekend nights. I'm finding I'm less irritable and have a better attitude at work as a result. 2. Eliminate soda pop at work. Seems like soda pop left me feeling bloated and energy drained, in spite of the fact that I was using it for energy (caffeine). Over the past two weeks, I mainly drink unsweetened tea at work, and it has had a positive effect on my energy level how I feel in general. 3. Lift weights. This contradicts one of the things the OP mentioned to do, but weight lifting really calms the nerves down, even if you lift for only 20 to 30 minutes at a time, 3 days a week, when you are not working. There have been incidences where inmates from prison who lift weights have said that weight lifting is what keeps them calm and helps them stay away from trouble. It also helps to improve physical appearance, so its a no-brainer!
Great tips. Stress is everywhere, no one is an exemption, all of us could be a victim. what we can at least to is to minimize the effects of stress of somehow avoid getting more stressed.
These are some great stress management tips. I believe if you have the right combination of stress remedies you can defeat the harmful effects of stress once and for all.
Yes there are a lot of good tips on what to do to limit your stress. Stress is very rough on me with my MS. I'm all ways looking for good tips on howto make it more manageable.
What a great share! Nice tips and ideas you have there. I do agree with all 13 you are sharing Chris.
