By: Dominique Huang
Stress. Everyone has felt it at one point or another; it seems as if no one can escape from stress. We will always have deadlines to complete, work to finish, issues to deal with. There are, however, steps we can all take to reduce the amount of stress in our lives.
1. Cut out unnecessary stress.
Stress is often our bodies’ response to demands. Whether these demands are emotional or physical, stress can lead to negative thoughts and feelings. We need to cut out as much excess stress in our lives as we can, and we can do this by understanding our limits. Know your limits; don’t bite off more than you can chew.
2. Keep a healthy lifestyle.
A high stress level also takes its toll on our mood, dragging us down with negative emotions. To counter this, we need to pay attention to physical health, whether it is fulfilling a daily quota of exercise or setting a goal of how many hours of sleep we must get each night. Our minds and bodies are connected; when we keep our bodies fit and healthy, we also improve our mood and clear out our mind, helping lower anxiety and giving us more positive attitudes to tackle the things we need to do.
3. Reserve time for your favorite hobbies.
Regardless of how heavy our workloads are, we need to have time for ourselves. Doing our favorite hobbies allows us to escape from stress and relax, which in many cases allows ideas to flow out more easily. It gives us an opportunity to clear our minds and unwind with activities that make us happy.
4. Sort out your life and get organized.
When we are stressful, our minds are generally very scattered: too much to do and no time to stop. We can calm down and lower our stress when we stop and identify the root causes of our stress, whether it is an assignment to complete or bills to pay. Once we identify all of our stress factors, we should record them down in a journal. Jotting down everything allows us to see exactly how much work we have left and assign priorities to these tasks, instead of trying to keep track of everything in our minds. Also, we should update our journals frequently on our moods and our lives. Writing in our journals is a healthy way for us to express all of our frustrations and learn how to deal with them.
We are all victims of stress. When we stay on top of our work and maintain healthy lifestyles, we find our stress levels going down and our happiness going up. Don’t delay any longer; the sooner we learn to manage our stress, the sooner we can tackle anything that life hands us with a bright, positive attitude.