Friday 26 July 2013

Study Smart: Five Tips To Handle Your Stress

By Lachlan Haynes


Life is busy. We're all becoming more and more time poor. So much to do and so little time! It's inevitable that our stress levels are building up. But not all stress is bad - and a little bit of stress is actually really helpful. Why? Well it drives us to action and helps keep us alert and active.

Unfortunately though, stress can also have detrimental impacts which can cause harm to our bodies. In particular, it impacts the ability of the body to repair and protect itself from disease and infection. In fact, stress is the cause of over 90% of all disease. Stress is a trigger for chronic illness, obesity, communication and relationship problems, anxiety, depression and unhappiness.

In order to stop stress from taking control of your life and sending you on a downward spiral, the most effective thing you can do is learn how to prevent and control it. By learning how to prevent and control stress levels you will be free to live a successful, happy and healthy life! And everybody wants that don't they?

It's important to remember that we will always come across inevitable factors that cause pressure and anxiety on us. What we do not know is that it is not really the problems that are difficult to deal with, but our attitude towards them. So basically, the cause of stress is your attitude toward these things. What, then, is an effective way to deal with stress? Below are 5 great tips to handle stress.

Tip 1 - List those things that create stress for you. When you feel stressed make a note of it. Why? When you actually note down those things and situations that make you feel stressed you will be better able to do something about it. Often we aren't exactly sure what is causing our stress (is it because I'm late, because I didn't get enough sleep or because I have a test today) and this means that we aren't aware how to make it go away. So start taking notes and figure out if there are any patterns that emerge (for example, do I feel more stressed at a particular time of day? Or when certain people are around me? Or when I haven't had my breakfast yet?)

Tip 2 - Calm down. A few minutes break would do you good. Wash your face, breath slowly and deeply, and notice if there is tension in any part of your body and release it. You can also listen to relaxing music, or call a friend. Releasing your inner feelings to a friend is healthy option.

Tip 3 - It will pass and it will be over before you know it. Remind yourself that the stressful event will end sooner or later so that you can make you see the positive sides of things. At the same time, calm down your emotions and think of what is the best thing to do rather than take your energy away from what needs to be done.

Tip 4 - Get to know yourself. Are there things that are constantly causing you stress? And if so, what are you doing about them? Is there some way you can change your environment to make life easier or less stressful? There is no need to beat your head against the wall. If something is causing you stress on a regular basis then it's time to start thinking about a way around it (or through it faster!)

Tip 5 - Create and use a relaxation response. Just as you may respond to stress with total freak-outs (or just plain old anxiety), you can also train yourself to respond with total relaxation! This involves creating a new habit for yourself when you feel stress building up. Instead of allowing anxiety to overcome you, train yourself to respond with deep breaths and allowing positive thoughts to flood into your mind. Even if you don't believe it at first, when you feel stress building start saying "I am relaxed, I am calm, I am freaking awesome!" By doing this over and over every time you feel stress you will re-train your brain with a new habit. Over time this will become your automatic response to stress - and you'll actually believe it as well! It's win-win.

Stress cannot be prevented because it occurs every day and is a natural response to almost all situations and events. But what you can control is how you respond to stress. So to change how stress impacts you (or to stop it from impacting you at all) all you need to do is change how you respond to it!

The more you focus on being stressed and experiencing stress the more stress you will create. Why? Well we create more whatever we give our energy to. So when you give all your energy to stress you just create more of it. Instead, focus on relaxation and always being calm in your response to stress. If you give your energy to relaxation you will inevitably become a relaxed person.

You now know that stress is actually a choice. You have a choice to make each time a stressful situation occurs - and it will happen. Make a choice to be a relaxed and calm person who understands when stress is happening but also knows that there is a better way to deal with it than a total meltdown. Good luck!




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