April Newsletter

Easy Tips to Help You Cope with Stress

Stress is an unavoidable fact of life, but how you cope with stress makes all the difference. Here are some useful and easy tips to help you manage stress and keep a positive attitude.

Sweat it Out

When you’re stressed out, your body produces more hormones, like adrenaline and cortisol. Exercise helps to bring down the levels of these hormones, and help your body produce “feel good” hormones like endorphins instead. After a run, a workout or even a brisk walk in the fresh air, you’ll feel calmer and less tense.

Sleep On it

Stress and lack of sleep can be a bit of a vicious circle. The more stressed you are, the harder it is to sleep – and the less sleep you get, the more stressed you feel!

Help your body and brain to wind down and relax before bedtime. Avoid your electronic devices and switch off any bright lights. Enjoy a warm shower, read a funny book or light a scented candle and do some gentle breathing exercises. Give yourself time to calm down, and you’ll enjoy better quality sleep in general. Regular exercise also helps to improve sleep quality.

Write it Down

Keep a stress diary for a few weeks, and it will help you become more aware of what sort of situations stress you out.

Make a note of the date, time and place that you started to feel stressed, what you were doing, who you were with, and how you felt physically and emotionally. You can also give each situation a “stress rating” on a scale of 1 to 5, depending on how serious it was. You will start to notice patterns, and this will help you to identify and avoid (or work around) the things that stress you out the most.

Talk it Out

Talking to someone about how you feel can help. Stress can cloud your thinking and make it difficult to see things clearly. Talking about the situation with a friend, a colleague, or even a professional counsellor can help you to put things in perspective. It also feels good to have a sympathetic ear, and to know that you are not alone.

Plan it Out

Lack of time management can be a big source of stress. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the tasks on your “To Do” list. The key is to prioritise.

When listing all the tasks you have to do, ask yourself these questions:

Which tasks are most important and which are least important?
How soon does each task have to be done (the next few days, weeks or months)?
Which tasks do you have to do yourself and which can you delegate to others?

This will help to make your list of tasks more manageable. Accept that you cannot accomplish everything all at once – and that’s okay!

By looking after yourself and being aware of potential stressors in your life, you can cope with stress in a healthier way, and worry less.

Sources

Dealing with Stress – Ten Tips. Retrieved from: https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ps/stress-tips.html

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