Medically reviewed by Dr. Riaz Ali Shah.
Is your job or home life stressing you out? Do you often have to meet high expectations from your boss or parents or partner? Many of us find ourselves in work schedules that are difficult to keep up due to demanding jobs and are often faced with hectic personal lives as well. In these circumstances, it is important to know how to manage stress in the healthiest way.
Stress is one of the leading causes of heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, depression and anxiety. Learning how to manage stress can not only improve one’s daily life but also prevent diseases.
Therefore, in this article we will discuss the easy steps through which you can avoid damaging your body and mind with stress.
Identify what causes you stress
The first step is to figure out what causes you to experience anxiety and stress. Is it a particular aspect of your work or home life? Is it poor time management or procrastination? Is it particular individuals in your life who cause you to feel stress?
In order to correctly identify the stress factors in your life, it may be useful for you to keep a stress journal. Record the moments in which you experience stress and the reasons which caused it. Do this for at least a month. Afterwards you will not only have a detailed log of your stress triggers but also heightened awareness of your own emotional wellbeing.
Eliminate or reduce the impact of the stress factors
Once you have identified what causes you stress, you can take measures to eliminate or reduce their impact. For example, if you stress about arriving late to work, you can sleep an hour earlier and wake up an hour earlier. Taking these measures will not always be smooth and easy. However, with continued commitment you will be able to overcome the challenges of an altered routine.
Another reason for your stress could be a particularly difficult relationship with a friend. In such circumstances, you can limit interaction with that friend or discontinue the relationship altogether. If your stress is owed to someone you cannot limit your relationship with, take some time to communicate how you are harmed by the person’s energy. Honest communication will help you release your burden and ultimately reduce stress.
Transform your lifestyle
First of all, incorporate exercise in your daily life. Research shows that exercise is great against stress. You can take up running, swimming or yoga – whatever suits you. Exercise must form a part of your life.
Secondly and most importantly, limit stress inducing substances from your life such as caffeine and nicotine. If you are a smoker and you depend on nicotine to release stress, you should know that nicotine is actually worse for stress.
Thirdly, you should consider meditation for stress relief. There are many different ways to meditate. With some experimentation, you may find the best way for you. There are many tutorials on Youtube to help you figure it out!
We hope this article has taught you a few things about how to manage stress. If you have questions or comments, please write to us in the comments section below. If you would like a medical opinion on stress, you can consult professionals on our app for free.
