We all know that intense experiences have serious emotional and even physical consequences. So why are they so difficult to manage?
Researchers from Yale University (USA) know the answer. They discovered Bill Hathaway. Even In The Healthy, Stress Causes Brain To Shrink, Yale Study Shows that stress reduces the volume of gray matter in the areas of the brain responsible for self-control.
Thus, each emotional shock, suppressing the ability to control stress, aggravates subsequent shocks. It turns out to be a kind of vicious circle.
But there is no need to be discouraged. You can reverse this effect and manage stress if you make it a priority. The sooner you begin to effectively manage your emotions, the easier it will be to avoid the harm of nervous tension in the future.
The best weapon against stress is the ability to choose one thought over another.
William James
American psychologist
Fortunately, the brain's plasticity allows it to rewire and repair damaged areas as we change behavior. That is, by properly relieving tension, we train the brain to resist stress more effectively.
These seven strategies will help you restore your brain and cope with stress.
Disconnect
Thanks to technology, we can always stay connected. It seems as if it should be so. But enjoying peace of mind in your free time is extremely difficult if at any moment an email can change your train of thought.
Regular shutdowns help you control your stress levels and rest. Being in the access zone around the clock, you are only exposed to an inexhaustible stream of stress factors. But if you force yourself to go offline or even turn off your phone, you will allow your head and body to relax.
Studies have shown that simply not checking email on the weekend can help reduce stress.
If you can't ignore work contacts on weekday evenings, then what about the weekends? Choose the right time and protect yourself from business. By incorporating these mental recharges into your weekly schedule, you will be surprised at how refreshing and stress-relieving these breaks are.
If you are worried about negative consequences, try to start by switching off only when the likelihood of someone contacting you is minimal. For example, on Sunday morning. As you begin to get used to such measures, gradually increase the time spent away from technology.
Task three - self-healing
It is necessary to replenish vital energy reserves, so stress management includes the need for such a section as recovery.
The main means of recovery include:
- Muscle relaxation, hypnosis, autogenic training, that is, psychological methods of recovery.
- Psychohygiene. It includes a variety of leisure activities, outdoor recreation, comfortable working and living conditions, and social communication.
- Maintaining a daily routine, the ability to plan activities, combine periods of work and rest.
- Connection of therapeutic and biological methods. They include massage, sauna, healthy eating, water treatments.
- Medicinal methods on a natural basis. This group includes vitamins, herbs, and aromatic oils.
Neutralize unfriendly people
Unpleasant personalities are frustrating, tiring, and stressful. You can manage your interactions with them by controlling your feelings. When you have to deal with such a person, approach the situation wisely. Take care of your emotions and don't let anger or frustration wreak havoc.
At the same time, consider the disagreeable person's point of view and motives to find a path to consensus. Even when everything goes downhill, you can tolerate such a person without letting him drive you crazy.
Task two – working with mental states
The emotion scale will allow you to effectively recognize your states.
Stress management allows a person to learn methods of self-regulation. The general algorithm looks like this:
- Systematization of known states, designation of their manifestations and main experiences.
- It is important to learn to recognize emerging mental states in a certain period of time and to distinguish between them.
- Learning involves moving from one state to another.
- The use of indirect techniques - movement, breathing, external influence.
Don't hold grudges
They also cause stress. By simply remembering something to be offended about, you put your body into fight-or-flight mode—a survival mechanism that prepares the body to fight or run away from a threat. When danger is in front of you, this reaction saves lives. But if the threat has long passed, then stress maintained by memories only causes damage to the body and can have a destructive effect.
Researchers from Emory University (USA) have proven that prolonged emotional stress increases blood pressure and contributes to the development of heart disease. By holding onto resentment, you accumulate stress. People with high emotional intelligence avoid this state at all costs. By letting go of the grudge, you will not only feel better, but also improve your health.
Impact of stress
According to research from stress.org, nearly half of all workers experience moderate to severe stress at some point. Even at moderate levels of stress, most employees are unable to concentrate on their work, and the cost of this is quite high. Recent estimates put global productivity losses at $300 billion a year.
As a result, people make more mistakes, miss deadlines, have relationship problems, show up late, or simply miss work, all due to stress. Believe it or not, moderate stress can be motivating, but the problem, according to almost all leading experts, is that workplaces have inadvertently become very good at creating high-stress environments.
A stressful environment has many common consequences. For example, physical problems may include frequent headaches, neck or back pain, or extreme fatigue. Emotional consequences may include increased anxiety or anger. And behavioral outcomes may include overprotection or social withdrawal. And this is only part of the list.
If left unmanaged, these factors tend to get worse, sometimes developing into a much more serious level of mental and physical pain that we call burnout. This is such a severe level of stress that it can derail careers and lead to very serious conditions, including depression.
To address this issue, companies have begun taking the following steps to support their employees: Offering fitness classes and other wellness-related activities. This includes gyms, yoga and exercise classes, basketball courts, soccer fields, indoor climbing walls, not to mention some classic games like ping pong and billiards.
No matter what your employer does, be proactive in thinking about stress so you can get ahead of it before it causes a problem for you. By keeping this in mind and getting ahead of the problem before stress sets in, you can avoid it entirely.
Practice meditation
Self-mindfulness is a simple, research-backed form of meditation that can help you control recalcitrant thoughts and actions. People who practice it concentrate better even when they are not meditating. This technique is great for dealing with stress because it suppresses the feeling of being out of control.
Self-awareness prevents you from spontaneously switching between thoughts, which helps you refrain from negative reasoning. This is a good way to cope with work life while remaining calm and productive.
Strategy for increasing stress resistance
To increase stress resistance, you need the following:
- during observation, identify under the influence of what factors nervous tension arises;
- develop the ability to consciously assess the situation;
- master self-regulation techniques and proper breathing;
- develop positive thinking skills, switching from emotional stress to problem solving;
- constantly work on communication skills;
- improve your professional and personal qualities.
Keep things in perspective
The reason for our worries often lies in a distorted perception of events. Before you waste a lot of time analyzing your boss's instructions from the last meeting, take a minute to see the whole picture. You can resort to this method when the level of anxiety does not correspond to the real reasons for it.
If you find yourself thinking superficially, then try to rethink the situation. The best way to get rid of this line of thinking is to list the things that actually went wrong. Most likely, you will count one or two points and not bury the whole idea.
To stay calm, it is important to understand that feelings often distort the situation, and the scale of the problem may not be as significant as it seems.
Make Positive Personal Choices
Maintaining a manageable stress level is a goal you want to achieve. We understand that the topic of stress can seem large and complex. However, it really comes down to making some simple, positive choices about how we think and how we behave.
To start, consider diet and exercise. This is a big topic, but just remember that you don't have to be a nutritionist or a marathon runner for long-term success in improving your diet and exercise. In fact, pursuing big goals too quickly can cause rapid relapse.
Start small. Choose one or two small goals for the year. They can be as simple as giving up one type of food or cutting down a certain amount of calories. Plan for hour-long walks a couple of times a week. Your chances of success with this approach are increased because they are easier to stick to, which means your chances of improving them in the future are also increased.
Next comes what we call visualization of the result. Make it a habit to spend a few minutes alone, quietly visualizing yourself achieving your goal. Think of yourself doing exactly what you're trying to achieve, like a movie in your head that you can use to track your daily behavior.
You ask yourself how what you are doing is helping or, conversely, moving you away from achieving your goal. To start, focus on one goal, but once you get the hang of it quickly, you can freely focus on multiple results.
Another stress management approach is to engage in fun and socially stimulating activities. You can watch a movie or read a book, take up a hobby, go out with friends, or become a volunteer. Choose things that you know will make you happy and a little relaxed. When you spend a little time making interesting and real connections, you experience positive emotions, positive thoughts, and gain the perspective you need.
Lastly, take time to be grateful. Stress often causes us to focus a huge portion of our attention on the negative things in our lives, which makes us forget to focus on the good. It is important to take inventory of what we have to be grateful for from time to time.
We described this process a little in the article “21 Strategies for Becoming Positive at Work and in Life.” The bottom line is that you take a daily inventory of what you are grateful for that day.
Conclusion
To improve your approach to stress management, you need to focus and start taking small steps. You can start by doing the following three things:
- Choose one person or task that is a trigger for you. Decide now how you will change the way you interact in the future to stay safe and healthy.
- Make one change to your diet or your workout routine.
- Choose some positive stimulant for yourself. This could be calling a good friend once a week, going to the cinema or other activities. Find time to do this regularly.
Only when you realize that you are ultimately in charge of your life can you begin to make positive changes. Every small positive change begins to reduce the stress you experience. None of us ever completely get rid of stress, but with the right efforts, including the tips we've covered, you can certainly get rid of the main triggers of your stress.
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Use your support system
Trying to do everything yourself is tempting, but ineffective. To stay calm and productive, you need to admit your weaknesses and ask for help when you need it. In other words, if the situation becomes too difficult, you need to engage your support system.
Everyone has people in their life who are ready to cover and support them in difficult times. Find such people in your environment and turn to them for advice or help when needed.
Even just talking about your worries can reduce anxiety and change your perspective on the situation. In most cases, other people see a solution that you do not see, because their perception of the problem is free of unnecessary emotions. Asking for help will reduce your anxiety and strengthen your relationships with those you rely on.
The strategies listed may seem simple. But when stress clouds your mind, they will be difficult to apply. Get over yourself when your head starts spinning and you will reap the benefits of disciplined stress management.
Managing your time
Whether it's work or life in general, one of the most valuable skills is time management. Letting your day flow randomly instead of managing it ahead of time will cause a lot of stress. In addition, you will often be interrupted by other people. We want to offer some useful tips to help you manage your time.
First, consider coming to work early. Just try it. At least one day a week, arrive 30 to 60 minutes earlier than usual, and you might be surprised at how you feel. This works because many of the factors that increase stress levels are absent: people who cause you stress, phones ringing, doors opening and closing, etc.
Second, start the day with your most challenging task. We often think that we will create a little momentum by doing a simple task first and then taking on the hard work. Actually this is not true. Starting with an easy task tempts you to do easier tasks, and you essentially start avoiding work that you think will stress you out.
The whole process of putting off a difficult task delays other important tasks and actually creates more unnecessary stress. So start with hard work and when you finish you will feel much better.
Third, consciously take breaks at least three times a day for 5-10 minutes each. We call this the 90/10 rule. If you work about 90% of the time and take breaks about 10% of the time, you will increase your productivity and relieve stress. So, disconnecting from the stressful task and enjoying a short break will help you return to work with increased focus and greater productivity.
Fourth, learn to say “No.” Just because they are your colleague or your manager doesn't mean you always have to stop what you're doing to talk to them or help them. When you're working on important tasks or facing deadlines, it's okay to politely say no and ask if you can respond to the request later.
Managing your limited time is not difficult if you use the right techniques. So use the tips we have discussed and read our practical article “Time Management. Practical advice on time management." Try scheduling three 5-10 minute breaks every day right now. Use them to disconnect from work and, believe it or not, you will feel a noticeable surge of energy.
