Stress Doesn't Have To Be Bad

In a recent LinkedIn post by Richard Branson he stated that 12.5 million days were lost in the UK due to stress last year, not only is that a worrying number of days, but the costs associated with this will be enormous.

In my book ‘What’s your excuse for not overcoming stress’ I highlight the fact that stress doesn’t have to be bad. A certain level of stress is good for us, it keeps us motivated, it gets us out of bed in the morning, it helps us to win the race.

Only when stress reaches high or dangerous levels does it begin to have a negative impact on us. In one of my recent podcasts interviews with Gethin Nadin we talked about stress and Gethin gave the analogy of stress being like thirst. Only when we are dehydrated do we realise we are thirsty, if we keep on drinking fluids we eliminate the feeling of thirst. If we keep on top of our own well-being and do what we can to minimise the stress reaching new heights, we eliminate the feelings of stress.

In 2013, I was diagnosed with two quite serious health conditions and had to undergo two operations in 24 hours. I was used to working in stressful situations and I was used to dealing with challenges, but in the lead up to my health issues, the biggest thing that had suffered was my sleep. What I didn’t realise until after the event, was that both conditions were due to unhealthy stress levels in my body, that I had been ignoring for quite some time.

Given the slightly increased ‘stress’ at work, I was enjoying a number of after work drinks to help me feel better, I was getting in at night later and later, and after a few months of poor sleep and more drinking, I hit the wall and began to suffer.

We each have a stress bucket, and during the day everything we do goes into our bucket. At night, during our REMsleep our bucket begins to empty. The less REM sleep we have the less our bucket empties and after a period of time it starts to overflow. When we hit our maximum we start to experience the symptoms of stress – withdrawal from our favourite activities, anxiety, depression, eating more or less, perhaps drinking more, unable to concentrate, and we feel that we just can’t take anymore, everything has gotten on top of us and we start to crumble.

Over the past few years I’ve taken steps on a daily basis to reduce my unhealthy stress levels. I do yoga, I’ve changed my diet, I meditate and journal and I switch off all tech at least two hours before bed. Now I’m not perfect and sometimes these things slip through the net, and I start to feel ‘stressed’ so I go back to what I’ve missed out on and I feel better, almost instantly. Where I used to have bad weeks or days, I can now have a bad hour, because I’ve created new patterns, I’m aware of how I feel, what my trigger pints are and what I need to do to get myself back on track.

The healthy stress remains healthy, I keep motivated, I enjoy hitting deadlines, I’m motivated each day to do my work and to help others move forwards.

It’s not stress that is the enemy, it’s the way we view it, deal with it and quite often ignore it.

Take just one step to improve your sleep and you’ll soon start to feel the difference.

Kelly

Kelly Swingler is the Rule Breaker and Founder of Chrysalis Consulting, The People and Change Experts and was appointed as the UK’s Youngest HR Director. Kelly is passionate about helping people find bespoke people solutions to suit the needs of their business and is driving our mission of inspiring and empowering 10,000 HR professionals in 2018. She is the author of Fostering a Mindset for Career Success, AGILE HR and what’s your excuse for not Overcoming Stress and speaks at many events on the Future of Work.