Stress Management Strategies

Here are some practical techniques you can use to manage stress:

1. Action-Oriented Strategies Action-oriented strategies are practical things you can do to overcome stress. These include:

• Identifying Stressors.?Before you can manage your stress, you need to understand where these feelings are coming from.

Consider starting a stress diary as well, to identify the causes of stress in your life. As you write down events, think about why the situation made you feel stressed, as well as your thoughts, feelings and emotions at the time. Next, list the main stressors in order of their impact. Which affect your health and well-being the most? And which affect your work and productivity?

• Taking Control of Your Workload.?Busy workloads are a common source of stress for many people, particularly if you have a role with many competing tasks or projects on the go. Learn to prioritize your workload. What's really important today? And what can wait till tomorrow?

Write out all your tasks in a to-do list?and then re-order them by importance. This will help you to take an organized, clear and thorough approach to your workload. Look at your time management skills?too. If you're working on big or long-term projects, all the things you need to do can often feel overwhelming. Breaking large projects into smaller chunks or sub-tasks can make them more manageable. And, if you're really struggling to fit it all in, see if you can extend your deadlines or delegate some tasks to another person.

• Managing your relationships.?People can be a significant source of stress, too. Difficult relationships, conflict at work, or "needy" colleagues can be draining. If someone consistently makes you feel stressed, try to limit the amount of time you spend with them, and keep conversations strictly work-related.

2. Emotion-Oriented Strategies Stress is often caused by how we subjectively perceive a situation as stressful. This might be because we get emotional, get caught up in negative self-talk, or find it hard to stay calm. Emotion-oriented strategies can help here. They include:

• Challenging negative thinking.?Most of us will experience pessimistic thinking at some point in our lives. But persistent pessimism or negative self-talk can damage our self-confidence and self-esteem. And this can result in stress, anxiety and even depression, if left unchecked.

It can be difficult to break free from this cycle of negative thinking, but with practice it can be done. Challenge negative thoughts and replace them with more positive, objective and rational ones. This in turn can help you to deal with difficult or stressful situations in a healthier, calmer way, and to maintain a positive outlook, even when things go wrong.

• Using affirmations.?Affirmations are positive statements that you can use to replace and overcome negative self-talk. For example, if you find yourself habitually saying things like, "I'm not talented enough to progress in my career," try to replace it with rational, positive thoughts like, "I am a skilled and confident professional, and I believe in my own ability."
• Practicing stoicism.?Stoicism can be particularly useful if you feel overwhelmed by a situation and find it difficult to stay calm. It can help you to take a pause and refocus on what really matters.?Stoicism relies on four key principles: wisdom, self-discipline, justice and courage.

Essentially, stoicism involves dividing our experience of the world into things we can realistically control, and things we can't. It makes no sense to let ourselves be emotionally affected by the things we can't control. By looking at situations in a rational, objective way like this, we can reduce stressful emotions and negative thinking. 3. Acceptance-Oriented Strategies When we have no power to change a situation, it can make us feel helpless and hopeless. But it's vital that we move on from obstacles like this by learning how to accept these kinds of situations. Acceptance-oriented strategies can help here. These include:

• Identifying what you can control, influence and accept.?If you find a particular situation overwhelming take a rational approach. Is there anything you can control or influence to improve it? For example, could you use your skills to solve the problem, or ask someone else for help and advice?

If you aren't able to control or influence the situation, then the best thing you can do is to adapt to it or accept it. This doesn't mean you're ineffective, passive or lazy. It shows that you are resilient to change, you know your limitations, and you can deal with difficult situations in a mature and intelligent way.

• Use relaxation techniques.?Techniques such as meditation, mindfulness and deep breathing?are all great, practical ways of combatting the physical symptoms of stress, such as hand shaking and shallow breathing. They also enable you to clear your mind and regain calm when you're stressed.
• Reach out to your support network.?Many people suffer from stress in silence, afraid that they'll look weak or irrational if they voice their anxieties to others. And they're worried about the response they'll get if they do.

But the plain fact is, it helps to talk! Chatting through an issue you have with a trusted colleague or friend is a great way of exploring your own thoughts and letting off some steam. It also gives you an opportunity to get someone else's, more objective opinion on the issue. Perhaps they think you're doing absolutely fine, or they're in a position to help you out in some way.

• Look after yourself.?Finally, take some time out for you. This could simply be getting some exercise, taking the dog for a walk, or listening to some music – anything that makes you feel calm.

Remember to get a good night’s sleep. Stress and worry can often cause insomnia, and things tend to feel worst when we've had a poor night's sleep, which can result in us developing poor sleep habits. Before you go to sleep, switch off your phone, and aim to get between seven and nine hours sleep every night. Self-Help For Managing Stress The above action-oriented, emotion-oriented, and acceptance-oriented stress management strategies are all methods for helping yourself. Stress doesn't have to be endured – you can take significant steps to reduce and manage stress yourself. It's within your power to change your relationship to pressure and stress to a more healthy one, be it through action or acceptance. Quick Tips to Manage Stress The above action-oriented, emotion-oriented, and acceptance-oriented strategies and techniques will help you to get on top of stress long-term. In the meanwhile, here are a few quick tips for managing stress when you're feeling overwhelmed:

• Get a good night's sleep at a regular time.
• Limit phone and screen time.
• Exercise – even just taking a walk.
• Carve out space for hobbies and downtime.
• Let go – remember that you can't control everything.
• When stress hits, take four deep breaths. Count to four with each inhale and each exhale and try concentrating only on your breathing; let other thoughts slip away.