Stress Management Tips
You may need one to one support to help you through a very stressful period in your life, which is one of the services I offer to my clients. However, you may just want some advice as to how to manage stress better. I have therefore included below a selection of stress management tips.
Set goals and action plan. Stress can be caused by not knowing what you want to achieve in your business and personal life and how you are going to get there. To reduce stress, set business and personal goals and plan how you are going to achieve them.
Stay focused. You can easily get stressed when you are not focused. Keep focused on achieving your goals and the important things in your business and personal life and it will help you to manage stress.
Take action. Inaction and indecision can create stress, so take the action you need to achieve what you want to achieve.
Manage your time and don't procrastinate. Stress can be caused by poor time management and procrastination. So adopt time management strategies that work for you and don't procrastinate. Also remember to prioritise and re-prioritise when things change.
Control perfectionism and be realistic. Striving for everything to be perfect and for unrealistic goals can create undue pressure and stress. Be realistic about what you can achieve and be easier on yourself.
Manage your mind. Your emotions and thoughts are closely linked together. The way you think influences how you feel and behave. Recognise how you think about things that result in you feeling stressed and work on changing your thinking.
Take responsibility. Blaming others results in you not developing your own coping strategies and can result in you feeling stressed and helpless. Take responsibility for your own actions and you will find that you are more positive and less stressed.
Don't worry about things that are outside your control. It is very easy to get yourself stressed by things that you cannot control. Understand what is within and outside your control, then stay focused on the things you can control.
Think positively and stay upbeat. If you see everything from a negative perspective, you will feel negative, project a negative image and feel more stressed. Thinking positively and projecting a positive self image will make you feel more positive. Look at what you have achieved and your positive qualities. Focus on what has gone well and see things that have not gone so well as learning.
Be assertive. Stress can be caused by passive or aggressive communication and behaviour. Try to develop an assertive manner where you use clear, direct and honest communication with others and be prepared to say no.
Develop your self confidence. If you are low in self confidence and self esteem you can feel stressed by situations. Develop your self confidence by focusing on the positive and what you have achieved.
Accept change. Change can result in a high level of stress. If you accept change as a normal part of life and you expect change then you will be able to manage it better and minimise stress. Look at change as an opportunity.
Take care of yourself and have fun. Not looking after yourself and taking life too seriously can leave you feeling very stressed. Healthy eating and drinking, taking exercise, regular breaks and holidays, interests, socialising, spending quality time with friends and family, getting time for yourself, relaxing and enjoying yourself all contribute to lower stress levels.
Get balance in your life. Spending all your time at work is unhealthy and stressful and results in other areas of your life suffering. Equally doing a boring job can make you very stressed. Focus on getting the right balance in your life for you.
Value what you have. You can get very stressed thinking about what you don't have and worrying about things that are not going well. Remind yourself of the good things in your life and value what you have.
Build a support network and ask for help. Stress can result from keeping everything to yourself and not asking for help. Build a support network around you and ask for help when you need it.
Author: Liz Makin
Published: November 2008
Makin It Happen has a range of personal development online courses to purchase, created by Liz Makin, including anxiety management, communication, resilience, soft skills, stress management, time management and coaching. Liz Makin also provides personalised business coaching, business mentoring and stress management services to business owners, directors, managers and professionals.
Please email Liz@makinithappen.co.uk to
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