The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.
C6E4GF USA, New Jersey, Jersey City, Young woman working in office. Image shot 2011. Exact date unknown.
1. Prioritise
You have a hundred things to do but you do not know what to grab first. Your head is literally exploding with the thought that you are missing something. This makes you fussy and nervous.
Congratulations, this is a highway to stress. Try to get calm and take a minute to think. What is really necessary to do immediately? What has to be done but you can postpone it for a while? What small things can be done right now so that you can do and forget about them? What do you like to do but it only wastes your time and does not give you any useful outcomes?
When you arrange your activities, you will have a plan of action. If so, you will not have to worry about the mess in things, you will have a list of tasks you should do one by one. You will see what you should do first and what you should not do at all although this category may be the most pleasant one. Always keep in mind your priorities and ask yourself as often as possible – is what I am doing now in line with my priorities?
2. Manage Your Time
Besides determining the priorities, it is useful to arrange a time for every task. By doing so, you will compose a schedule. Use mobile apps or paper notebooks to see a full picture of tasks for a day and for a week. You will see that you have only two hours to finish this letter because you need to go to the gym then.
When your brain sees not only a task but also the time allocated for it, it mobilises its resources and completes the task. This will allow you to make much more things in the same period of time. Your life will become replete and you will have no time for bad thoughts.
3. Avoid Procrastination
Starting new things and doing really important things is always hard and resource-wasting. Suppose you have a necessary thing to do but you aren’t doing anything but it. You water the flowers, clean up, cook, check your email, go to the store, telling yourself that these are also necessary things. These are necessary things, right, but this is procrastination.
You know what you have to do but indulge in trying to negotiate yourself. This is also stressing and the thoughts about possible negative consequences oppress you more and more. The right strategy is to pull yourself together and start doing what you have to.
First, you think that it is impossible, and you do not like it. But you continue doing it. Then you see that there is still a lot of work to do. But you continue doing it. Step by step, you get involved in the work and then you see that the seemingly impossible task is almost done. By starting things faster, you avoid this stressing period of procrastination.
4. Mind the Regime
The tips provided above are about a single period of time. Speaking about your life in general, the most productive strategy is to mind the regime that is comfortable for you. Ideally, you should make going to bed and waking up, taking your meals and other useful activities a habit.
Then your body will get used to a life schedule and it will be much easier to do even unpleasant things such as an early wake-up. If you do not sleep at night but play online games or hang out in clubs this makes you joy right now but it will put you in the stress in the long run.
5. Do Physical Training
Nowadays, most people have a sedentary or sedentary lifestyle and we are sorely lacking in movement. This gradually leads to a deterioration of vital functions, craving for unhealthy foods, a decrease in mood and increased stress. One of the best methods for avoiding these detrimental effects is to make regular physical training.
Numerous experiments prove that physical activities help to maintain a high level of vitality and increase life quality. Choose your favourite type of activities, or several kinds, and do it regularly. Our brain generates the hormone dopamine thus rewarding us for achievements. A commonly known effect of regular activities is that the level of this hormone is high.
Many athletes admitted that they had some kind of a hangover when they ceased training. You do not have to work hard as a professional athlete. Training two or three would be sufficient to maintain your physical conditions and avoid stress.
6. Communicate
Another way to stimulate the generation of the hormones of joy and mitigate stress is to have pleasant interactions with people. Sometimes we have to communicate a lot with people at work, but this may not be very pleasant and even stress-inducing.
Determine the formats of communication that would cause you pleasure. These may be quiet gatherings in a cafe or walks in the evening city to get away from the hustle and bustle of the day. Or, instead, noisy parties, participation in running races, alpine skiing or other activities. It does not matter what it will be, the only thing that matters is that you like this person and this kind of communication. You will see that you are not alone which will really help you to cope with stress.
7. Time for Work, Time for Play
Finally, whatever the level of your busyness is you always have to find time to relax. There are a lot of things to do and to finish but periodical relaxation and breaks are important. Light all candles in your house, have a bath with aromatic oils, turn on calm music, walk in a park or in a forest, eat your favourite food slowly, go to a spa or massage, make an evening of reading – no matter what it will be. It is important to schedule this time and to do it regularly. You will know that your life is not only full of stress for success but also full of moments of pleasure.
