How To Keep Stress Under Control: 11 Simple Tips

Various stress relievers are easy to use and have been demonstrated to have numerous cognitive benefits, such as music, meditation, lengthy nature walks, and light exercise to stretch your muscles.

In the modern environment, feeling stressed occasionally is normal. The obligations of one’s career, family, and other commitments can easily make an individual feel overburdened. However, neglecting to take time for relaxation might negatively affect a person’s emotional and physical well-being. Everyone reacts differently to stress, and some coping mechanisms may work better for some people than others. Managing stress effectively is a skill that has to be practiced but is well within one’s reach. Therefore, it is beneficial to be familiar with various methods for dealing with stress, and this page offers some suggestions that may prove helpful in doing so.

How To Keep Stress Under Control: 11 Simple Tips

Exercise

Maugeri et al. (2020) explained that one of the best ways to relax physically and psychologically is to maintain a regular workout regimen. It has also been demonstrated that exercise enhances mood. However, if one wants to see results, consistency is crucial. Choose between 75 minutes of intensive exercises, such as jogging or other sports, or 2 hrs 30 minutes of moderate exercise, like walking. If one wants to stick with their fitness goals, they should set them at something doable. Remember that any sort of exercise is better than none at all.

Eat Healthily

Delle Fave et al. (2018) stated that maintaining a healthy diet can improve your mood and overall well-being. Mood regulation could be another benefit. Consume plenty of fruits, veggies, nutritious grains, and lean protein at each meal to keep your energy levels up. It's not healthy, and it can put you in a foul mood, which can increase your stress levels.

Organize Yourself

Clutter is a known stressor, productivity killer, and wallet drainer. Poor academic performance has been linked to students' homes being too messy. Maintaining a clean, uncluttered, and relaxing workspace is one approach to lowering your stress levels. It is an excellent strategy to reduce tension, shorten the time spent looking for missing belongings, and maintain cordial relationships among roommates. In addition to boosting test prep and study time, it can boost students' overall mood regarding their study space. In other words, you should make an effort.

Get a Better Night's Rest

Jordan et al. (2018) explained that it's common that stress can make it difficult to get to sleep. Unfortunately, sleep deprivation is a major contributor to stress. It's a downward spiral that only makes things worse for the mind and body. Remember to get the full seven to eight hours of sleep per night that medical professionals prescribe. It's important to give yourself time to unwind before night, so try turning off the TV and turning down the lights.

Let Your Breath in and out Normally

Although it's been said before, "taking a deep breath" is good advice when under stress. Focus on filling the lungs to their utmost capacity as one breathes in and out. The opposite of stress, deep breathing oxygenates the blood, calms the mind, and brings the body back into balance.

Meditate

By practicing meditation, one can rid their mind of stressful and bad ideas. Just take a break and try to think optimistically. One should take a deep breath if you feel stressed, anxious, or tense. Pay attention to your in- and out-breaths. Consider the physical responses that occur as you breathe. Create a blank mental image of your mind, then concentrate on doing just that. One can feel revitalized and at peace after just 20 minutes of basic meditation. In addition to that, it helps lower stress, tension, and anxiety levels.

Talk About It

Wiedmann et al. (2020) stated that communication could reduce stress if problems are being discussed. A person can talk to those closest to them, such as family and friends, as well as a trusted religious leader, physician, or therapist. In addition, a person can carry on a conversation with their inner self, self-talk. However, it's important to keep the tone of your internal dialogue upbeat and encouraging if you want it to relieve stress effectively. Pay close attention to the words and thoughts when under pressure. If you're sending yourself a bad message, try sending yourself a more positive one. Try telling yourself encouraging things as opposed to negative things like "I can't do this." Instead of thinking negatively, tell yourself things like, "I'm doing the best I can."

Massage Your Hands

If no masseuse is available, people can still relieve stress and slow their racing heart by giving themselves a hand massage. Stress often shows up in the hands. Lotion up and knead the muscle at the base of your thumb to release tension in your head, neck, and shoulders.

Get Rid of Your Stressors

Locate the main sources of stress. One should try to eliminate or at least significantly limit these things if one can figure out what they are. If a person can't identify the main reasons for their stress, try maintaining a stress journal. Make a note of when one becomes most worried and see if they can discover a pattern, then find solutions to remove or decrease those triggers.

Slow Down and Take a Rest

The pace of modern life can be hectic, so it's important to take it easy every once in a while. Try to discover little methods to do it in your daily life. Create a plan for completing large tasks by breaking them down into smaller ones. If you have 100 emails and only 10 require a response, don't try to answer them. You should schedule actual rest time to give your mind a break from the pressure. It could be challenging at first if you are someone who thrives when working toward certain objectives. But if you keep going, you'll come to anticipate these times with joy.

Humor Yourself Through It

When you laugh, endorphins are released, which boost the mood and lower cortisol and adrenaline levels. By stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system, laughter can produce a false sense of well-being.

Conclusion

Although stress is inescapable, it is not something to be disregarded. Fortunately, stress is often controllable. Whether it's stress from home or the office, one can learn to manage it with time and effort. A stress journal might help people figure out what's causing their anxiety. Take note of the times of day and events that tend to trigger anxiety the most, and try to identify a pattern to avoid or decrease its occurrence in the future.

References

Delle Fave, A., Bassi, M., Boccaletti, E. S., Roncaglione, C., Bernardelli, G., & Mari, D. (2018). Promoting well-being in old age: The psychological benefits of two training programs of adapted physical activity. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 828.

Jordan, T. R., Khubchandani, J., & Wiblishauser, M. (2016). The impact of perceived stress and coping adequacy on nurses' health: A pilot investigation. Nursing Research and Practice, 2016.

Maugeri, G., Castrogiovanni, P., Battaglia, G., Pippi, R., D'Agata, V., Palma, A., ... & Musumeci, G. (2020). The impact of physical activity on psychological health during the Covid-19 pandemic in Italy. Heliyon, 6(6), e04315.

Wiedmann, T., Lenzen, M., Keyßer, L. T., & Steinberger, J. K. (2020). Scientists’ warning on affluence. Nature communications, 11(1), 1-10.