Do you feel stressed about your work or at work or in general?
You are not alone. More and more people experience chronic stress. Chronic stress is not only not fun to experience, but it also causes a series of health issues. So it’s worth it to find strategies to deal with stress that work for you.
I want to show you a simple two-step plan to find some stress relief as quickly as possible.
I want you to first choose a category you want to work on and then I will show you a list of ideas to try out.
1. Choose the area you feel would best help you to reduce stress right now: Building positive relationships, time- and self-management, job-fit, increase positive emotions (and stopping negative thought cycles), taking care of your body
Read through the description and just listen to your gut. There is no wrong and no right. Whatever category you feel might improve your stress level, just pick it.
Building positive relationships
Experiencing positive relationships is a huge stress reliever. To feel supported, to exchange ideas, to realize other people experience similar challenges makes us feel connected and happy.
Positive relationships are one of the highest indicators for well-being.
Sometimes it can also help to focus on how to help others and make their life better instead of focusing on your own problems. Now let’s be clear: This shouldn’t be used to ignore your own problems. If there is something you can do about them, do something about it and focus on that. But sometimes we replay problems or anticipated problems in our heads that don’t have any solution. That’s when it can make sense to focus on contributing to the happiness and well-being of other people.
Time and self-management strategies
If you feel stressed because of a never-ending to-do list or because you don’t feel productive enough, this category is for you.
Having a sense of control and to use your time intentionally helps to not feel overwhelmed and go home every day with a sense of accomplishment.
If you feel everything is chaotic, here a few steps to help you:
- Write down everything that is in your head: appointments, tasks, projects, ideas, private to-dos, dreams, thoughts, feelings. Whatever comes to your mind, just clear your head.
TIP: If you write it down on cards you can cluster, delete, add, rank very easily. - Pick the top 1-3 tasks from everything you wrote down that you need to check off today.
- Start doing them
TIP: Take care of yourself. Turn on good music, get a cup of coffee/tea, and cheer yourself on! - Be proud of yourself! You can check off the most important tasks from today, that’s a reason to celebreate! Focus on what you did do today, not what is still left to do. To start being productive when everything feels chaotic and overwhelming is not easy to do! If you feel like, leave me comment! I would love to celebrate with you! 😊
Job fit
This is a complex topic. If your values and your companies values don’t align or if your skills don’t fit your activities you probably feel constantly stressed.
Fixing that can be more difficult. Sometimes it means, you need to look for another company or maybe another team within your company. If you like your company and your activities but feel not competent to handle them well, training or coaching can be a great solution for you.
increase positive emotions (and stopping negative thought cycles)
If you feel stressed without a “real” reason, if it’s more a general situation of doubting yourself, feeling stressed by “small” stuff, check out the ideas in this category. They are actually a lot of fun!
Instead of trying to reduce negative emotions, focus on increasing positive emotions. If you are angry or scared and I could make you laugh, you would be more relaxed within seconds. So try to fill your day with as much positive emotions and fun as possible!
Taking care of your body
You might notice how mental stress influences your body. You might breathe quicker and shallowly. You might have a tensed neck, shoulders, or back. You might notice your heart beating quicker.
By taking care of your body and relaxing your body, you can help your mind to be more relaxed as well. Check out the ideas below!
2. Try out a stress-reducing strategy from the category you chose before
Below you find a table with helpful ideas for reducing stress in the different categories. You don’t have much time? No problem, just choose a strategy with the tag “under 5 minutes”. Every step counts!
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