The Effective Stress Management!

Some of the good things I learnt from the web on stress management, worth reading for all of us no matter which age group we are.

Are you stressed? Who isn't? At one time or another, we're bound to feel stress from work, family, finances, social situations, or illness. It might be acute, short-term stress which comes from being stuck in a traffic jam or your boss confronting you at work. Or it could be chronic, long-term stress, the kind that comes from being in an unhappy marriage or taking care of a sick family member for a long time.

At times, some stress is motivating, like when it helps you win a competition or meet a deadline. But we mostly think of stress as a negative or uncomfortable feeling that we associate with sweaty palms, a racing heart, and feeling out of control.

Do you want to live stress-free? You may be wondering if that is even humanly possible. To be realistic, you may not be able to live your life with absolutely no stress at all, but you can be free from stress. What I mean is, that you don’t have to allow stress to hinder you. Even though some stress is unavoidable in life, you can manage your life so that your experience with stress is limited, and so that the negative effects of stress are practically non-existent.

Causes of Stress and the Problems it can Cause

Change can be really stressful. Reactions to good or bad changes vary greatly from person to person. Typically, the more significant the change, the more stress it can cause a person. Marriage or divorce, promotion or termination could be cause for someone to feel stressed. Other common causes for stress are heavy workloads or increased demands on your time and energy, financial issues, and all aspects of parenting.

When you begin to feel worried, anxious, or afraid about something, your body tenses up and stress hormones to release throughout your body. These hormones are helpful in emergencies, but since your body is not meant to sustain that level of high-energy overtime, prolonged stress can be harmful to your health. Fatigue, back pain,insomnia, upset stomach, and weight gain are all symptoms of prolonged stress.

This can also lead to emotional and psychological problems like anxiety or depression. Your relationships can greatly suffer if you are undergoing chronic stress.

These are the reasons why it is important to learn how to reduce and manage stress in your life.

How to Reduce Stress in Your Life

Often times stress enters our lives when we feel like we are losing control. There are two ways that we can combat this type of stress. First, don't worry about things that you have no control over, like the weather and the choices other people make. You can have an influence on the latter, but ultimately, you cannot control others. The second thing that you can do is take control over what you do have power over: yourself. This means prepare for changes that you know will happen. When things take you by surprise, it is up to you to stay cool.

You can also avoid stress by managing your time wisely and treating procrastination like an enemy. No matter what you have to do, take care of it as soon as possible. This will not only keep your to do list from growing to a massive size, but this will also create free time that you didn't know you had. If you stop putting things off, you will be able to relax and enjoy yourself knowing that important things are done.

Another stress-relieving time management tip is to say "no" once in a while. You are probably not a robot, so you can't do everything for everyone all of the time. Be realistic about the number of tasks you take on, and don't try to be a superhuman. Personal time should be kept religiously so that you are refreshed and energized to take care of what is truly important in your life.

How to Cope with Stressful Times

Life is not always easy and regardless of how much time you spend preparing for change and avoiding stress, it will find you. Now what will you do? Here are a few quick tips that can help reduce feelings of stress when it comes:

- Exercise
- Meditate
- Talk about it
- Write about it

Getting to the root cause of the stress can help you cope with it better. Sometimes communicating with someone else or getting your emotions down on paper can greatly relieve tension. Exercise is a great way to combat the physical side effects of stress, and meditation can help you find inner peace and relaxation.

Knowing all of this, you can live your life with less stress.

Different things can trigger stress in different people. For instance, planning a big house party or having to give a speech might delight you but totally unnerve a friend.

How you respond to stressful situations depends on several things, including your:

• view of the stressful situation – How bad is this? Can you get through it?
• general outlook on life – Do you tend to be more positive or negative?
• general health and well-being – Are you well-rested or sleep-deprived? Do you have a healthy diet or live on junk food? Do you get enough exercise or is there never enough time to fit it in? Are you healthy overall or do you have chronic health problems?

Many people who never seem to get stressed have learned to cope successfully with stressful situations.

Stress Affects Your Health

Any stress that keeps occurring can lead to getting sick more often; problems concentrating, sleeping and eating; high blood pressure and heart disease; and anxiety and depression. In other words, left alone stress can be bad for both your physical and mental health.

That's why you want to get control of your stress before it controls you. The time and energy you spend managing your stress will pay off in the long run by promoting health and happiness. Here are five steps to help you get start:

Steps to Less Stress

Make a list. Think of the things that cause you the most stress. Write them down, along with the level of stress they cause (off the charts versus a great deal) and how they affect you (keep you awake at night, make you feel shaky inside, etc).

Take control. Decide which things on your list you can do something about. Remember that you might not be able to control everything on your list. For instance, your children leaving home or traffic jams are the trying parts of life. Even though you can't control these events, you can control how you react to them. Instead of getting worked up during morning rush hour traffic, use the time in your car to listen to a book on tape or a morning radio show. Even small changes can make a difference and help you feel more in control of your life. Pick one or two of these suggestions and try them.

• Assign some of your household chores to other family members.
• Sign up for community services to help you care for a sick parent.
• Start planning early for the holidays – create a budget and stick to it.

Unload and learn to say "no." If there are things at home or at work that you just can't or don't want to do, let them go - cross them off your list if you can. And don't commit to new things just because you feel you have to. Say "no" to heading up that new project if you already have too many duties at work. Let someone else run the church bazaar this year.

Learning to say "no" might take some practice. It might feel uncomfortable at first. But taking on too much and failing is more stressful than "passing" on a request in the first place.
Work on shedding the "perfection impulse." Don't expect perfection from yourself or others. For some things, doing an okay job is just fine.

Practice setting limits. The key to setting limits is to first set priorities. Decide what is most important for your family and you, and set time aside for those things, such as family meals, fun time, or retirement planning. For everything that falls outside your priority list, ask yourself, "What's the worst thing that would happen if I didn't do this?" If you can live with the answer, then drop it from your 'to do' list.

Learning to manage the stress in your life can help you live healthier and happier; enjoy your job, family, and friends more; and focus your energies on the things in life that really count.