10 simple things you can do to manage your stress on a daily base

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People of all walks of life have one thing on their mind these days: the fledging economy!

You cannot go to the water cooler, the gym, a dinner party, a meet-up with friends or simply browsing at your favorite store without someone mentioning the falling stocks and their shrinking life-savings.

People usually go to the gym to relax and get into shape, but I’ve noticed lately that people have been huddling in small groups with somber faces and shaking heads at the news of a world-wide recession. People are still sort-of-smiling, but you can tell it’s that forced smile where the corner of your lips curl up, but your eyes aren’t smiling one bit.

It’s true that most of us are changing our buying habits, but that’s not enough to make up for years of careless over-spending.

Stress levels are high and people are confused and frustrated. Things will eventually boil over and the economy will recover. We are in for a rough ride and it’s important now more than ever before to start taking notice during the day when your stress level is high or unbearable.

You cannot change the economy, you cannot stop TV stations from focusing on the matter at hand and you cannot force people to stop dumping their stocks in panic, but you can control how you respond to this world-melt-down by using a few tips and tricks to help lower your stress level.

Here are 10 tips to help you keep a level head when you feel stressed out:

1) Acknowledge and resolve the things causing you stress when possible: You have to first admit to yourself that a situation is causing you a lot of stress. Once you’ve identified the situation, be sure to resolve it as soon as you can by taking action. Procrastination will only add to your stress level because you might avoid dealing with the situation now, but it will come back to bite you down the road.

2) Accept situations you can’t change: There are certain things that are out of your hands. This recent turn in the economy is an excellent example of a stressful period that you cannot control. The best thing to do is to accept the situation and try to find other things that you can control … you might not be able to control stocks free-falling, but you have the power to start looking at how you handle money and start making some big changes for the future.

3) Remain relaxed as much as possible throughout the day: This is a hard one to do because there are things coming at you from every side and many of them you don’t control. You can take breaks to allow you to refocus and rebalance. Focusing your mind on more positive things or more positive imageries will also help a lot.

4) Try not to rush so much: It’s so important to give yourself enough time to do the things you need to do and that includes eating. If you eat in a rush that will only put a lot of pressure and stress on your digestive system. If you know you need to be at the other end of the city in one hour, it’s best to leave now and not wait until the last minute. It’s true that we cannot avoid rushing entirely, but there are many ways to manage our day so we’re not rushing every second of the day.

5) Learn to say no: Now, I’m not saying to say “no” to your boss and end up getting yourself in trouble, but I’m talking about all the activities we take on that add to our stress level. In your case, it might be simple fact that you’ve committed all of your evenings to volunteer work and you have very little down time. You might need to consider saying “no” to certain engagement and solely focusing on a few that still allow you for some down time. It’s always better to do a few things well as opposed to doing a lot of things in a mediocre manner.

6) Live in the present, rather than worrying about the past or fearing the future: “I should have, I could have, I would have” … how many times per day do you say that to yourself? These days a lot of people are singing that song in their head on daily base. Many people are revisiting decisions they’ve made in the past and they are beating themselves up for the outcome. That really won’t do much more than raise your stress level and lower your self-esteem. You cannot change the past and you cannot predict the future, but you can learn how to use the present as a way to create a better tomorrow.

7) Talk it out: If it’s a problem with a friend, co-worker, family member or significant other, it’s always better to find a way of addressing the situation as opposed to bottling it up and letting it eat at you. It’s true that being honest about your feelings can be scary, but if you position it as “this is how I feel when you do this or this is how I feel when you say things like” as opposed to blaming someone, you’ll get better results.

#8) Have fun: It’s so important (especially these days) NOT to forget to have some fun and find pleasures where ever you can. It can be as simple as inviting a friend over for a movie and popcorn or helping your kids with a science project or cranking up the volume to your favorite song!

9) Find some quiet time each day: If you don’t already some quiet time built in your day, you’ll want to make an effort to find time where you can rest your mind and set the worries of the day aside. It could be as simple as going for a walk, taking a nice bath, reading a good book or running on the treadmill for 20 minutes … whatever works at quieting your mind and allowing you not to “think” so much about what might be bothering you. You need that time to disconnect everyday or else the build up and accumulation of stress can really start affecting your negatively.

10) Relaxation techniques or breathing exercises will help a lot: This might not be something you might be able to do at your desk or during an important meeting, but if you feel a bit stressed or panicked, simply find a quite space (go for a short walk or go to the bathroom) to do some breathing exercises to calm you down. When it comes to relaxations techniques, you might want to sit in a quiet room for 5 or 10 minutes and close your eyes. You can also try rotating your shoulders back and forth to relive a lot of the tension.

Remember, you might not be able to control the world around you, but you can control how you respond to things that are coming at you.

Photo by kakashi_san