MANAGING STRESS

Stress is a part of our every day lives. However, it sometimes grows to a dangerous point, and may start affecting our mood and mental state when our stress levels remain very high for a prolonged period. But what can we do to manage our stress levels?

RECOGNISE THE PROBLEM

The first step in fixing any problem is to recognise that a problem exists.

Many people simply choose to ignore signs of a mental health problem brewing because they feel they cannot afford any time to take care of their mental well-being, or because they refuse to admit that they too are vulnerable to high stress levels from work or family.

You need to set your pride aside, and make time for you to sit down and review your mental state. As we’ve talked about in our article on ‘YOUR MENTAL HEALTH GAUGE’, it is important to regularly review your mental state, and recognise when you’re starting to feel overwhelmed.

Try to take 5 minutes every day or every other day, and review your mental state. Are you managing with work / school / family? Or are you feeling too stressed out?

You should also recognise signs of a depressed mood developing - you may feel very sad a lot of the time, you may lose interest in the things you once enjoyed doing, you may have problems sleeping, you may feel burnt-out or exhausted a lot of the time, and you may be a bit teary or actually start crying sometimes. All these signs point to a mental breakdown brewing.

Sit down when you can, in a peaceful, quiet place, and review your life and mental health. Recognise when you are not coping, and start taking steps to improve your mental state. It may seem impossible to take the time you need to help yourself, but it is absolutely essential. You owe it to yourself to take good care of your mental well-being.

TAKE BREAKS

Regular planned breaks are an essential part of keeping yourself sane. Noone can do without them, no matter what they try and tell you. It may be tempting to think that you should keep going without a break because if you take time off, you’ll lose your momentum at work or in school and find it difficult to get back up to speed, but the opposite is actually true - your mind and heart need time off from the stressful things in life to keep you moving forward.

Remember, focus on the long-term goals and the bigger picture. You can’t win a race if you can’t finish running it.

There are different levels of breaks that you need to take.

The first is one that you take annually or semi-annually. This should be an extended period of time off, which is usually about a week or two for most people. You can plan a trip overseas during this time since that’s usually fun, but you should also budget a few days for yourself to relax at home before you return to work or school.

The second kind of break you should be taking is a short but more frequent break. You can try taking an extra day off every month for you to just relax and catch up on your hobbies and rest. You can consider taking a Friday off every month or two so you have a long weekend to chill and relax.

The third kind of break is very frequent - ideally weekly, but is just you taking half a day or a full day off on the weekend to rest and recuperate. Try to take this time to catch up on your rest, and do something relaxing, like watching some TV, or reading a book. This break doesn’t have to be long - it can be just up to 4 to 5 hours a week, but you should definitely try and build it into your weekly routine.

The last kind of break is one that you should take daily. Try to set aside some time EVERY DAY for you to rest and switch off. It can be anything from 5 to 10 minutes a few times a day, to a whole hour, if you can find the time for it. Make an effort not to focus on work or school, and just use this time to rest and relax. These short breaks will help keep you going through the day.

Finally, the last kind of break you may need to take is a ‘forced break’. This happens when your stress levels approach dangerous levels, and you urgently need some time off. You can take some medical leave for a day or two to rest, so that you don’t tip over into an actual mental breakdown. try to switch your phone off and make yourself uncontactable for that period, so that you can rest properly.

After all, if anyone asks why you were not contactable, you can always let them know that you were resting because you were unwell.

SLEEP WELL,

NAP WHEN YOU CAN

It is vitally important for your mental (and physical) health for you to get enough sleep. Make sure you get enough sleep every night, so you feel refreshed to face the day ahead. Just give our article called ‘SLEEP WELL’ a read to find out more.

During the day you can try and catch a short ‘power nap’ for you to recharge mentally and keep yourself going through the day.

Find a quiet spot, stick your earphones in, and play some classical music and just try to doze off for 15 to 20 minutes. Naps that are too short don’t really do much, and a nap that is too long will make your brain enter a sleep cycle - not a good idea since you’ll wake up feeling groggy if you did not complete your sleep cycle (which runs between an hour to an hour and a half for most people).

You can try using an app called Pzizz for these power naps. This is the name of an app you can download onto your phone through the App Store (for iPhone users) or Play Store (for Android phone users). Just choose the ‘NAP’ option on the app, set the duration of time you have to relax, and the app plays some quiet music, and a voice says soothing things all the way until you fall asleep. The dialogue may sound a bit funny at first, but it really works, and will help you to fall asleep.

There’s a paid and a free version - the free version works fine, there’s no need to take up a paid subscription.

Give it a try! You’ll be amazed at how well it works.

EXERCISE REGULARLY

Regular exercise is good for your mood and will improve your mental focus. Also, when you push yourself hard during exercise, you get a release of a kind of hormone called ‘Endorphins’. These chemicals make you feel happy and good. You’ll feel slightly euphoric when you hit that stage in your workout, and your mood will usually be better after an exercise session.

Try to squeeze in 30 to 60 minutes of exercise daily. If you’re just getting started, check out our ‘BASIC EXERCISE’ page here.

If you’re keen to try something more strenuous, check out our ‘BASIC INTERVAL TRAINING’, or even our 'ADVANCED INTERVAL TRAINING' pages for something more challenging.

EVERYONE RELAXES DIFFERENTLY

Everyone has different interests, and relaxes in different ways. Find out what hobbies interest you, and what activities bring you joy. You can spend your free time pursuing these interests since doing something constructive with these hobbies will give you a sense of satisfaction, and will relax you. Everyone enjoys different things - don’t feel pressured to have the same interests as the people around you.

You do you.

DEEP BREATHING

Try to take 1 to 2 minutes in the mornings, afternoons, and evenings to do some deep breathing exercises. You can also take a step back from any situation that stresses you, excuse yourself, and do a minute of deep breathing. It’ll help to relax you, and help you to focus better.

Inhale slowly through your nose over 4 to 6 seconds, hold it for a second or 2, then exhale slowly through your mouth over another 4 to 6 seconds. You can use a timer, or download a deep breathing app. A good, free one is ‘Pine’, do check it out! Pick the ‘Simple’ option and give it a go.

LAUGH OFTEN

Being happy improves your outlook on life, and helps you to deal with unpleasant things in the world around you. It’ll help your health, and help you live longer. I save a bunch of my favourite comics and cartoons on my phone, and look at them from time to time when I feel stressed and need a good laugh. Definitely a good idea to boost my mood!

You can also try watching some ‘Mr Bean’ videos on YouTube - it’s difficult to not watch his antics and end up laughing at how ridiculous he is sometimes.

THE GREAT OUTDOORS

Get some outdoors time in. It’s good to get out of the house and get some fresh air, and studies show that the exposure to natural light actually does help with your mood. When the weather is good (not too hot, and not wet and gloomy), head out to the beach, away from roads and cars, and breathe some fresh air and just relax.

KEEP A MOOD JOURNAL

If you find that you are feeling down a lot of the time, you should keep a brief journal of how you feel daily, and what you think caused you to feel that way. When you pen your thoughts down and notice a pattern between a causative factor in your daily life and episodes of stress, anger, or low moods, you can take steps to try and remedy the situation.

DON’T SMOKE,

DON’T DRINK

Smoking may seem like a quick way to take some of the stress off during the day, but it’s terribly unhealthy for you, and WILL cause you to become addicted to it. Stay far, far away from cigarettes. Once you get addicted, you’ll probably be smoking for months and years before you quit, and the harmful chemicals in cigarette smoke will wreak havoc on your body during this time. Give our article on how to ‘QUIT SMOKING’ a read to learn a bit more.

Alcohol is also not a good idea. Some people feel that drinking helps them to relieve some stress, but alcohol will affect your mood adversely, and have a negative impact on your relationships with the people around you. It’ll also affect your quality of sleep, so you’ll end up coming out of your rest days feeling hungover and not well-rested, and you won’t be ready to face the challenges of the week ahead.

DON’T BE AFRAID TO

ASK FOR HELP

When you feel that you cannot cope despite trying out these different techniques to manage your stress, don’t be afraid to ask for help from your family and friends. You may feel worried about exposing weakness to the people around you, but you’ll find that the people who truly care for you really just do want the best for you.

It’s also highly therapeutic to be able to articulate some of your worries. Speak to someone you trust about the difficulties you face. You’ll feel a lot better.

SOMETIMES,

CHANGE IS NECESSARY

Oftentimes, we can pinpoint something in our lives that is causing us a lot of stress and grief - this is usually our jobs, or a bad boss at work. It can be daunting to consider a change of job, especially if you are just starting out, or have been working a certain job for a long period, but if you can muster up the courage to make a change in your life and try and get rid of the thing that is causing you the most stress, you’ll feel better.

Conversely, if something is causing you a lot of stress and is always present in your life, you’ll find it difficult to cope, no matter what stress management techniques you try.

Change is scary, but is sometimes necessary. Think of it as cutting a ‘mental cancer’ out of your life.

WRAP IT UP!

Stress is such a pervasive aspect of our lives these days that most of us choose to simply ignore it and just try to chug along. This is the WRONG approach! Take stock of your mental state today, and start making the changes you need to manage your stress better.