Our reviewers evaluate products and services based on unbiased research. Top Consumer Reviews may earn money when you click on a link. Learn more about our process.
Friday, March 31st
Being overwhelmed by stress can literally make you sick. It can affect the way you think and the way you live. It can adversely affect your relationships and make you do things that you regret. Prolonged stress can also cause several health problems and in severe cases can lead to death.
While you can never totally eliminate stress from your life, you can learn to control it through stress management. At its most basic, stress management involves learning how to balance different aspects of your life and learning how to deal quickly with stressful situations as they arise. Stress management techniques will also help you lower the impact of a prolonged stressor in your life by helping you keep things in perspective.
The first step in reducing stress in your life is to identify the things that cause you stress. Since every person feels stress in different situations, the things that cause you stress may not seem to bother other people. Therefore, pay attention to your body to learn what situations cause you stress. Some of the most common stressors are work, family, and health concerns. Trying to juggle too many things at once can also blow things out of proportion and make insignificant stressors seem like huge ones.
3 Ways to Reduce Stress in Your Life
Time Management - As mentioned before, trying to juggle too many things can lead to a roller coaster of stress. You may barely come down from handling one catastrophe before another one needs to be addressed. To avoid this, learn how to manage your time. Doing things like making a "to do" list can be invaluable in helping you schedule and prioritize your day. Pick out which tasks on your list are more important. If you don't have enough time to finish all of the tasks, let someone else complete the less important ones or save them for another day. Be sure to take frequent breaks and schedule time for rest and relaxation. Most of all know your limitations and learn how to say no.
Balance Life - You are more than a work machine that needs to get to work, make money, cook dinner, and finish the laundry. Make sure that your life reflects this. Sometimes the best stress relief comes from eating a healthy meal and getting your walking shoes out of the closet every now and then. Take time to listen to music and to meditate. Let the kids do the dishes. And try to look for humor in situations that cause you stress.
Let Others Help - Sometimes you are our own worst enemy. If you are like most people, you try to do everything because you feel like we cannot trust others to do the job right. This can lead to a lot of stress and the feeling of never being able to catch your breath. Allowing others to help is important. Also look to friends and family for support. Sometimes talking is all that is needed to make you feel refreshed and ready to face up to your challenges.
Remember, you are the master and controller of your life. Don't let stress overwhelm you and zap the joy out of living.
Select any 2 Stress Relief Products to compare them head to head