How To Deal With Stress At Work, School And In A Relationship

How To Deal With Stress At Work, School And In A Relationship

Stress in humans refers to situations which put the body under pressure; it could be physical or emotional. Sometimes stress has the ability to propel you to achieve a task faster and perform better. Stressful situations allow the release of certain hormones which help increase the body’s speed, agility and hasten general bodily response. But being stressed constantly, especially emotionally can have adverse effects on a person’s body on the long run. Physical and emotional stress both cause the body to react in the same way, by releasing stress hormones because the body system doesn’t really know the difference between the two.

The body being in a constant state of stress can result in health challenges. Stress can stem from various situations like work, marriage, relationships, academic pursuit and the general demands which daily living places on us both positive and negative. All these have the tendency to put a person under immense stress physically, but most especially emotionally. People react to stress in different ways and a stress causing situation for one, may be someone else’s high. Some symptoms of stress may include: overthinking, depression, anger, being agitated, lack of focus, pessimism, sadness, anxiety. Physical signs like body pain, increased heart beat, nausea and light headedness can be an indication of stress. It could also cause you to turn to certain bad habits as a coping mechanism like procrastination, over-eating or voluntary starvation, and the consumption of alcohol, nicotine and sometimes drugs.

How To Deal With Stress At Work

Stress in the work place could have its up sides sometimes, as it could help you put in the necessary energy and concentration a work related task may require. But a lot of jobs tend to put pressure on individuals in and out of the work place, thereby draining them all day long. It is only a matter of time before this kind of stress begins interfering with not just your work, but your health and social life.

Stress at work could be as a result of high demands of a job, high and near impossible work targets, threats of being fired, down-sizing of staff, meeting tight deadlines and such. This kind of stress can be dealt with in a number of ways.

Get A Support System

This usually comes in the form of interaction with someone else. It could be a trusted colleague, who you can talk to. Talking about an issue brings with it a certain kind of relief, even if the problem still remains unsolved. So develop good relationships with your colleagues, where you can talk and listen to each other.

Outside of work, also have good supportive relationships with friends and family. This is a very good way of dealing with work stress. It ensures you are constantly surrounded by people who care, thereby leaving you less vulnerable to stress. Being alone and lacking good relationships, has been known to increase stress.

If you are lacking in either of these two, then make conscious efforts to reach out to people and form healthy bonds and friendships. These relationships will help immensely in dealing with not just stress, but the general challenges life throws your way.

Planning And Organization

Not having a mapped out plan of what your work schedule should be, can result in stress. Properly plan your daily tasks and the time which should be dedicated to each task, from the moment you get up in the morning. It helps your efficiency and reduces pressure and stress.

Focus On A Task

Rather than trying to do finish a report, check a mail, answer a call and give instructions to someone all at the same time, try focusing on achieving your task one at a time. Trying to fulfill various tasks at the same time only increases your stress levels and slows you down. Focus on the most important things which you can control and work on them in order of priority. As much as possible, stop focusing on the situations which are beyond your control, focus on the ones which can be achieved and give your best.

Relaxation Breaks

Between the activities of the day, take a few minutes to get into a comfortable position, to breathe and relax. This will help calm the body and ease a little bit of tension.

Live Healthy

Take healthy living very seriously. Exercise and the consumption healthy diets should become a lifestyle. Incorporate exercise regimens which increase your heart rate, as they help release hormones which uplift the mood and relax the body tension. The meals taken in during the day should be in appropriate amounts and rich in healthy nutrients. This will ensure your body gets the energy it requires while keeping you sharp, focused and functioning properly.

Be mindful of snacks and general processed food and sugars, they are well known to worsen stress and the health condition of the body. Go for healthy proteins like salmons and sardines, as they as rich in omega-3, which gives your body a boost and aids you in dealing with stress. Caffeine, alcohol and cigarettes should be taken in moderation or not at all.

Get enough rest and sleep properly. Doing this gives your body the needed time to relax and unwind from the stressful activities of the day and re-energizes you.

How To Deal With Stress At School

It is a well known fact that students are constantly under a lot of stress, stemming from academic pursuits and demands. They stress about lectures, stress about good grades, about disappointing their parents, about assignments, exams and the likes. All these puts you a state of agitation and stress which does the body a lot of harm. Below are techniques you can employ to help you deal.

Set Achievable Goals

Rather than setting unrealistic academic targets for yourself, try setting achievable academic goals instead. Setting overly high goals creates stress which could have been avoided. Your goal should be getting grades which put you in a happy place and not perfect grades. If you feel the urge to improve upon your grades, then take easy and gradual steps towards it, not drastic ones.

Take Care Of Yourself

Eating right and giving the body the required rest and time it needs to recharge, helps you mentally and physically deal with stress better. School is stressful, but taking time out to participate in a few fun activities and removing your thoughts from academic pressures can help you relax.

Plan Your Time

Have a time table which details how you spend your time and work with it. You could draw out a weekly plan for yourself, detailing the time you are allowed to spend on your various school activities. This helps you stay organized, focused and teaches you to properly manage the time you have.

Good Study Habits

Having a mountain of books and topics to cover, close to a test or an examination and not having a clue as to where to start, is a common stress trigger amongst students. This results from poor study habits. Rather than wait till the last minute, make it a habit to always study on time. This way, you can calmly and much easily assimilate your topics. Make studying a daily habit. Carve out time everyday to revise the topics learnt, while it is still green.

How To Deal With Stress And Depression

Severe emotional stress is quite capable of leading to depression. Continuously stressing over an issue, like the loss of something precious maybe a job, a scholarship or relationship can bring on a state of depression. The continuous release of stress hormones can lead to diverse health problems, including depression. The following may help when dealing with stress and depression.

• Avoid situations and people which trigger stressful reactions within you.
• Remove yourself from negative places and negative people. Instead be around friends and family who will care and support you during this time.
• Reduce the amount of time you spend on stressful activities and ask for help to make your tasks much easier.
• Make out time to relax and get enough sleep at night.
• Be mindful of everything you take into your body. Diets and beverages should be healthy at all times.
• Choose relaxing and exciting activities which uplift your spirit, they tend to make you feel lighter and happy.

The seriousness of this case requires you consult a medical practitioner. In many cases the use of medication as well as counseling will be needed to deal with stress and depression. Trying to deal with these two alone is quite a difficult task. Most often than not, a person will require external help to make it through these health challenges, quickly. Discuss this situation with your doctor, so treatments can be administered.

How To Deal With Stress In A Relationship

Relationships can be quite stressful as they require a lot of work to make it truly successful. Your thoughts and opinions on certain situations are bound to clash with that of your partner every once in a while. Stress in a relationship can either result from internal or external factors and sometimes a little bit of both. Try out these helpful steps.

Find The Origin Of Your Stress

Relationship stress caused by internal factors may be those demanding situations, which your relationship places on you. In cases of this nature, it is require you take a step back and study the kind of relationship you find yourself in. Unhealthy relationships are very well known to cause a lot of negative emotions and great stress. In such a case, all that may be required to help deal with stress can be a break from that kind of relationship.

In cases where external factors are responsible for stress in a relationship, a few steps can be taken to help you deal.

Talk To Your Partner

You can enlist the help of your partner to deal with stress. As an entity, you both can share and walk through stressful situations together. Share these external issues which are negatively impacting your relationship and receive support. Reassure each other of your dedication to the relationship. Understanding and encouragement from your partner can get you through these stressful times.

Learn To Manage Stress

External factors causing stress in a relationship may come in form of job dissatisfaction or financial issues; but these things can be managed. Rather than allow such factors affect your relationship, make a conscious effort to address these issue and not carry them over into your relationship. If the demands of a job have become too stressful for you and affect your relationship, you either learn to cope with it or get another job which makes you happier. If it stems from your finance, money managing techniques can be thought out as well.

Whatever the case may be, chronic stress over situations is harmful to the body and should be consciously dealt with to prevent mental and physical health conditions.

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