Dealing with stress is tough. Sometimes, it can get overwhelming. Some days you just feel like tossing in the towel and giving up.
I get it.
I have been there myself. And can I say it definitely is not a fun situation to be in.
Whether you are overworking yourself or juggling too many responsibilities in between, work, family or school, there is a solution.
These 5 brilliant tricks will be able to help you cope with too much stress, in most situations that you are dealing with in life.
Get 8 hours of sleep
When we are overworked or dealing with too much stress, the first thing we compromise is our sleep. You may be staying up late to finish an important deadline or catering to your child’s needs, but the only way you will be able to take care of these responsibilities is to first invest in yourself.
Without the proper amount of sleep, you may start to feel groggy and you may end up becoming grumpier than usual. You may even subject yourself to being more prone to catching a cold, or worse yet, something that you cannot recover from.
Jeopardizing your health can impact all areas of your life, not only your relationships with your loved ones, but also your well-being and your career. To minimize these risks, shoot for eight hours of sleep a night.
Get moving
Sometimes the best way to overcome stress is to get moving.
Whether it be walking around your neighborhood or hopping on the treadmill at the gym, a few minutes of exercise each day will help keep you mentally focused.
Rely on your friends
Mismanaged stress can have toxic downsides to your health. Stress from holding all of your emotions, stresses and worries to yourself could be more detrimental than you think.
One of the best things you can do is to create or join a social support network. Go out with your friends or loved ones and tell them what is stressing you out, then work together on solutions. A social support network can help reduce your stress by giving you a sense of belonging within a community. That can ultimately help you increase your sense of self-worth.
Smile
Back in 1989, Daniel Goleman, renowned bestselling author of the book Emotional Intelligence stated in a New York Times article that “Putting a sad face or smile directly produces the feelings that the expressions represent.”
To this day, this holds true. An action as simple as a smile is able to help you counteract the stress you are dealing with in life. In the same article, “Researchers showed that facial expressions affected the temperature of blood flowing to the brain.”
By taking a few moments to smile each day, you are able to help counteract on the stress that could be causing physical harm to your health.
Cut back on responsibilities
I know what you are thinking. You have always been known for carrying a huge load on your shoulders and pushing through. But during stressful times, that kind of thinking is going to cause harm. Start cutting back on responsibilities. Start to say no when you are asked to work on a project outside of your job duties, or for favors that will extend you beyond your reach.
Start to decrease your responsibilities until you feel more comfortable with the tasks you need to handle each day.
Once you are able to lower your workload, you will be able to spend more time thinking, reflecting, relaxing, or doing the things you love.
If your stress is getting to a level you are unable to handle and nothing else is working, reach out to your primary care physician for help. To see the wide range of services offered at USC Verdugo Hills Hospital, click here.
by Leonard Kim
