6 Effective Ways To Manage Stress Regardless of the Cause

Being a self-employed individual, I have my fair share of stress triggers that challenge me on a weekly (if not daily) basis.

I own two blogs (including this one), and I have to manage, create content, promote, etc all by myself.

I’ve got so much stuff to do, ugh…What the hell was I thinking? Wasn’t one blog enough?

That’s the thing about me (and apparently others too),

• When we have too much of a workload on our shoulders– we get stressed
• When things go south, we get stressed
• When we expect a certain outcome in a critical situation – we get stressed,
• When we have emotional imbalances– Yup, we get stressed!

It’s like, there are dozens of stress land-mines laid everywhere on the path of life waiting for you to step on it, while you’re trying to take a peaceful, happy walk.

And being in this constant state of anxiety, mental strain, and tension may really affect the way you operate in life, how you see certain situations, how you perform and how you feel about life in general.

We are reactive beings, we react to everything that goes inside our mind and in the surroundings.

And when that reaction is taking you to a negative headspace, we tend to go with the flow. It’s quite hard not to feel tense at times.

Do you know the worst part of dealing will stress?

It is the feeling that you’re not one who’s in control and your life can derail at any moment.

No matter how true that might sound in your head, you are always in control. ALWAYS!

You might not have control over a particular situation involving others but how you perceive that and how you react gives you the steering wheel to redirect your own circumstances.

Stress is a natural response your body gives when it feels threatened, challenged, or compromised, both mentally, and physically, but it is more leaned toward the mental part.

It can affect your state of being- your mood, your work ethics, and even your relationships. So it is essential for you to take certain measures to keep the whole stress-thing in check before it takes over.

But how do you keep your triggers in check while being busy sailing through life? Most of us don’t even realize the causes of its emergence.

I don’t know if this resonates with you or not but some days, I’m in a mental strain for apparently no reason at all.

If someone questions the reason for my bitter mood, I’ll have no definite answer, I am just …..stressed and.

Stressed about what? I don’t know, life in general maybe.

Why does this happen? I DON’T KNOW! Somebody better not be doing voodoo on me! 😂

Point is, no matter how it begins, stress somehow has a way of creeping into our lives.

But as I’ve gotten more familiar with these “not so great” states of mind, I’ve found a few ways to deal with them without putting too much effort.

Given below are a few ways you can de-stress or avoid stress for that matter, that has helped me numerous times.

1. Sleep It Off, Shut Your System for a While

Whenever you realize that your life is going haywire, causing an avalanche of stress, it is important to have a mental, physical and emotional “time out”.

Not because your life is out of control and you can do nothing about it, but to work on embracing the fact that your life is in your control, it always is, but this particular situation is making you feel that it isn’t.

You need to understand at some point that the very thing that is causing you to be this restless is may or may not be in your hand for the moment, how you react to it gives you the control of its course.

If the cause of your stress does not have a deadline or the one that’s far away, I suggest you take a big’ol nap. No alarms though!

And even if the situation is not resolved by then, at least your well-rested body and mind will be better equipped to deal with it.

A clear, well-rested, and clutter-free mind is far more useful than a chaotic and stressed one when it some to handle a situation effectively.

2. Avoid Any Potential Stress Triggers

The fact that you’re drenched with stress as of this moment, the need to avoid anything that might trigger more stress to it is essential for your sanity.

It is important for you to understand that there might be quite a lot of things that might seem harmless but can significantly impact your stress levels.

For example: If someone’s toxic behavior if the root of the problem, stop entertaining them with your attention.

You might think you’re looking for closure by talking to them, but it’s your sanity that is getting stretched in the process. Just stay away for the time being!

Similarly, try to avoid as many potential triggers as possible.

Not only this will help you destress a lot quicker but also will keep you from making situations worse by tackling them with an unfit mindset.

3. Do Things That Have Calmed You Before

You probably have a list of things that you absolutely enjoy doing, the things or activities that bring you joy and absolute bliss. It could be,

• Playing with your dog
• Watching old movies
• Taking a super long walk
• Reading a book
• Making and eating your favorite meal
• Taking a long bath
• Hanging out with close friends etc…

Anything that makes you feel good, do that without thinking about anything else, just dive right in.

4. Watch What You Consume

Though what you eat does contribute to a lot of stress factors but here, the term “consume” does not solely represent your eating habits, it also directs to the input you receive from other senses as well.

The things you see on social media, the negative things you hear that might worsen your overall mood, etc. All those things may directly or indirectly contribute to your stress levels.

Identify and distance yourself from such sources, whether the source is a negative conversation, a disturbing TV program, or something else, just avoid them for the time being.

You have to be careful what you consume, some can make you, others can break you!

5. Break the Chain

If you’re stuck in the cycle of schedules and meetings and grinding on a daily basis, chances are, you might be stressed most of the days (some days more tiring than the others).

One of the ways to cut out this kind of stress is by breaking the cycle once in a while. As you do this, the time when you’ll be back to the grind, you’ll be better equipped to deal with whatever life throws at you.

Treat this break as a “well-deserved personal care session”, where the stuff that has been bothering you is on an indefinite pause, and in this moment you are free.

6. Just Talk it Out

When stress overtakes your whole decision-making process (and pretty much the mood to interact with people), it is easy to isolate yourself and shut people off.

It is important to understand that,

But right now, you need people around you.

People who are close to you, people who give good advice, people who will be there for you, or people who will at least listen to you, if not anything.

Everyone goes through stress at some point in their life, talking to people will bring out the best solutions they used to control their situations once. And advice coming from the ones who are close to you will reach you the most.

According to goodtherepy.org, sharing shared feelings reduces stress.

So don’t shy away from making that phone call or that text to ask for help.

You will realize that a lot of issues can be solved if we just talk to the right people.

Conclusion…

We may not have control over how certain situations might turn out- good, bad, or just weird. But one thing in our hands is how we react.

And also, no matter how stress-triggering a situation might be, nothing good can come out of it if you are not in your best mindset.

If you’re the type of person that gets stress quite easily, one thing you need to understand that not everything deserves your reaction. Please let that sink in.

Every minute instance and every not-so-great moment isn’t worthy to be stressed about. Your mental state is much more important than a bad short-spanned moment.

Always remember: If the situation is not going to matter after a few days, don’t waste another second worrying about it.