Our daily lives have become more fast paced at work and home. As a result, stress has become a common day occurrence. In psychology, stress is a feeling of emotional pressure and strain. Many people are constantly inundated with technology that can easily distract us from our self-care. Thus, life can feel overwhelming and stressful at times. Consequently, it’s important to learn how to better manage your stress.

Before we discuss, how to manage stress, lets learn how to identify your stress. Symptoms of stress can take various forms. Stress may cause physical complaints, such as tightness in your shoulders, tension headaches, indigestion or even back pain. Stress can appear as cognitive problems like indecisiveness or poor concentration. Emotional symptoms of stress can include irritability, crying, or edginess. Once you can identify your stress, make a priority to learn healthy ways of managing your stress.

7 Tips to Better Manage Stress:

1. Make time for daily self-care.

   *Make a priority to go to bed around the same time and wake up at the same time. Ideally teens need 8 to 10 hours of sleep and adults 7 to 9 hours of sleep.

   *Be sure to eat healthy well balanced meals and don’t allow yourself to skip a meal. Drink plenty of water. Teens are recommended to drink 6 - 8 cups of water and adults should drink 8 - 10 cups of water.

   *Pay attention to your self-talk. Talk to yourself in a kind and patient manner. Pretend you’re talking to your best friend and say that to yourself.

2. Practice daily relaxation techniques.

   These are activities that trigger the relaxation response, a physiological change that can help lower your blood pressure, breathing rate, heart rate, stress hormones and oxygen consumption. You can achieve this with activities such as meditation, guided imagery, yoga, and deep breathing exercises.

   *On the hour, spend a few minutes inhaling for a count of 5 and exhaling for a count of 5. It helps to bring you to the present moment.

   *Make time at least for 5 minutes to listen to a daily guided meditation. Find a guided meditation on an app or on YouTube that you find calming and relaxing.

   *Make time to do yoga at least 3 times per week. Use your favorite app or find a yoga instructor on YouTube. Yoga is a great exercise to focus on our body rather than our busy mind.

3. Make time to exercise as often as possible.

   *Physical activity can pump up your feel-good endorphins and other natural neural chemicals that boost your sense of well-being. Exercise is very helpful in refocusing your mind on your body's movements. This refocus can improve your mood and help you feel better. Allow yourself to try various forms of exercise, like going for a long walk, biking, working in the garden, going for a run, weight training, or working in your garden. Give yourself permission to make time for daily movement, if at all possible.

4. Connect with others.

   Social contact is a good stress reliever because your family and or friends can provide you support, it can offer a healthy distraction, and it helps you navigate the ups and downs of life.

   When you're stressed and irritable, you may want to isolate yourself. Instead, make it a point to reach out to family and friends and make social connections. Open up with your friend or family and express what’s bothering you. Even one good person who listens can make a difference in reducing some of your stress.

5. Practice being assertive.

   Assertiveness is a communication skill that allows you to express your needs, thoughts and emotions in a balanced and respectful manner, without violating the right of others. It can help you set limits and boundaries with others. Furthermore, being assertive can help you to express yourself effectively and stand up for your point of view.

6. Managing your social media time.

   Setting limits on how much time you spend on social media can help decrease the urge to constantly check for updates. It can help reduce your stress by limiting the exposure to potentially overwhelming content. It can also help prevent feelings of comparisons to others’ curated online lives. As a result, managing your time on social media can lead to a more relaxed and present state of mind.

7. Daily journaling.

   Give yourself permission to journal every day in the morning or afternoon. Journaling can help your understand your stressors, fears and concerns. Journaling can help you track any symptoms so that you can potentially recognize your triggers. Journaling can help you be honest about what your feeling and what you need. Furthermore, journaling can help you identify your negative thoughts and learn how to focus on healthy balanced self talk.

   I hope you make it a priority to practice better ways of managing your stress. It will benefit you emotionally, socially and psychologically. Learning to make time to take care of yourself is necessary for our well being.

   If you’re looking for support to better manage your stress , please contact me to schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation.