Stress gets the best of all of us. The demands of daily life such as having to pay numerous bills, work-related issues, losing someone close, and relationship problems can take a toll on our wellbeing. Left untreated, stress can lead to heart diseases, affect our immune system and damage our emotional balance among other things. Here are a few tips on how you can deal with stress because no matter how bad you think your situation is there are steps you can take to tackle it positively.

Identify triggers that add to the stress
Stress can be caused by something as big as losing a loved one or something as small as not clicking with colleagues at work. Don’t overlook your thoughts and feelings by deeming something that worries you as too small or insignificant. If you are constantly worried about something, it’s time to carefully look into it to see where the actual problem lies. Keeping a stress journal has proven to be an excellent way of managing stress. It’s recommended that you track all events, things and moments that feel stressful. This way you can tackle them one by one in order to effectively get rid of them

Engage in positive self-talk
Negativity is the beginning of stress. One positive way to deal with stress is to engage in positive self-talk. The things we keep telling ourselves eventually become a reality, so it’s good to learn to think and self-talk positively. Learn to turn negative situations into positive ones by adopting an optimistic outlook on things and situations. For instance, instead of saying, “I can’t do this”, say “this can be done.” This might be difficult in the beginning but it’s quite possible with practice. 

Go take a nap
Sometimes the best way to deal with all the drama in your life is to just get away from it all by taking a nap. Many studies have shown that taking a nap after feeling stressed can increase productivity by 34%. Some companies like Proctor & Gamble and Google actually encourage their employees to take a few minutes during work hours to take a nap. The stress you are feeling could even be sleep-related issues like not getting enough sleep or having trouble adjusting to a new place and time. So try taking short nap breaks to keep your mind fresh and positive. 

Keep yourself occupied
When you feel physically and emotionally drained, one possible remedy is for you to change what you are doing. When you don’t feel like doing something anymore, find something that makes you feel good and do that instead. The trick is to find something you enjoy doing to improve your mood. We recommend taking up a new hobby, making new friends, painting, weaving, reading books and doing things that are soothing for your mind.

Check how you manage stress
All of us have different coping mechanisms when we experience stress. It’s not unusual for many to often turn to unhealthy coping mechanisms like drinking, emotional-eating or shutting ourselves down. These may seem to ease stress at first but, in the long run, it will do more harm than good. If you can recognize that you are dealing with stress by, say, oversleeping or bickering all the time, you are on your way to changing it for the better.

 
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