Successful Stress Management.

Successful Stress Management.

Coping with stress is vital to self-improvement. In this article I will take a look at stress and give you a few tips on how to cope with it. Stress management is a huge subject so in the space I have available I can only give you a few tips from the many that are to be found in books and courses. First of all what is stress? We feel stressed when the pressure in our lives exceeds our ability to cope with it. A certain amount of pressure can be good for us because it can stimulate and motivate us. But, when it becomes too much it is then that we feel stressed. Feeling under stress is NOT a sign of weakness because what might be stressful to one person another might take in their stride. If someone brought a large Python into a room full of people many of those people would scream and run out because they are afraid of snakes and being in the presence of one would be stressful for them. Personally, I love snakes and would want to hold it and find out all about it.

Lets take a look at a few facts and figures:

270,000 people are off work each day for reasons caused by stress.

Seven out of ten people say they experience stress at work.

One million people say they are more stressed by their jobs now than a year ago.

Seven million working days were lost in 2000 by problems caused by stress.

The cost to business was four billion pounds.

Eighty to ninety percent of all illness is either caused or aggravated by stress.

However!

Merseyside Police introduced a stress reduction plan, reduced absenteeism by twelve percent and saved itself three million pounds in a year.

Here are a few tips for reducing stress:

1. Work no more than ten hours per day. 2. Take at least one and a half days off each week from your normal work routine. 3. Allow at least half an hour for each meal. 4. Eat slowly and chew your food well. 5. The quality of your thoughts determines the quality of your life. Think positively. 6. Practice relaxation or meditation 2 or 3 times a day for about 15 minutes per session. 7. Play, smile, laugh! When you do you release Endorphins the happy hormones and immediately start to feel better. 8. Take one ‘away from it all’ holiday each year. 9. Take 15-20 minutes exercise every other day. Some of it out doors if possible. 10. Eat a sensible balanced diet. 11. If emotional and/or sexual problems are upsetting you seek advice from a counsellor or therapist. 12. Take up a relaxing, non-stressful hobby. 13. Have a regular massage to relax you, tone up your muscles, detoxify your system and boost your immune defences. 14. Concentrate on the present. Don’t worry about past events or feel guilty about them. Forgive yourself for mistakes, learn from them and put them behind you. Get on with your life. 15. Don’t worry about future events. They seldom turn out as bad as expected and may not even happen at all. 16. Work and act methodically. Finish one task before starting another. Finally, being as strong as possible in mind, body and spirit will help you to cope better in stressful situations so do as much as possible of the above for your own self-improvement and be happy!