Three Basic Tips to Help when Coping with Stress, Part One
Stress Coping Strategies: 3 Essential Tips for Managing Stress
Stress is a modern-day epidemic, but there are many ways to proactively manage it before you feel overwhelmed. Practicing healthy habits like exercise and relaxation techniques can make all the difference in your mental health – so don't let stress take control of your life! Taking that extra step towards taking care of yourself will benefit both body and mind for years to come.
Here are a few different ways to manage and attack stress before it has a chance to creep through the seams of your life.
Strategies to get ahead of your stress
Planning
How can we do anything before planning first? Many of us use the excuse “I would but I don’t have the time.” The truth of the matter is, we all have the time. It's about finding it and prioritizing what is important and what is not.
Planning is a way to get out in front of your stress before it has a chance to take control. Many of us say yes to too many things, things that are not at the top of our priority list. Saying yes to something less important could mean saying no to something important. Remember, if we fail to plan, we plan to fail.
Successful weeks start with the planning process. Put that pen to paper and get scheduling! Fit in work commitments, meetings with clients or colleagues and schedule regular workouts. Don't forget family time too - those connections keep us feeling happy and energized! Plus there's always room for some 'me time' – taking even an hour out of your week can help restore equilibrium after busy days. Once you have it all down on the calendar, surprise yourself at how much extra capacity you may find when everything is mapped out properly.
Dealing with what's for dinner can be an irritating and expensive weekly problem, but it doesn't have to be! How often do you get home from work going back and forth about “what should we have to eat?” ..until you end up ordering out? With just a bit of advanced planning you can save yourself from the stress that comes along with ordering take-out or trying to come up with meals on the fly. Put some thought into your week ahead so when hunger strikes at home, success is already on the menu!
2. Activity and Fitness
Fitness is incredibly important for our health for multiple reasons. During exercise, your body releases multiple neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins. Dopamine is beneficial to our bodies as it helps to regulate our mood, emotion, sleep, and appetite- all things directly related to managing our stress!
Endorphins are your brain's “feel good” neurotransmitters, which can lower the body's cortisol levels- also known as “the stress hormone”. The post-workout bliss you feel is thanks to two key neurotransmitters. Serotonin and endorphins team up, working together to give your body a sense of relaxation while also regulating sleep cycles and encouraging healthy eating habits - it's no wonder we love that satisfied feeling after exercising!
Fitness doesn’t just mean lifting heavy weights, bodybuilding, or doing an intense workout. There are so many ways to get your activity in throughout the day, from skiing to mountain biking, to even just getting out for a walk in the fresh air daily. My mother and my neighbour get their walk-in every night, usually rain or shine. They don't do it because they have to, they do it because it's something they enjoy doing.
Find something you enjoy doing and get out there and do it. If you struggle to hold yourself accountable, try consulting with a coach or a personal trainer.
3. Water, Nutrition and Sleep
Let’s talk about water. Most of the time when I ask people “how much water do you drink”, the answer is either “not enough” or they think they drink enough-which ends up being only a couple of glasses a day. Water makes up 60% of our body and most of us drink enough to service, and not enough to thrive. Studies have shown that dehydration leads to higher cortisol levels - there’s that stress hormone again - making it more of a challenge to deal with everyday issues.
If you don't like drinking plain water, try carbonated water like bubbly, or add a sugar-free sweetener like Mio or crystal light to help you get a few more glasses in per day. As a rule of thumb, an active person should aim for 1L for every 50lbs of bodyweight and someone with more of a stationary lifestyle should aim for 1L for every 75lbs of body weight.
Moving on to nutrition - the way you eat has a direct relationship with how you are going to feel. If you eat poorly, you are going to feel poorly. When you feel poorly, your work ethic and motivation might not quite be there, you might fall behind in work, and skip that workout, which then leads back to the vicious cycle of feeling poor. However, if you eat quality food, you will feel more healthy, and more energetic, leading to a positive feedback loop of feeling great and getting ahead of that stress.
Sleep is often overlooked, but it's one of the most important aspects of our health. We commonly hear “I’ll catch up on sleep later”, but do they ever? Most likely not. Forgo electronics in bed and instead get into a regular sleep routine to give your body time to recover, regulate moods better, and increase overall alertness throughout the day.
Make sure you switch off all tech at least an hour before settling down for some shut-eye; use this pre-bedtime as an opportunity for gentle stretching or meditation that'll relax both mind & body - leaving you ready for a great night's rest!
Managing stress is one of the most important things we can do for our overall health and wellbeing. Unfortunately, stress has become a modern-day epidemic. However, there are many ways to proactively manage it before you feel overwhelmed. Practicing healthy habits like exercise and relaxation techniques can make all the difference in your mental health – so don't let stress take control of your life! Taking that extra step towards taking care of yourself will benefit both body and mind for years to come.
Bonus Read - From Darryl Council