Mental stress is something we
all deal with. While there are positive
and negative scenarios surrounding the source of the stress, our bodies react
the same way regardless. Being chased by
a tiger has the same physiological reaction as the first day of your dream
job. Our physiological reaction is a
good thing, in fact. Both from an
adaptation perspective and from a biological perspective. The problem is that we aren’t designed to be
chased by a tiger from the moment we wake up to the moment we finally fall
asleep.
“What can be done though?” the
reader thought aloud with rapt attention.
I get it. There are some stresses that are unavoidable,
but there are ways to minimize the effects they have on us. If you are required to commute, you can see
if public transportation would be a good fit.
The train or bus will likely take longer than driving yourself, but you
can read,or catch a nap, or text or go on social media or get work done (this isn’t the post deriding
poor posture—though they have found our posture affects our mood). If you must drive, a trick that works for me
is staying in the right lane and accepting the flow of traffic. I tend to get very frustrated with people not
following how roads were designed and slow traffic in the left lane stresses me
out. When I drive in the right lane and just
accept the flow of traffic, I find myself much less worked-up when I get home
or work.
Sleeping is another thing we all
seem to do. From what I gather most of
us sleep. Many, though, don’t get enough
sleep, or the sleep they do get is poor-quality. We’ve heard all the tips, but they can stand
to be repeated. Set a bedtime for
yourself and your family and stick to it.
The bedroom is not for reading or watching television or social
media. When it’s time to go to sleep, go
to sleep. Keep your devices out of your
reach. Buy an actual alarm clock: they’re cheap and they still work and keep
your phones and laptops and tablets our of your room completely.
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| Note: keeping your devices out of your bedroom won't keep you children's YouTube songs out of your head...just saying |
Oh, my goodness, the news. Stop watching the news. Please.
Set aside about 30 minutes a day if you must to get caught up on current
events but stop with the 24 hour news stations who only make money because they
get your attention through fear. You
want to decrease your stress, stop watching the news.
On that note, stop worrying
about celebrities. They are people, just
like you and me. Keeping up with the
Joneses when the Joneses just got paid 20million dollars for literally nothing,
creates a sense of lacking in our lives. Fun fact:
A brand new Lamborghini will not make you happy. I promise.
The celebrity who just bought it isn’t happy… or even worse, they are temporarily
happy because they want you to feel inferior to them and this is a way they can
make you feel like less. Stop obsessing
with what drama is flying around people you’ve never met and probably wouldn’t
like if you did meet; we all have enough going on in our own lives to not have
to worry about the divorce du jour.
How about planning? I posted a tip on Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/tunechiropracticelkriver/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel&eid=ARC42YC-Z3Xk4p9XYXYGIIl61czSoEA7kX0se0sXbET1ZPOAhPJf8VNIgm7OIkGiiRbRWbR6e04LR9hN,
discussing how organizing your to-do list actually decreases stress. Taking five to ten minutes a day to plan out
the next day and a little longer on Sunday to plan out the coming week will
allow you to prioritize and delegate tasks.
Sure, Addison may disclose that a project is due tomorrow that she hasn’t
started… but that isn’t every day and realistically, she should do it herself
anyway (you had your chance at school).
You can do this organization with chores, projects, meal planning,
exercise and extracurricular activities… you can even schedule time with you
partner. The trick is doing it, and then
assigning a grading system to help you determine it’s priority. Maybe “A” is highest priority to do ASAP; “B”
is should be done that day; “C” is can wait a day or two; and “D” is either not
important or delegate.
We are bombarded with stressors
these days and when they occur short-term to help us avoid danger or rise to a
challenge, it’s great. If your daily
life seems like a never-ending stream of stress and you’re drained mentally and
emotionally every day, any or all of the tips provided may be able to go a long
way to helping you get back to center, which if you’ve read some of my other
posts, is key to healing and growing.
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