With longer working hours, tighter deadlines and higher targets stress has become more common place in all our lives today.
Stress in itself is good and bad in the right amounts. Too much physical stress from sunlight will get burn you. However, just enough and your mood and Vitamin D production will be lifted. It is the same with exercise. Get enough and get fitter and stronger. Too much, however, and you will be full of nagging ailments and illness.
Stress in itself is hard enough to quantify. How can we measure it? How do we know that we are under a lot of stress and ready to break? They are tough and individual questions.
This is easier said than done. Like any plan the desire to reduce your stress, get fit and lose weight comes from a burning desire to change what you consider to be your norm. Your goals must be then coupled with suitable behaviours.
An example of this would be someone who wanted to reduce stress in their lives and be confrontational with their kids. However, their behaviours work against this. They are out late, do not get much sleep, eat poor foods and never exercise.
A better example would be to identify 5 behaviours that will reduce stress. Outlined below are 5 behaviours that if you attempted to focus on one a week over the course of 5 weeks you will have become more organised, be able to prioritise effectively, know how to relax, exercise regularly and be able to zip through your to-do lists.
What a result!
Here are 5 stress busting tips to help you cope and relieve stressful situations.
1. GET ORGANISED
You got up late and now have five minutes to leave the house. Being organised will cut morning stress in half. Get into the habit of preparing for the morning the night before. Whilst you are cooking your meal at night, put on extra meat and or prepare a large salad to take to work with you. Even better would be to pre-chop your veggies on a Sunday. Spend 15 minutes chopping your veggies and putting them in zip-lock bags. A small effort for a really effective time-saver.
2. BE REALISTIC
Much of stress is self-induced from setting ridiculously tight deadlines or by procrastinating. Take one thing at a time. Learn to prioritise urgent tasks and allow yourself enough time to complete.
3. LEARN HOW TO RELAX
Practise deep- breathing techniques such as slowly inhaling while counting to five; Stretch the muscles of your neck and shoulders by keeping your shoulders level and trying to touch each shoulder with your ear. Look right up at the ceiling, down at the floor and then rotate each shoulder in a wide circle. In addition, take time out. For five minutes every hour, try to ‘shut down’ and think of nothing but your perfect situation. You will be surprised at how effectively this can lower stress levels.
4. EXERCISE REGULARLY
You do not have to be a gym freak to get the stress- beating benefits of exercise. Even 20 minutes of brisk walking, swimming or cycling in the open air three times a week will help to reduce stress as well as promoting restful sleep.
It is amazing what a lift this can bring you with small chunks of exercise scattered through the day.
5. BREAK IT DOWN
When faced with mammoth tasks, avoid stress by breaking them down into smaller chunks. Make ‘To Do’ lists and tick off your accomplishments. Making a list the night before allows our subconscious to go about attempting to solve these tasks whilst you sleep!
Much of the stress in our lives can be controlled, changed and eliminated. With proper planning, support and coping mechanisms we can create a relatively stress free environment for ourselves.
It is essential that in addressing the new you that fitness and health are in close relationship. Getting fit without addressing your health and stress levels will gear you to failure.
By combining the two and making a conscious effort to match your behaviours with your goals and you will be the individual who is rewarded with the results.
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