Top Ways to Manage Stress & Lead a Healthier Most Positive Life

We all have stresses in our lives…but if those stresses are positive and stimulating, we are productive, interesting and ultimately satisfied.   It is also important to recognize that stress that can be overwhelming but if you adopt the appropriate strategies you will be able to cope and conquer stress.

Here are a few more tips to manage stress.

This is part 2, the blog post Start the New Year Off Right, provides more insightful tips.

Change your behaviour

Get organized—poor organization is one of the most common causes of stress. Prioritize your objectives and your duties and activities to make them more manageable and achievable.  Good organization will help to avoid personal and professional chaos and protect against “out of the blue” problems.

Vent–A problem shared is a problem halved. Develop a support network through friends or colleagues to talk with. It’s not always events that are stressful but how we perceive them. Often friends add new perspectives that could lessen your stress.

Use humor—cliche as it might seem, laughter is the best medicine. It is a good stress reducer at home and at work and it relieves muscular tension, improves breathing, pumps those good endorphins into the bloodstream.

Take time out—Get away from things that bother you and give yourself time to reduce your stress level and calm down to think logically.

Be assertive

Assertiveness helps to manage stressful situations, and will, in time, help to reduce their frequency.  Lack of assertiveness often shows low self – esteem and low self – confidence.

Time Management  

Make a list.  What MUST be done vs. What SHOULD be done vs. What would you LIKE to do? Cut out time-wasting and unimportant activities. Learn to drop unimportant activities

By Dr. Vivien Brown