Do you feel frazzled? Overwhelmed at times or simply just stressed out? Do you have trouble sleeping? Are your relationships tense? Life can definitely be a challenge and depending on the day or unique circumstances we’re in, our stress can be overly high. We can all benefit from learning to implement stress management tips in our day to day.

How do you usually manage stress? For some of us we tend to take on the problems of others which can cause our stress levels to be high. For empaths- we may focus on ensuring that the needs of others are met while neglecting our own needs. Even for nonempaths, simply serving in the role of mom, wife, or caretaker for some of us can cause us to feel stressed out due to demands we must ensure are met daily.

If you would like to improve how you manage stress, there is hope! This month we focus on stress management tips through changing our mindset and through tangible steps to lighten our load.

Mindset Tip: Flexible Thinking

Sometimes changing our mindset can be the best thing we can do. If we are a rigid thinker that excessively follows rules, developing a flexible mindset might be the key to limiting our stress level. Having standards are important, but if they drive us crazy in the process are they worth it? Trying to meet very high standards may mean we don’t attain our goals and feel overstressed and burnt out.

I imagine for those of you reading this blog that your desire is not to be stressed out. You desire to have peace and an easy-going lifestyle. That definitely is possible as you aim to adjust the bar -moving from perfect to at times acceptable and “satisficient”. Meaning you have chosen to work towards a bar that is attainable and reasonable. Aiming for a satisficient level means that you work towards an achievable level for your benefit rather focus on an unreachable standard. Perfectionists you can minimize your stress and strain by developing a flexible mindset of being satisficient.

Tangible Tips to Manage Stress

• Say No When Needed
  
  As the holidays approach our stress will undoubtedly increase. We will have more demands and limited time to accomplish things. If you’re like me, you’re looking forward to relaxing– though the holidays are not for relaxing :-). We might need to say no to things that we just literally don’t have time to do- for our sanity and for others.
  
  In our relationships with others we may need to be honest. Saying no can be hard, but it helps us to establish a boundary about what we can and can’t do. We may have to deal with conflict that arises (including from saying no), address it, and move on as best as we can.

• Ask for help when needed

With a little fine-tuning we can improve our communication skills with our family, friends, and even coworkers. As our demands rise, there is less and less time to get things done. While most of us want to have things together, we may need to ask for help from others to complete our tasks.

Asking for help (from people who have the time and ability to help) can be a game changer. It can lower our to-do tasks (assuming we accept that others may do things differently than we do and that’s okay ?). Letting go of the pressure to be the one who has to get “all” of the job done can free us up from unnecessary stress. As mentioned above, part of the issue is changing our mindset. Changing your perspective to be more flexible rather than rigid as you move forward especially during the months of November and December may become your saving grace.

You Can Do It

Managing stress is possible, but we have to do the hard work of changing some of our mindset and by making some changes to our behavior.

Let us know your thoughts on these stress management tips. Which of these tips will you implement? What gets in the way of you following through on taking care of your wellness? For more stress management tips, be sure to follow us across our different social media platforms and share our tips with those you know.