Healthy Ways to Handle Your Stress

Excessive stress can have devastating effects on our health, and it’s paramount to practice stress management techniques. Discover effective and healthy ways to minimize and cope with your daily stresses with these tips.

Get More Physical Activity

There’s no end to the benefits that a regular exercise regimen provides. From improved heart health to brain stimulation, you’ll find incorporating more physical activity into your daily life can completely transform your health overall. Exercise can help reduce the levels of stress hormones in our body like adrenaline and cortisol that run rampant when we’re dealing with stressful situations. If you don’t have the money for a gym membership, do what you can to stay active throughout the day. When you head for a bathroom break, commit to doing 15 squats and 30 seconds of running in place. This will get your blood pumping and actually help you work better, reducing two different sources of stress in one fell swoop.

Sleep Better, Live Happier

You’ve heard it your entire life, but getting the right amount of sleep is essential to overall health and a lack of sleep contributes directly to higher levels of stress. It can be a vicious cycle; less sleep leads to more stress, and more stress leads to less sleep. To break the cycle, it’s essential that you work on relaxation techniques. Avoid drinking caffeine and alcohol during the evenings as these can both lead to disturbed sleeping patterns. Keep your electronics out of the bedroom as the blue light emitted from these devices can interrupt the circadian rhythm that contributes to deep REM sleep. Use a noise reducer from Marpac to cut down on distracting noises.

Become More Organized

Clutter is simply a physical manifestation of our stress, and tangible chaos leads straight into chaos of the mind. While organization looks different for each individual, putting an emphasis on clearing your space at the end of each day or week can have huge benefits on your mental health. Being more organized will also see you finding bigger pockets of time, and time restraints like work deadlines are often a huge cause of stress. Time management is integral to reducing stress, and if you can organize your daily tasks into to-do lists, you’ll be amazed at the difference you’ll see. Making lists like this will see you wasting less time and learning to prioritize the necessary responsibilities you have throughout the week.

Things to Avoid

A drink at the end of a hectic day might seem like a necessary stress reliever, but alcohol is a depressant and will actually see your stress levels rising in the long run. Instead of reaching for that beer in the fridge, drink a warm and comforting cup of hot tea or even the occasional hot chocolate. Make sure you find caffeine-free options so as not to aggravate your stress. One of the worst ways to cope with stress is smoking. This deadly habit contributes to almost half a million deaths each year in the United States, and there’s never been more reason to quit. If you’re finding it impossible to kick your nicotine addiction, at least consider trying an electronic cigarette alternative like those offered from NJOY.com. They don’t contain tobacco and are supposed to be around 95 percent safer than traditional cigarette options, so they might be a worthy route to consider.

The Power of No

If you have too much on your plate, you need to learn to be okay with saying no. This sounds simple, but it’s often a much more difficult task than you might imagine. First, look at the reasons you can’t seem to say no. For some of us, it’s the fear of being disliked that leads to us adding too much to our plate, while for others, it’s the fear of missing out on an opportunity if we decline to participate. The more you practice saying no to the unnecessary things on your plate, the easier it will get.

Incorporating these tactics and techniques into your life could see you breaking out of the shackles of stress. Improve your health and your relationships by putting more conscious effort into managing your stress levels.