Life involves constant change . This change may include a routine, such as commuting from home to work, or experiences such as marriage, di...
Life involves constant change. This change may include a routine, such as commuting from home to work, or experiences such as marriage, divorce, or the death of a loved one.
You have to adapt to all these in life. It is not possible to stay away from stress while repeating routines and experiencing tiring or shocking experiences.
In times like these, stress management offers psychotherapy methods that will help you cope better with difficulties.
What is stress management? What are the stress management strategies? Everything you wonder about is on Terappin Blog!
What is Stress?
Stress or tension can be defined as the body's automatic response to various internal and external stimuli. Occasional stressors are harmless to your health. In fact, stressors can motivate you towards important goals, they can be a force for right work, or they can be a motivator in a bad situation. Moderate tension and anxiety allow the body and mind to react more quickly. However, when this factor becomes chronic, it can cause significant mental strain and long-term health problems.
To learn more, read What is Stress? You can take a look at our article titled.
What is Stress Management?
According to the Berkeley Well-Being Institute's definition, stress management is viewed as tools, strategies or techniques that reduce tension and minimize its negative effects on your mental or physical health. Various psychotherapy methods and supportive techniques can be used for stress management. These include mental, emotional and behavioral strategies. These methods and techniques offer a variety of ways to manage anxiety and maintain overall well-being.
Stress and Work Life
One of the most difficult areas in applying stress management is business life.
Even if you love what you do, factors such as upcoming deadlines, consecutive meetings, and the weight of the workload can increase the tension and anxiety you feel. This situation paves the way for different health problems, both physical and emotional.
Although it is not possible to completely avoid the tension experienced, you can take effective steps to manage work-related stress.
Tips for Stress Management in Business Life
- Create a Pre-Workout Ritual
When starting or working, you may be confused with different obstacles that may develop beyond your control. For example, getting stuck in traffic, an unexpected accident, long meetings, or even a possible internet problem may occur. All these can reduce the motivation of that day and the efficiency that can be obtained from the study. Therefore, making a priority list of your tasks, planning what you can do in the face of a possible disruption, or thinking about who you can get support from when you encounter a problem that you cannot foresee will help you manage the moment the problem occurs.
- Clarify Your Expectations for the Day
One of the most well-known factors that negatively affect job burnout is not knowing what to do and how to do it. If you don't know exactly what is expected of you, or if the requirements of your responsibilities vary slightly, you may constantly feel nervous while working. It is necessary to define precisely what their duties are for that month, that week or even that day. Clearly reviewing what's expected of you and discussing strategies to meet them will help you work more scheduled and relaxed.
- Stay Away From Conflicts With Your Colleagues
Interpersonal conflict takes a toll on their physical and emotional health. Tension between co-workers reduces work motivation. For this reason, it is necessary to avoid conflict in the workplace as much as possible. You should stay away from unconstructive criticism and sharing your personal views on religion and politics in a way that violates the boundaries of your colleagues. You should be careful not to make jokes about topics that may be sensitive for people.
Whenever possible, try to stay away from people who cannot work well with others. Despite all this, if you do experience a problem at work, make sure you know how to handle it appropriately. Thus, you can provide effective stress management in those moments. If you cannot decide how to manage stress most effectively in such times, Terappin expert psychologists are here to help you!
- Plan Ahead
Planning your time means less rushing in the morning to avoid being late and less rushing to get out at the end of the day. So, make a list of what your tasks are that day. Determine how quickly and effectively you can complete them. Organizing your day well and avoiding the negative effects of clutter will help you be more productive at work.
- Choose to Progress Your Tasks Step by Step
Being able to handle several tasks at once sounds impressive and can sometimes save time. However, this will increase the anxiety you may feel while working. While trying to complete everything at the same time, tasks that you cannot complete or tasks that you do incorrectly will make you feel inadequate. At such times, it will be difficult for you to cope with the tension.
You can do a more qualified job when you proceed step by step and carefully. Moreover, since you focus your energy on one task at a time, you will not feel bored or burnout.
The Relationship Between Anxiety and Stress
Stress and anxiety are a natural part of the fight-or-flight response and the body's response to danger. The purpose of these responses is to ensure that a person is alert, focused, and ready to deal with a threat.
Occasional anxiety is a normal part of life. But when it becomes concentrated or all-consuming, then this can become a problem. For some, the anxiety goes beyond a temporary worry or fear; becomes an emotional burden that affects every aspect of their lives. Stress is a natural part of life, but like anxiety, it can sometimes complicate daily life. It can lead to headaches, high blood pressure and further health problems such as chest pain, heart palpitations, skin rashes and sleep loss.
How are they related to each other?
Both are emotional responses, but stress is typically caused by an external trigger. The trigger can be a task with a looming deadline, a short-term situation such as a fight with a loved one, or a long-term problem such as inability to work, discrimination, or chronic illness. Nervous people experience mental and physical symptoms such as irritability, anger, fatigue, muscle pain, digestive problems and difficulty sleeping.
Anxiety is defined as persistent, excessive worries that do not go away even if there is no stressor. Anxiety causes almost the same symptoms as stress: insomnia, difficulty concentrating, fatigue, muscle tension and irritability. While stress is generally felt as a result of the body's reaction to a threat, anxiety is a negative emotion that develops accordingly. So, basically, the tension we experience is the trigger of anxiety. The more anxious we are, the more nervous we feel. Therefore, although there are differences between them, they are emotional states that trigger each other.
Why is Stress Management Important?
Stress can be acute (e.g., a moment of psychological or mental shock, or as a response to a traumatic event) or chronic (e.g., working long hours, intensely, for years). It can be caused by work, finances, relationships, but it can also be caused by diseases or inflammation. All of these lead to serious mental, emotional and physical problems over time and in the long run. In addition, it causes diseases such as depression, anxiety, insomnia, high blood pressure, obesity and Alzheimer's. In severe cases, it paves the way for self-harm and suicidal tendencies. Therefore, it is extremely important to learn how to manage stress in the best way possible.
How to Manage Stress?
Although stress management is difficult, there are a few effective steps that can make it easier:
Stress Management Activities
- Sleep
Sleep duration and quality need to be increased. You need to block your exposure to blue light (from TVs, phones, and computers) for at least 30 minutes before bed.
- Diet
When you are nervous, cortisol levels increase in your body. Cortisol is the hormone produced in the reception area of ​​the adrenal gland and regulates the body's response to emotional and physical tension. As a result, blood sugar rises and the need to consume carbohydrate and fatty foods increases. Therefore, you should follow a diet that will help adequately nourish all the body's systems.
- To exercise
Exercise is an effective form of stress management. Low-intensity exercises like walking, swimming or yoga help balance your body's energy and clear your mind.
Stress Management Skills
- Meditation
When you are nervous and anxious, the muscles in the nervous system begin to contract. This causes the normal functions of the body to be disrupted because the body puts itself into self-defense mode. It includes meditation, rest and relaxation movements, so that brain functions start to work more regularly and the level of happiness increases.
- Change your approach
The anxiety and tension felt cause you to see the situation as a challenge or a threat that we fear. That's why you're always on the alert and fighting. If you don't see a situation as a challenge or a threat, the level of tension you feel will decrease.
Non-Proactive Stress Management Method
The word proactive means taking action to achieve a good outcome or avoid a problem, rather than waiting until a problem occurs. The non-proactive approach is called the reactive approach.
- Being proactive – Proactive approaches involve adjusting your mindset or behavior before a stressful situation occurs.
- Being reactive – Reactive approaches mean changing your mindset or behavior after the initial stress has passed.
So, non-proactive strategies are strategies you can use in times of stress that help you clear your mind to deal with the problems caused by tension:
- Take deep breaths: You can deal with anxiety by taking slow and deep breaths. Hold your breath for a few seconds and exhale in a controlled way. Repeat several times until you feel comfortable.
- Listen to your favorite music to ease your workload
- Take a few rest breaks if necessary
- Celebrate every little step that makes things easier
- Remind yourself that this situation won't last long and that the restlessness is temporary.
Stress Fighting Techniques
Changing the way you think is just one of the ways to manage stress. You can also practice coping techniques that leverage the body-mind connection. Here are some science-based stress management techniques you can try:
- Progressive muscle relaxation
Progressive muscle relaxation means tensing certain muscle groups as you inhale and quickly releasing the tension as you exhale. Generally, it is appropriate to apply it for 5 or 7 seconds.
Be sure to work your way through one set of muscles at a time: Start with the hands, then the arms, then the biceps, then the shoulders. Its application is quite simple. For example, open your mouth as wide as possible and tense all your jaw muscles. Hold for 5 seconds and then relax. And then take a deep breath, hold it, let it out slowly.
- breathing exercises
An effective way to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which is the resting and digestive system, is to take a deep breath. For example, slow breathing (2-4 breaths per minute), followed by fast breathing (30 breaths per minute), followed by three long breaths and finishing with the chant "Om" can reduce anxiety. Whenever you feel tension and tightness, a correct breathing will be the most effective form of stress management.
- Contact with cold water
Another way of activating the parasympathetic nervous system is to put your body in contact with cold water. Therefore, if you are feeling nervous, you can take a cold shower to reduce it.
- reduce sugar
Sugar increases inflammation and can exacerbate tension and anxiety in the long run. Therefore, you should take care to consume healthy foods.
- positive social interactions
One of the absolute best ways to manage stress is to have positive social bonds with others. The higher your positive energy and happiness, the less likely you are to become pessimistic. You are more optimistic and solution-oriented.
- keep a diary
Writing down their thoughts and feelings can be a good relaxation technique for otherwise repressed emotions. Don't think about what to write, just let your thoughts go down on paper. Write whatever comes to mind. Nobody needs to read it, so don't strive for grammar or spelling perfection either. Let your thoughts flow on the paper or computer screen. When you're done, you can throw away what you wrote or save it to come back later and see for yourself and what feelings are temporary for you.
- Take Care of Yourself
Taking time for yourself is one of the most effective stress management methods. A precious moment spent alone will renew your self-confidence, help you achieve inner peace, and thus allow you to be more calm and in control.
You can do this with a few simple steps:
- go for a walk
- take a warm shower
- Reading books
- To exercise
- eating healthy
- Relaxing the body with stretching movements before sleeping and after waking up
- getting a massage
- Practicing meditation and yoga accompanied by calming and clean scents
Self-care doesn't have to be elaborate or complicated. This can be any activity that will increase your well-being and happiness. Using scents to elevate mood is called aromatherapy. Aromatherapy can reduce anxiety and improve sleep. In particular, candles or essential oils can have a calming effect.
Here are a few comforting scents:
- Lavender
- Rose
- Give it away
- Bergamot
- Roman chamomile
- neroli
- Incense
- Sandalwood
- ylang ylang
- Orange or orange blossom
- Sardinia
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How to deal with extreme stress?
While providing stress management, you should aim for the solution to be permanent. However, things don't always go the way you want them to. At such times, first of all, you need to provide breath control.
When you feel the pressure, you should breathe deeply. If possible, you should move from your current environment to a spacious area. It will be good to drink a glass of water, walk a little, and do some muscle relaxation exercises.
2. What are the stress management activities?
The most basic stress management activities are: Sleep, diet and exercise. When regular sleep, healthy nutrition and regular exercise become a habit in your daily life, the negativities you feel in tense and anxious moments will decrease.
3. What does psychological stress mean?
The first psychological symptom that occurs during this period is anxiety and feeling of restlessness. In addition, the following symptoms are the strongest signs of the psychological condition:
- Difficulty focusing, concentration problems
- Problems such as forgetfulness and absent-mindedness
- Irritable mood, feeling of lack of control
- Feeling sad, angry, under pressure
4. Why does a person get stressed?
This depends on many different factors for everyone, but common reasons include:
- death of a loved one
- Divorce
- job loss
- Increase in financial liabilities
- to marry
- moving to a new house
- Chronic illness or injury
- Emotional problems (depression, anxiety, anger, grief, guilt, low self-esteem)
- Caring for an elderly or sick family member
- Traumatic events such as natural disaster, theft, rape, or violence against you or someone you love
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