5 Effective Tips on How to Deal with Stress

Our modern lives are full of stress. Whether it’s negative news or social media on our devices or trying to keep up with workloads and the pressures of personal life. Thankfully, looking after our mental health is not as taboo a subject as it once was and there are plenty of resources available. Read on to find out how to deal with stress with these 5 simple suggestions.

Take a minute to self-reflect

How do you handle stressful situations? Do you notice your heart racing, or you are getting snappy at your colleagues or customers? Maybe you are working up a sweat or grinding your teeth. Everybody has different ways of displaying and dealing with stress, so the best way to calm down is to understand what your symptoms are. Once you can identify them you can find ways to actively manage them before they become a problem.

Have a stress playbook

Stressful situations are a part of life particularly at work. Knowing how to manage stress at work is crucial not just for your health but also for your career. When you are experiencing stress there are a few techniques you can use to calm down:

• Breathe deeply – Focus on each inhale and exhale and slow your heart rate down.
• Take a time out – Remove yourself from the stressor and have a quiet moment to reset.
• Move – Stretching and movement can release some of the pent-up energy causing stress.
• Look around – Focusing on your surroundings can take your mind off what’s stressing you.

Take care of your physical health

Exercise is an excellent way to relieve stress as well as addressing the issues that may contribute to your stress. When we exercise endorphins are released throughout our body which provides immediate and lasting impacts on your mood. Additionally, exercise also improves your ability to sleep, eliminating one of the major causes of stress, fatigue.

You also need to make sure the fuel you are putting into your body is helping not hindering your stress-less plans. Overly processed foods loaded with fats and refined sugars wreak havoc on your concentration and energy levels. So, make sure to swap the mocha for a tea and the buttery biscuits for some fruits and nuts at snack time.

Ask for Help

Your friends and colleagues all deal with stress too. Reaching out for a chat might be the best way to manage stress at work. Their unique point of view of your stressful situation might help you think of a new way how to deal with stress.

If you are a customer with MAX Employment services, you can connect to our team of health professionals from a range of professional backgrounds.

Be positive

A positive mindset isn’t just about seeing the good in every situation. It’s also about taking active control of the parts of your life you are in charge of. Having a routine, planning your workdays, and being prepared for that big presentation at the end of the week, are all positive steps you can take. The less you get bogged down in things you can’t control the less stressed you will be.