Three Ways to Lower Your Stress – Even if You Can’t Change Your Life

It’s a good thing I have these three simple steps to help you lower your stress without having to change your life.People everywhere often misconceive the idea that you need to undergo a life-changing process to get rid of all the stress in their lives. Avoiding stress is never the answer. You can run away from doing household chores by paying for someone to do it for you, but you can’t run away from your job, raising kids, or paying the bills. 

         

Step 1: You should really stop multi-tasking.

Most of us often think that the more things we do at the same time, the faster we can get done. However, if you keep doing this, your body builds up stress which eventually brings you down to rock bottom. Isolate your activities by setting plans and goals. You can do this best buy making a To Do List. At the start of the day, write down the things you want to do in order. Set a personal rule of not jumping ahead to the next task when you’re not done. And after you complete an errand, crush it out of the list. It often feels relieving and motivating to do that, which makes it easier to move on to the next task at hand. This is one good way to lower your stress.

Step 2: When things get overwhelming, stop and take a pause.

There are times that stress and frustration build up when we’re on a hurry to have something done or happen. Like working in front of your pc and typing as fast as you can, waiting in line at the bank, or getting stuck in traffic. Tension builds up within you that feels like your chest is getting tighter and and your head is about to blow.

The best thing to do is take a pause. STOP. Cut that busy and rushing train of thought and focus on your body. To help you out, practice the 4x4 or square breathing. What you do is take a breath for 4 seconds, hold it in for 4 seconds, exhale for 4 seconds, pause for 4 seconds, then do the whole cycle again. This is what therapists call a “conscious breathing”, where you divert your attention to your breathing and helps you forget the tension building up.

Step 3: Go out and enjoy the scenery.

A research done at the University of Essex found that spending 5 minutes outdoors, especially near a body of water (beach, river, pond or fountain), can raise self-esteem and improve your mood. Why not try to take a break during your busy day to go take a walk along the park or coastline?

These are very simple steps anyone can do. Try to incorporate these in your daily life when you feel life is crushing down on you. There are more ways to lower your stress but these three have been found to be most effective!