Decrease Your Stress in 2018

Our lifestyles today are packed with personal and professional deadlines.  We can find ourselves overwhelmed with the “To Do” lists and racing against the clock to get the last project completed.  Ruminating over these deadlines or obsessing about what needs to be completed can often lead to anxiety and depression symptoms. This year make the goal to find time for yourself and the things that you enjoy doing.

Schedule time for yourself

Taking care of yourself is essential to taking care of your family.  If you are that Type A personality that is prone to worry about getting things done, you might want to try the following coping tools to stop the ruminating thoughts that anxiety and depression can create.

1. Put on the music and dance, watch a comedy, call a friend, or clean the kitchen.  Do a task that takes about 10 minutes.  That is the minimum of time needed to break the cycle of negative thinking.
2. Allow yourself 5 minutes to ponder the list you must tackle and then move on with your plan of action.
3. Meditate for a minute by taking that cleansing breath, closing your eyes and just focus on your breathing with a slow count to three. Breath in clean oxygen through the nose and exhale carbon dioxide out through your mouth brings the best results to calm your nervous system.
4. Ask yourself what is the worst thing that can happen in this situation.  Accept that and then move forward to overcome those obstacles.
5. Use your support system to brainstorm ideas when you feel stuck or do an activity together to relax and take a break for a while.
6. Accept that you are human and will make mistakes.  Sometimes we are kinder to strangers than we are to ourselves.

Daily self-care

Practicing these ideas to reduce your daily stress and anxiety can be very helpful in remaining emotionally balanced.  Create a lifestyle for yourself and your family that prioritizes self-care with exercise, appropriate nutrition, and 8 hours of sleep.  Always seek professional advice if your stress affects the quality of life you desire.