7 Successful
Stress Management Techniques
Everyone needs successful
stress management techniques. Easy to learn and easy to implement,
you can use them for your own stress management or teach them
to help others manage theirs.
Manage your stress and be
a healthier, happier and more pleasant person to be around.
Let’s cut to the chase…
1. Make stress your friend
Acknowledge that stress is
good and make stress your friend! Based on the body’s
natural “fight or flight” response, that burst
of energy will enhance your performance at the right moment.
I’ve yet to see a top sportsman totally relaxed before
a big competition. Use stress wisely to push yourself that
little bit harder when it counts most.
2. Stress is contagious
Stressed people sneeze stress
germs indiscriminately and before you know it, you are infected
with stress germs too!
Protect yourself from stress
germs by recognising stress in others and limiting your contact
with them. Or if you’ve got the inclination, play stress
doctor and teach them how to better manage their stress.
3. Copy good stress managers
When people around are losing
their head, which keeps calm? What are they doing differently?
What is their attitude? What language do they use? Are they
trained and experienced?
Figure it out from afar or
sit them down for a chat. Learn from the best stress managers
and copy what they do.
4. Use heavy breathing.
You can trick your body into
relaxing by using heavy breathing. Breathe in slowly for a
count of 7 then breathe out for a count of 11. Repeat the
7-11 breathing until your heart rate slows down, your sweaty
palms dry off and things start to feel more normal.
5. Stop stress thought trains
It is possible to tangle yourself
up in a stress knot all by yourself. “If this happens,
then that might happen and then we’re all up the creek!”
Most of these things never happen, so why waste all that energy
worrying needlessly?
Give stress thought-trains
the red light and stop them in their tracks. Okay so it might
go wrong – how likely is that, and what can you do to
prevent it?
6. Know your stress hot spots
and trigger points
Presentations, interviews,
meetings, giving difficult feedback, tight deadlines…….
My heart rate is cranking up just writing these down!
Make your own list of stress
trigger points or hot spots. Be specific. Is it only presentations
to a certain audience that get you worked up? Does one project
cause more stress than another? Did you drink too much coffee?
Knowing what causes you stress
is powerful information, as you can take action to make it
less stressful. Do you need to learn some new skills? Do you
need extra resources? Do you need to switch to de-caffeinated
coffee?
7. Eat, drink, sleep and be
merry!
Lack of sleep, poor diet and
no exercise wreaks havoc on our body and mind. Kind of obvious,
but worth mentioning as it’s often ignored as a stress
management technique. Listen to your mother and don’t
burn the candle at both ends!
And those are the 7 successful
stress management techniques! Take time to learn them, use
them and teach them, and be a great stress manager.
| Authors Details: Lyndsay Swinton Website |
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