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Stress Less With These 4 Stress Management Techniques

Writer's picture: ElianaEliana


Stress is something we all deal with – be it stress from work, family, relationships, and day-to-day errands. In moderate amounts, stress can keep us motivated and excited about things we are doing in life. However, when life feels like a juggling act with an endless to-do list, stress can become unbearable.


While it is now common to hear suggestions like practising meditation, yoga, eating healthy foods, and journaling as ways to cope with stress, nothing can replace getting to the root of the problem. That is, we need to do something about the source of stress! After all, what is the use of trying to fit in weekly yoga lessons when your plate is already full with working overtime, and taking care of the kids?


Below, we share 4 approaches for dealing with stressors in life, as seen on a Mayo Clinic article.


1. Avoid

This approach is simple. Remove yourself from a stressful situation, or take steps to avoid being in similar stressful situations in future.


For example, if you find being in crowded places stressful, you can avoid large events and going to shopping malls during peak hours. If you find it stressful to interact with certain people (or groups of people), learn to reject them when it is appropriate and take measures to keep a distance from them. Saying ‘no’ is a powerful tool you can use to avoid over-committing and adding to your source of stress.


2. Alter

For situations you can’t avoid, try making changes to make it feel less stressful for you. In certain circumstances, you may also be able to request others to accommodate and reduce the stress they are causing to you.


For example, if you find flying on an aeroplane stressful – but you need to do so for an important trip – prepare a calming kit to help you manage your nerves. If you are squeezed with tight deadlines, discuss this with your boss to work out some changes to manage your workload (e.g. extended deadline, more manpower, or reduce the scope of work).


3. Accept

Unfortunately, we don’t always have control over what causes us stress. In those cases, we may not be able to change the situation, but we can change how we react.


Trying to change things that are unchangeable will only lead to more frustration. Take, for example, a sudden thunderstorm that has caused you to run late for work. You can’t stop the storm or clear the traffic! It’s absolutely normal to panic but you can take some load off yourself knowing that stressing won’t do anything to improve the situation.


Incidents that happened in the past can also be a source of stress that we cannot change. In such cases, conversations with a mental health counsellor in Singapore, self-reflection, or speaking to a trusted friend can help us see different perspectives and find peace regarding that particular stressful incident.


4. Adapt

Let’s be honest. Some stresses are caused by our own expectations and sense of perfection. We want to be the very best, we want to be the top performer at work, we want to provide the best meals and best education for our children. But these often lead us to do more, push ourselves harder, and sometimes – to the breaking point.


Instead, we can change these expectations and adapt our mindset to prioritise our mental health. It’s admirable to want to get every detail perfect on that work project – but will it really matter in the grand scheme of things? It’s great that you want to cook healthy meals for your family daily – but you could also choose more efficient methods (e.g. meal prep or catered meal kits) while still keeping it healthy.


Conclusion

While it is not possible to eliminate stress from our lives, we can avoid the detrimental impacts of 'bad stress' by learning to manage our stress levels and the way we deal with stressors – as outlined in the 4As above. It is also important to recognise the signs of burnout and act before it is too late!


As with any new habit, learning to deal with stress takes practice and intentionality. If life’s big stresses are making you feel overwhelmed, you may also benefit from visiting a counselling centre in Singapore and shining light on new perspectives in your life. Whichever method for stress-busting you wish to begin with, let’s take a deep breath and start today!

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