In our
everyday life there are dozens of situations, that can stress us.
They can be university exams, public presentations, driving license
tests or overtaking on road. Stress can also build in us in time
being unnoticed by the outside world, tormenting us after breakups or
in any other circumstances, that touch important parts of our lives.
Definitely,
it is worth to take a stop and learn how to deal with it.
Firstly,
when I feel stress, I try to remember, that feeling stress is a sign
from my internal self. Maybe something in my life changed, that I did
not want to? Maybe it's worth to get back something I lost? Or maybe
it is my internal will to achieve something great and feel new
emotions in my life? It is somehow motivating, feeling stress, just
imagine - speeding truck is heading straight in your direction and
you need to run, you feel stress so now you are focused, highly
motivated, aren’t you?
When
applied with caution, stress can save our life. It also makes us
super-humans when we need it. Public presentations require a lot of
focus and stress is nothing wrong there. Our body just tries to bring
us what we need, using stress like a power-up. It’s just a bunch of
hormones, a chemical thing that our organism produces to stay alive,
be better or help you like a friend. We just need to manage it
properly.
As
always, the dose makes the poison and feeling stress is no exception!
When it stays around for months, it can even weaken the immune
system, cause a heart disease. Inability to concentrate or complete
tasks are also signs of wrong stress management. Trouble falling
asleep or staying awake are the same thing! If you feel, that stress
is no longer motivating you but destroying you, I would suggest you
to talk with someone who understands you, because stress is no longer
your friend.
Having
an opportunity to count on someone who loves us, for sure can bring
the stress level down. There are many ways to lower it. They can be
hobbies, communing with nature, meeting friends or people in same
life situation. However sometimes it can be hard and require help of
a speciallist, what is nothing to be ashamed of.
Now use
that feeling and finish your master thesis, good luck!
But
wait, maybe you could tell me how to manage stress? What is your
approach?
In a
scale 0-10 how would you rate stress level in your life?
What do
you do to lower stress level on everyday basis?
[sources: http://www.ulifeline.org/articles/450-good-stress-bad-stress]
[sources: http://www.ulifeline.org/articles/450-good-stress-bad-stress]
Unfortunatelly my stress level is quite high I think. It differs maybe from 6 to 9. In a past I have been meditating, but now I do not have time for it. I try to think positively but I continously feel uptight. I also need a lot of sleep and often despite it I still feel tired. In a past I had a lot of depression but now I somehow overcome it. I try to stay calm as often as I can and to stay away from stressful subjects and situations if it is only possible. So I do not involve into political disputes, I try to not read any news in this matter, because I care about our culture and civilization and what is going on can easily bring me down. I try to enjoy simple and little things during a day, like sun light and wind blow or moving grass or tree leafs. I also listen to lot of favourite music. I try to sleep at least 7 hours a day and have good nutrition habits and make some sport. It helps somehow but I am afraid all the stress is hiding somewhere in me and is gathering and gathering and influence my mood and my health. I whish getting rid of it would be so simple. When I am getting older, more weight gains and crushes me. Maybe it is one of "civilizational ilnesses". I am afraid many people have similar experience to mine. I hope we will find a way to make our world a better place, where stress will be a good thing, not a skewed one.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI totally understand it, but from my point of view it seems that stress is stressing you out. I know that it is hard not to feel stress in todays world - working in IT it is hard not to feel stressed. I think in a lot of cases it is because of money - the more you earn, more stressfull is your job or big mortgage can make your life miserable. That's why it is crutial to realise why you work so much? Does it make you happy? Maybe you earn lots of money but don't have time to enjoy it? Maybe 6-room apartament in a city center is too much to handle? Start eating with a little spoon so you won't choke - is what my mother says to me a lot nowadays and I think that going step by step and not rushing is the most peacefull thing to do.
DeleteMy average stress level is rather low about 4/10, but there are moments, when it raises quickly. Illnesses in my family are the most reason that cause it grows. Other factors I perceive as less stressful. However after violent quarrel my blood pressure also goes up and I have never seen it helpful, but after watching your video maybe I will try to change my perspective. The most important in managing stress in my life is sleep. When I haven’t enough sleep I feel more stressed even if nothing special happened, so that’s the crucial thing.
ReplyDeleteThere is no golden solution to deal with stress especially if loved ones are involved. I totaly agree, that sleep makes it so much easier when it comes to stress. If you sleep well, you are more positive.
DeleteWell it's really easy to say to not get stressed right? Unfortunately I get stressed quite easily but for me it motivates me to do things. I tend to avoid doing things till the very last minute they need to be completed and then just feel the need to complete them. This works for me, not the best approach I know but it works most of the time.
ReplyDeleteTo lower my stress I try to think about the solution and easiest way to get out of it. It also helps to focus your mind on something else like exercise, nice meal or playing something. I find playing drums quite relaxing as you can get the anger out quite literally ;)
Yes it is! But it is a long process - finding a solution, that works for you. Of course when you find it, you stick to it. With acomplishing things I have the same aproach - to leave it till the very last minute, I am a procrastinator. What motivates me, is that I think that I am smart enough to get it done really quickly. So far it have not taken a toll on me :)
DeleteIts hard to measure stress level in number range, but I think I could say mine is around 6-8. I'm trying to manage my stress by looking for solutions of the stressful situations, unless there are none then I'm just trying to focus on something else that will keep my mind occupied.
ReplyDeleteCurrently my best way of lowering my stress is just to spend time with my son. When I'm with him I forget about other problems, and when I'm watching him exploring new things, smiling or playing, it just makes me happy.
I think that the other great thing to do is dividing a problem into steps and going step by step then. From my perspective distractiong myself from stressful situation is making it worse, because in the back of my head I still think about it and it bothers me.
DeleteWhen I've started working and studying stress started appearing in my life. At the beginning I was worried about it and not trying to manage or master it somehow but after about two years I've started taking approaches to manage it and use it as an advantage. On daily basis I can say that stress level from 0 to 10 is about 6 and for me it's healthy level, I don't get bored, I have a lot to do but it helps me to manage my time better and complete all the tasks I've planned for every day. I'm not sure how to lower the stress level, I'm not thinking about it a lot, mostly after completing all things which I've planned for day/week/month/year I feel satisfied and all the stress disappears. Sometimes it's really exhausting but in the end of the day I wouldn't be able to do all the things I've done.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same. It is a real force that gives the power to accomplish a lot of things and it is smart thing to use it in your favour.
DeleteI can't tell much about how I manage stress, because I don't do it, at least consciously. But I can tell that I had many situations when proper level of stress helped me resolve all my problems on time. In a scale 0-10 I think that number 5 most suits my stress level nowadays. When I need to lower my stress level I try to focus on things I like doing like running or reading books. But to be honest, sometimes it doesn't help :)
ReplyDeleteThe dose makes the poison. This old phrase fits like a glove in the context of stress management. But actually, what stress management is really all about? I used to associate it with relaxation techniques, meditation, breathing exercises and so on. Over time I’ve discovered that the clue is fading out your internal voice. This intrusive, pushy, invasive voice that criticizes everything around that convinces you that you can’t make it, that you are too weak or too poor. It originates from the darkest corners of your subconscious mind. The only working solution I’ve discovered so far is touching this voice with the light of awareness. Just being present. No judgement. Being the speechless witness, the silent observer. When I had discovered this fact, the level of stress in my life dramatically dropped and now I can say I feel really calm and stressful situations are fairly rare.
ReplyDeleteI'm not very good at managing stress unfortunately especially in public speaking.
ReplyDeleteI discovered that I handle stress well only if I am convinced about my knoweledge and skills but that is pretty obvious conclusion.
I would say that I'm not very stressed in life. Maybe 3-4 at best. To lover my stress I excersise, spend time enjoying hobbies and get enough sleep everyday.
I believe my stress level is quite low, 3-4/10 but it tends to raise quite high if I'm in the center of attention, travelling by plane or visiting a dentist.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I do anything to manage my stress. I believe thinking about stress is the most stressful and unproductive way to manage it, so I just focus on my task to get out of stressful situation as quick as possible.
I don't do anything special to reduce my stress on everyday basis. I just try to sleep well and lead stressless life.
I do not think I belong to stressed people. Generally, if a stressful event approaches, I just clench my teeth and wait for it to pass. The last situation I recall is a recruitment interview. And stressful part wasn't the conversation, but technical part, where my knowledge was verbally tested. I think if I got a piece of paper with questions, my stress level would be much lower. In my daily life, I would rate the stress level at 2-3. This is due to work when there is a difficult task to accomplish. I try to cut myself off from thinking about a given problem for a while. To achieve this I talk with friends or watch a movie..
ReplyDeleteI can't manage a stress. I went to a psychologist but he couldn't help me. Maybe I should go to another one, maybe this psychologist was not for me. The level of stress in my life is 8/10. Not because my work is very stressful. Yes, it's stressful, but my private life is more stressful recently. And probably this is not the place to describe this type of situation. As in the life of every person, there are moments that are such overwhelming, that we don't deal with them. Then stress occurs and fighting it is like tilting at windmills. Unfortunately, if we don't deal with stress in time, depression may occur to our lives.
ReplyDeleteI use few different things to handle stress fluctuation. Meeting friends or people that understand you and wish to talk about it is certainly a good cure. To manage the stress I also practice reading books or meditating.
ReplyDeleteI would rate my stress level at 7. My life is pretty stressfull recently. There are many different factors flowing down from few sources. I try to overcome this situation with the stress management methods I have previously mentioned. It is important to have a control over the stress level.
I have also found another solution for this matter and it helps a lot to reduce the stress level. Going to the gym is such medicine and I highly encourage you to introduce this approach in your lives.
I agree that stress is a double edged sword. Sometimes it can give you a huge "kick" and help you with important task other time can disturb you to the point when you are not able to handle entrusted stuff. I believe stress is more like a signpost for preparing to whatever things you might struggle with. When I'm prepared I'm usually not stressing out and with clear mind I can made a better job. Of course there are times when unexpected things happen and feeling of anxiety grow up. In situations like that I try to calm myself by chanelling my attention on breathing. By practicing anything can become habit and with this simple trick I can stay calm when my brains work faster on solutions powered by adrenaline. I think my stress level depends on many things generally I try not to freak out because it's only making things worse.
ReplyDeleteI belong to very stressful people.
ReplyDeleteStress makes me unable to learn, do my job, I feel worse at work. It paralyzes me.
The worst is before the school session. Stress then reaches a critical level and makes learning difficult for me.
It's very bothersome and I even used the therapy to learn how to control it. It's better and I hope it will be even better.
How does he cope with stress? I am most often helped by some physical exercise, for example a bicycle, a gym or even a walk.
ReplyDeleteIn this way, it relieves the tension I accumulate during the day. This helps me to maintain my balance every day. Stress levels are quite difficult to measure, but recently they have been at a high level and I can choose 8 of your scale with a clear conscience.
Unfortunately, stress affects me adversely. When it comes to work, I try to arrange all tasks in such a way that everyone has enough time to be able to calmly realize them. Unfortunately, this is not always successful and the pressure of time increases the stress. Once, stress made me nervous and could not do the job. I wasn’t happy about it, that's why I decided to bet it myself as a rival. Deep breathing, calming my thoughts and I was able to concentrate. The pressure of time now affects me motivatively, although I still try to divide time into tasks.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to say, but I think 5. In my life, stress appears only at work and in college. When I have an important project or exam. But that's all because I always try to do my best. I try to keep my work at a high level.
At the moment when stress "comes unexpectedly" I give myself 5-10 minutes. I try to calm down and sort thoughts in my head. It usually helps me, although sometimes there are moments when stress wins with me. Such situations happen very rarely and a close person helps me. I think that stress can be overcome because it’s in our head.
Unfortunately I am not very good at managing stress. Most of the time I am relaxed and calm (3/10 on a stress scale) but sometimes unexpected events can make me lose composure. In such situations I tend to start worrying about trivial issues, overthink simple problems etc. At times like that my stress level rise very high and only time can lower it.
ReplyDeleteI got used to work under very high pressure in my previous company (which operates in banking industry, always with strict timelines) . There were times when I was completely overwhelmed by stress (with my manager pinging me on Skype for Business all the time) and really afraid of falling into depression (it actually happened to a number of people in my company)- I would tell that my stress rate was equal to 8 back then. Partially, it was compensated by the money I got for my overtime work (I was able to have 70 hours in one of the months). Unfortunately, I do not know any ideal way of dealing with stress - however, I discovered that playing with some stuff with my hands may help to alleviate the stress to the certain extent - e.g. those little things: https://www.philippi-sklep.pl/kulki-antystresowe-malo,k006001,a2087.html (I did not manage to find a better reference, so do not treat this as advertising the shop ;)).
ReplyDeleteI think its inevitable not to feel stressed from time to time. Most of those situations are just something that we made up to be able to cope with situations that make us feel uncomfortable. The true purpose of stress was already mentioned, and it simply is ... to survive, we get an extra boost of power in life and death situations, but apparently nowadays we think that having to make a phone call is stressful.
ReplyDeleteFirst think I do when I feel that stress is arising, I'm trying to tell myself there there is nothing to be stressed about, and fortunately its usually works. If that wont help, I will need to release the pressure but doing some physical work or exercises. Other way isn't a very nice approach and it works by simply getting angry on someone that triggered me at that time.
Thanks to those tricks I can say that stress level in my life is relatively low :)
My specific approach... I'm simply focused on the task, not on stressing out about the task.
ReplyDeleteMy stress level fluctuates, but if I had to rate it despite that it would be a 4. I chose such a rate because I used to have much more stress than now.
I try to avoid stressful situations, but if I can not avoid them, I try to be prepared for them as well as I can.
could tell me how to manage stress? What is your approach?
ReplyDeleteIn a scale 0-10 how would you rate stress level in your life?
What do you do to lower stress level on everyday basis?
I have observed that each stressing situation appears (as you mentioned in the article) as a warning message - something in my life is missing. Because if I organise my day or week earlier or I'm prepared on exam, I feel confident, with stress on 3-4 level.
But when I postpone any action till the last moment, then I have to react really fast, with quick decisions and certain steps. Appreciate that organism ability to adapt to new situation, but if it's used too often (because of procrastination), then stress level is frequently on 8-9 level, which makes me mournful and groggy. For me, there are two options - plan your day to mitigate possible stress situation or try to find some appropriate way to reduce your stress (e.g. by meditation)
In my opinion the best way to avoid stress is just to avoid situations that can occur it. In a scale 0-10 my stress level is somewhere about 5. However it gets higher when the session comes. And the best way to fight stress in my humble opinion is to do something what you really enjoy.
ReplyDeleteI’d rate it as 5 out of 10
ReplyDeleteIn my life stress is often cause by working with other people and misunderstanding of each other. For me learning how to be assertive helped me to get rid of it. The most important thing is to solve a problem instead of trying to forget about it. Many people says that physical activities are best way for reducing stress. And I have to agree with them. It’s not only caused by hormones but staying fit gives you huge satisfaction. I’ve started to do martial arts and I really enjoy it.
Stress-thing is really worth education about. I used to get really stressed in situations that most of the people are totally fine and most important thing is to find out what makes you feel that way. I know it sounds quite cheap and easy but in the reality it's not. Stress is trying to take control of our behavior mostly in the situations when we're doing something against ourselves. Still - it sounds obvious but when you try to reach deeper why you're struggling with such feeling you might find some interesting facts about yourself. The more you think about what you really want from life is the point where you're gonna suffer less from stress. It's important to imagine if something is worth our care or not. Then think what your benefits from that feeling might be? Last time I've got really important appointment and I think - screw that, I'm good and I'll prove it. What happened is that this whole stress-thing changed into totally focused mind state that let me developed at my best. And at the end most important thing is to try not to be stressed of the things that you don't have an impact on!
ReplyDeleteMy approach to manage stress is to work-out. It is only way for me to get rid of it. On daily basis it is only way that works for me. There is also better way for me but it requires at least few days of free time - going for trip to Tatry Mountains. It is the best way to chill out and reset my mind.
ReplyDeleteCurrently it is quite high 7-8 but I believe that after finishing masters theisis and finnishing renovation in my flat it will have more healthy 4-5 stress level. Regarding to stress in cases of 9-10 I recommend cigarettes, but it is not good approach in case you really care for your health.
I think stress is connected with difficulties,
ReplyDeleteand without them life would be too easy. If we didn't
have any hardship to overcome in life, we wouldn't
learn anything and get the satisfaction of overcoming
hard tasks.
Stress is a part of life, and we have to accept
that. The amount of it increases, the older we get.
Ironically the stress from our younger ages seems
pretty laughable in comparison with for example
our jobs, where the amount of stress can be overwhelming
and causing physical trauma.
I think the more experienced we get, the more
used to stress we get. We only need to stay focused
and repeat to ourselves, that we know how to handle
the given situation, everything will be all right.
But wait, maybe you could tell me how to manage stress? What is your approach?
ReplyDeleteIn a scale 0-10 how would you rate stress level in your life?
What do you do to lower stress level on everyday basis?
I try to focus on what's now. I try to not to think about the future or what's more important past. So when I'm really stressed I just try to do things slowly, I'm trying to focus on the task, not consequences. And it's really helping. But I have to say I'm a nervous person, so I think it's harder for me to stay calm. Also stress motivates me to finish the tasks faster, but are they quality better? Can't say.
My stress for now is about 9-10, I have so much to do right now, finish my thesis, and keep up with the studies and work. I feel it's just too much tasks for me to focus on. But I try to do everything on daily basis, which is helpful, but sometimes I forget f.e. about English online course assignments :D
From an early age I had difficulties in social relations. It was very difficult for me to ask a stranger about something, and when I thought about public speaking, I poured myself a cold sweat (I did it only in drowsy nightmares). Fortunately, my social skills have increased over the years, and now I often have to manage the stress of others (I manage a small team). Looking at the stressful situation from the outside, from a different perspective, allows you to control unnecessary emotions and choose the right solution. I am very stressed when I can not do something. On the one hand, it motivates me to acquire new skills, on the other I often do not undertake new challenges, judging them as too difficult. I think that stress can be addictive - hence crazy ideas appear during holiday rest.
ReplyDeleteYou could tell me how to manage stress? What is your approach?
ReplyDeleteIn a scale 0-10 how would you rate stress level in your life?
What do you do to lower stress level on everyday basis?
I am currently learning how to meditate, it's a really helpful skill to control the train of thoughts in our minds. Besides that, I don't really manage stress well. I am very stressed most of my working days. That's why I am trying new things (like meditation) to help myself with managing stress. I would rate my stress level around 8/10. I am pretty stressed most of the time :)
Besides meditation I am also trying to manage my time better, I think good time management has a chance to lower my stress levels by a huge percent. Also working out every day has a great impact on stress. It's a common knowlege: sport reduces stress.
I just don't think abut stress and it just don't stick to me. I'm focused on what I want to achieve and prepare to it. This is the best way to avoid stress. My stress level is about 3 or 4 nowadays, because I'm changing my job, normally is about 2.
ReplyDeleteMy point of view tells me that stress doesn't suit me well, so I try to convince myself not to get it. Just don't :) but like everyone with who has head on shoulders I try to avoid stressful situations.