You may ordinarily have a firm grip on your overall wellbeing, including managing stress, but these are not ordinary times.
While many of us have kept the physical health implications of the coronavirus pandemic in our minds, it’s also important to think about the impact that it may have on your mental health. Instances of stress and anxiety have been on the rise in recent months, and it’s not hard to see why. The pandemic has upended everything that we know and understand about the world, and that can be pretty taxing, mentally. In this blog, we’re going to take a look at a few stress management tips that will help you.
Recognising Stress
One of the best ways to reduce your stress levels is to simply recognise the signs. One of the issues with stress is that by the time a person takes action to improve their mental wellbeing, they can often be suffering from stress in a severe way. By noticing the signs at an early stage, you can push things in the right direction. Not sleeping as well as usual, a decreased appetite (or other changes), depression, and headaches could all be signs that you’re suffering from stress.
Coping Techniques
There are some excellent coping techniques that you can incorporate into your daily life. Studies have shown that meditation is a highly effective way to reduce feelings of stress. Exercise can also help to release anxious energy, as can talking things through with friends and family. If you’ve had a stressful day, then one of the best things you can do is turn off your notifications, light a candle, get comfortable, and watch some feel-good videos or television shows, or even take bath, or read. You’ll find that you feel much better in no time.
Reaching Out
Of course, while there are things you can do on your own time, very often you won’t be on your own time — you’ll be on your employer’s. If you’re beginning to feel the strain, then reach out and talk to your boss. They’ll often work with you to make things easier.
Physical Health
You’ll feel much better about managing the coronavirus pandemic if you’re in good health. Cut out your bad habits, and look at engaging in a little bit of exercise. It won’t just put you in better health — it will reduce stress, and boost your mood too since exercise releases positive endorphins into your brain.
Figure Out What Works For You
There’s no golden rule when it comes to reducing symptoms of stress. While the techniques above are very successful, you’ll need to test them out to find out what works for you. As well as figuring out what might help to calm you down, it can be useful to figure out what’s triggering the uptick in stress in the first place. Everyone has different pressure points. If you can identify the cause, you can take steps to eliminate them from your life.
