Stressful situations are all around us. From hectic mornings and deadlines at work to fights with a spouse and minor traffic accidents, life has a way of throwing us curveballs a lot of the time. It goes without saying that 2020 has been a year filled with extreme levels of stress, anxiety, anger, and frustration. With less than three months of the year to go, I have been thinking about what we can do to decrease our stress and anxiety as we approach 2021. There are numerous approaches to stress management, but below are four actions that I believe are vital to counteracting stress, increasing productivity, and cultivating happiness in our lives.
Be mindful about your consumption. This is consumption of news, social media, food, alcohol, movies, books, podcasts, and anything else that we in some way consume. We have inputs coming at us all the time, some of which are good and others which are not so good. In order to maintain a positive outlook, it is vital that we routinely take time to unplug from these. We do not need 24/7 news updates or to be mindlessly scrolling social media multiple hours of the day or watching excessive television. Obviously, we want to stay informed and unwind, but there are strategic ways of doing this that do not perpetuate negativity, worry, and mindlessness. Being selective about what we allow into our lives is so important. In periods of high stress, it is also important that we remain mindful about what we’re eating and drinking on a regular basis. If fast food or other processed foods are starting to edge out fruits, veggies, and whole foods in your weekly diet, make some time to meal plan one day each week. Keep it simple and fun and enlist the help of your spouse, kids, or friends for some added support. If five friends come up with four recipes each and exchange those, that’s almost a month’s worth of meals right there. Similarly, if you are turning to alcohol to unwind at the end of the day or drinking a little too much as the night wears on, swap out your drink for something a little healthier or even half the amount of alcohol in your drink. For all of the things we regularly consume, maintaining a healthy and sustainable balance is key.
Take care of your body with small, consistent actions. We often don’t give enough credit to small actions, but they can be life changing. An easy example is our diets. If you add two servings of vegetables to your daily diet, e.g. spinach in a smoothie and a dinner salad OR baby carrots with lunch and arugula on a sandwich OR roasted Brussels sprouts and homemade coleslaw, you will be eating FOURTEEN servings of vegetables a week. If you did this every week for a year, that’s 728 servings of vegetables. These numbers get even more impressive as you increase the number of daily servings of vegetables. The same principle applies to exercise. What if you commit to walking a mile a day? Depending on how physically active you are, this might take you an average of ten to twenty minutes. In a week, you’ll have walked seven miles, and in a month, THIRTY miles. If you are even more pressed for time, what if you did a five-minute workout first thing in morning? Three sets of squats, push-ups, planks, standing lunges with 30 seconds of stretching between sets. Boom, done. All effort, when done consistently, makes a difference. Even a ten percent effort makes a difference. The key is to JUST DO SOMETHING. It doesn’t have to be perfect, and it doesn’t have to take an hour. Every small action moves the needle.
Be disciplined with your thoughts. During times of stress, it is vitally important that we manage our minds. Worry and anxiety comprise those “what-if” scenarios like negative future tripping or catastrophizing. Some examples: what if my child gets sick or is a close contact, what if I lose my job, what if I get sick, what if there’s not enough money, what if I don’t make the deadline, what if I’m not good enough, the list goes on and on and on. I am generalizing, but in most cases in the moment, EVERYTHING IS OKAY. (Please note, I am not referring to life or death situations, tragic accidents, or a terrible diagnosis here.) Most of the time in these moments, everything is OKAY. What we need to do is pull ourselves back into present time. Notice what’s around you. What colors do you see, what sounds can you hear, what can you smell? How does your body feel? Where are you feeling that worry and anxiety? Is it in your chest, your gut, is your heart racing? The key is to notice and acknowledge what’s going on. Without judgement. Worry is normal. Anxiety is normal. Are they enjoyable emotions? No. But with practice, we can teach ourselves how to feel them, how to move through them, and how to let them go. The key is not to push them away or mask them with unhealthy actions.
Practice gratitude. Be grateful for what you have in your life at this moment. Take time to really notice and appreciate the abundance in your life. One of my favorites ways to do this is by writing down five or ten things I am grateful for at the end of the day. When you do this consistently, even a few days in a row, your outlook and mood will change dramatically. I find I am more calm, more compassionate, and more patient when I do this regularly. If you are willing to try this practice, I suggest using a small notebook or the notes section of your phone. If you haven’t done this before, you might feel like you’re recording very broad categories at first, i.e. my family, my job, my home, etc. And this is perfectly fine. As you continue the practice, you’ll find the process becomes easier, and you will start getting more specific. Here’s one of my lists from a few years back: started three clearance sheets even being unmotivated today; license plate will be fixed; don’t have to cook dinner tonight; going to bed early; spending time with my man tomorrow; quiet in the office today; lots of spaces in parking lot; Dave surprised me today by stopping by; seeing the kids a lot this week; my shoes are fixed. As you can see, some of these things would be considered “big”, but others are almost insignificant or things we would normally not give much attention to throughout the day. Consciously being grateful and purposefully paying attention to things to be thankful for dramatically changes our mindset.
So, I would love to know… what you do to counteract stress? Do you use any of the techniques above? If so, or if you try any of these approaches, leave a comment below and let me know how it worked for you. I would love to hear from you!