With it being the start of a new year, most people will be becoming inundated with social media posts boasting about how much they succeeded in 2020 despite the global pandemic and marketing materials capitalising on the 'new year, new me' trend, seemingly stating that the only way to have a 'successful' year is to completely tear down the person you were last year in order to create a new, better version this year.
Seriously, how many 'improve your productivity to improve your prosperity' posts have you seen on LinkedIn already this year? And it's only mid-January. In a society where being successful = being busy, it is becoming increasingly difficult to realise when you need to up the workload or when you need to take a step back and breathe.
According to the NHS website, 'stress is the body's reaction to feeling threatened or under pressure.' Stress can be a completely normal, manageable part of life, and can even be motivation to help us get on with tasks that we were putting off. However, too much stress can cause a negative impact on our lives, our relationships, our mental health, and our physical health.
One of the best and most important ways of coping with stress is to talk about it. With friends, family, or a professional. Talking is a really valuable way to make things feel easier. After all, a problem shared is a problem halved.
Another tip for managing stress is to split up big tasks that are stressing you out into smaller, more manageable chunks, and to plan ahead. Use diaries and to-do lists to prioritise your workload and to split up jobs. Honestly, I couldn't live without lists. I have a diary exclusively for my work, where I write daily to-do lists and check everything off once it's done. This makes me feel a lot less stressed as I have managed my workload, and I can also feel really accomplished when I have ticked everything off for that day. I also use calendars and notepads to plan the rest of my life and make to-do lists for anything that needs doing outside of my job.
Exercise is a fantastic way to relieve stress. When you exercise, your body releases endorphins. These endorphins interact with receptors in your brain and can reduce your perception of pain. They can also trigger a positive feeling in the body. For example, before lockdown 3.0, I would head to the gym if I had a stressful day, and as soon as I had completed my workout, all my angst about whatever it was that had stressed me out had completely dissipated.
My final tip to reduce your stress is to distract yourself. Read a good book, chat to a friend, watch your favourite film or tv show - anything to take your mind off of whatever it is that is troubling you. It won't make the problem disappear, but it will definitely mask it for a while, and sometimes that is all we need.
With love, Chloe x
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