Stress evolved as a physical and emotional response to dangerous situations. It’s a state in which the body releases more energy into our use and allows us for a heightened level of attention. Whether stress is beneficial or harmful for us, depends on the time it continues and our emotional reaction to it.
You can learn to know your personal stress response. Stop letting it consume you, and start enjoying the benefits it can have in restricted time intervals.
Start your stress management journey by answering the questions in the following chapters.
Know your symptoms of stress
What physical symptoms do you get when you are experiencing high levels of stress?
What psychological symptoms do you have when you’re under high stress?
Write a list of any changes that you notice in yourself during a time of stress. We often say that we are experiencing a lot of stress, but now try to specify what it actually means for you.
While there are general symptoms, your experience is personal to you. List physical symptoms, and any changes you notice in your mind and behavior. Learning to know your stress response is key.
My physical symptoms of stress:
- shortened sleep, and waking up too early
- craving carbohydrates and caffeine
- shortened breath
- digestive problems
- biting my teeth together at night
- feeling my muscles tired
- feeling thirsty
- oversensitivity to noises
- feeling irritated if someone “gets in my way”
- finding it hard to relax and calm down
- losing the ability to be creative
- impulsiveness
Know the reasons for your stress
In what situations do you find having a stress response?
When do you have a short period of stress response? How about a longer, even chronic state?
The stress response is initially meant to give us superpowers for a short period of time. You may recognize those as moments where you need a higher amount of energy and attention. Usually, it happens when you are in danger, which for us mostly would be a situation we fear, like a presentation, a sports event, or an exam.
In this short time span stress is highly beneficial for performing the activity better. Our body “shuts off” other body functions such as digestion and allows us to use all our energy in the activity we’re performing. In this situation, stress is not harmful to us. The key is to stop it early and recover from the stress.
When the stress response is lengthened, or even chronic, is when it turns into a weapon against us. It’s crucial that you learn to know your symptoms of stress so that you can recognize being under stress and pause it in time to allow your body to recover.
Work can have too much pressure on us or we might not be adequately trained for our position, which makes us feel stressed every day of work. A reason for stress can also be an emotional reason, like an unresolved trauma.
Symptoms of stress can be a result of the behavioral or thought patterns that we repeat unconsciously. That is why it’s so important to have awareness of your stress response and learn to take control of it.
Can we get rid of stress?
Do you have some habits for stress management?
What habits could you start to keep your stress under control?
You can’t expect stress to go away. There will always be moments of stress. However, you can learn to manage it.
The humans that survived evolution were the ones who were able to adapt. We also need to learn to adapt to this new type of life with high stress and to put boundaries to it.
We can learn habits that help us to manage the stress that we experience. We can learn practices that reduce our stress.
I manage my stress by:
- daily exercise every day after work because I work on the computer. I know that physical exercise makes me feel good and cuts off the stress that I feel during a workday.
- I take time on weekends for being unproductive and just take time to rest and recover.
- I eat healthy and balanced meals regularly with no restrictions, but rather focus on getting enough energy and enjoying my meal times.
- I use supplements or superfoods every now and then to support my adaptation to stress.
- I aim to get 7-8 hours of sleep every night to allow recovery to happen.
- At work, I make weekly plans and a daily breakdown of tasks, to manage the workload better.
- I reflect on my fears and insecurities by writing a journal.
Stress as a motivator is positive. Stress as a chronic symptom is not healthy. Learn to know your stress and find a practice that helps you to put a stop to it. Remember that experiencing stress is a message from your body, that something overwhelming is going on and you must put attention to your well-being.
/Linda
