When you learn to control stress, you will be able to maintain stress on such a level that its negative effects do not bother you. Things you can focus on with stress management include the following:
- Affecting the situation that causes stress.
- Affecting your own ways of thinking.
- Reducing the effect of stress.
Defeat the stress-inducing situation
Start with the easy things. If insufficient rest or not being outdoors enough causes you stress, change your everyday rhythm. Sometimes changes relate to bigger things, such as changing your study place or line of study. List things according to their importance and consider what measures are necessary for change to happen.
List things according to their importance and consider what measures are necessary for change to happen.
Stress often concerns a particular situation, such as holding a presentation. Face the stress-inducing situation again, and you will get an important experience of surviving it. You can also skip stress-inducing situations that are not essential.
Practice your thoughts
By learning to question your thought patterns and finding different perspectives, you are able to decrease the effect of harmful thoughts on your actions.
- Do not be fooled to think that you are any worse than others.
- Pause and calmly assess the situation: recognise your own limits and resources.
- Be lenient towards yourself and satisfied with what you have achieved.
- Discard excessive demands and be gentler towards yourself.
- Search for concrete solutions to the situation instead of worrying and dwelling on it.
- Try to accept past events and look forward instead.
- Remember that small worries are not the end of the world. Mistakes will be understood and accepted.
- Believe in your own ability to control stress and influence your own life.
Minimise the effects of stress
Time management is a good way to control stress. Try out the following tips:
- Plan your schedule carefully.
- Ask yourself what is essential and in what order should things be done.
- Set both short-term and long-term goals. Schedule yourself small steps for achieving each goal.
- Order your tasks according to their importance. Weed out unnecessary tasks and ask others for their help.
- Reserve time for things that you like.
Utilise your relationships when feeling stressed, too:
- Accept any support you are offered.
- Talk about stress with your loved ones and friends.
- Seek other people’s company even if you do not always feel like it.
- Look after your own limits and do not let others lead you. Be stern.
The starting point for everything is looking after yourself in your everyday life:
- Maintain a rhythm and familiar routines in your life.
- Exercise in a way you find pleasant.
- Sleep enough.
- Eat regularly and in a healthy manner.
- Use alcohol only in moderation.
- Do pleasant things that bring you joy.
- Add nature elements into your everyday life.
- Give yourself treats.
- Relax every day.