In the middle of your fast-paced life, it can feel as though stress blindsides you often. Carpools, early morning meetings, and late night emails to respond to are frequent stressors that you may be dealing with on a daily basis. There’s no need to feel like you need to overhaul your whole life in order to reduce stress. If you want to reclaim your brain from the stress that you are battling, try these simple steps:
Schedule Your Worry Time
Yes, this suggestion is going to sound odd. However, scheduling your ‘worry time’ means that you take a small block of time (for example, five to ten minutes) and write down the things that you are worried about. If it helps, you can set a timer to help you focus and help limit the time that you spend worrying. This technique has been shown to be a very helpful anxiety reduction task. At times of the day other than your designated ‘worry time,’ you can gently catch yourself worrying and remind yourself that you already have a scheduled time to worry. The technique helps your brain let go of anxiety more easily and helps you feel secure as you go about your day.
Get Serious About Exercise
Here is yet another reason to head to the gym, or for a walk around your neighborhood. Exercise has numerous benefits, and the boost that your psychological well-being gets after exercise is just one of them. Studies have shown that endorphins, the feel-good chemicals that your body produces after exercise, help you have a more positive outlook overall. After engaging in cardiovascular exercise (activities such as jogging, fast walking or any activity that increases your heart rate for a sustained period of time), you may feel significantly calmer. Making the time to exercise can also give you some much needed time to yourself and help you feel calmer because you have done something just to benefit you. With all of those benefits, you have no excuse to skimp on exercise. Pull out your calendar and put some exercise on your schedule for this next week.
Breathe Deep
Deep breathing has many benefits. It reminds you of where you are, and it helps you slow down your heartbeat. Slowing down your heartbeat helps you to achieve an overall feeling of calmness. It is very helpful to build little breaks for deep breathing into your day. If you are able, set several alarms on your phone to go off throughout your workday and remind you to take a break for deep breathing. Even allowing just two or three minutes for deep breathing is beneficial. Making time at regular intervals to breathe deeply will help you to feel less stressed and more in control of your day as a whole. By implementing these ideas into your routine, you can keep your mental health high on your list of priorities and feel like a whole new person.