Stress is very serious. According to various rankings, there are up to 50% of all people suffering from it. Despite the fact that there are methods (yoga, meditation, diary) to deal with it, they are not that popular because they take time and need people to be patient.
The point is not the stress itself, but a person’s reaction to it. Every human can be hit by it, that is the absolutely normal process. Until it becomes chronic and uncontrollable.
The trouble is that people look for simple approaches only: ‘I’ve got stress because of my job, that’s all’ or ‘I worry too much, that is why I feel like that’. But those are not the reasons, those are symptoms. Not everyone worries because of their job, as not everyone dies because of heart attacks.
You can win stress by asking questions and finding answers to them. This reflexive method is thought to be effective. All questions are targeted on finding stress factors and getting rid of them.
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1. Are There Any External Stress Factors?
Take a look at your environment:
- A house you live in;
- People you communicate with;
- Situations you get into;
- Things, food, sports.
It is important to understand when exactly in your life you’ve started feeling strong stress. There has to be a visible reason.
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2. Are These External Factors Connected to Your Relations with Others?
What area of your life are these people connecter with: professional one, private one? They can be even unfamiliar to you. In any case, try to call them with their names.
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3. Does Stress Mainly Come from the Inside or Outside?
- Is it a pressure from the inside?
- Are there unrealistic demands to yourself in your thoughts?
- Are there any conflicts in real life?
- Are there internal conflicts and controversies?
Name every source of your stress.
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4. What Irritates You Once You Look at Your Schedule (To-Do List)?
Stress often appears due to time pressure. Once you understand there is too much job to do and you are not able to finish it until the deadline expires, there is a huge wave of tension rising inside your mind. Or, you can be irritated because of 2-30 points in your to-do list. In this case, take a critical look at your life and make a decision: three important tasks per 24 hours, the rest is done if you can complete it.
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5. Do You Feel Responsible for Something That Is out of Your Control?
Create a list of things that are out of your control and that make you feel stressed. Which three things are the most stressful?
You need to understand that your stress is a product of your thoughts. If you can calm your thoughts down, your stress disappears with that. Read the book “How to Stop Worrying” by Carnegie. There are dozens of pieces of useful advice there.
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6. What Exactly Makes You Feel Better and Happier?
Create a list again. You can place anything you want into it:
- Favorite music;
- Watching cartoons;
- Walks in the park;
- Lying in a bed and watching comedies.
You need this list. Try to use its points as often as you can.
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7. What Takes Your Energy Away?
Let’s think it is 3:00 PM and you already feel yourself like a squeezed lemon. How could that happen? Take a notebook and describe everything you felt and talked about that day. Miss nothing. Those are highly likely to be your own actions and thoughts. Or a complex of small irritants that combined into such a result.
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8. What Makes You Feel Stressed with Your Intuition?
For some people, stress becomes chronic, and it is the reason to visit specialists. If you don’t want to do that, try to analyze your situation at least. Is that any negative prediction feeling that flies in the air nearby? Can you control it? Can you silence that voice?
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9. Do You Feel Your Life Controls You?
When people feel they don’t control their life, they fall into a depression. So, you need to bring your control back. You won’t believe it, but it’s often enough to complete regular tasks: to wash the dishes, to clean a house, to throw away your old junk, etc.