Stress is horrible, isn't it? But people have to deal with stress every single day because they don't know how to deal with it appropriately. In this blog post, we're going to take a closer look at stress and give you some ways that you can cope with stressful days that you may have to deal with.
Why Are Some Days Worse Than Others?
Some days are just worse than others. There are a number of reasons that this could be the case, but most of them just have to deal with what you may have encountered on that specific day. Some people are more stressed out when they have to work a lot, whereas others are more stressed out if they're stuck at home. A bad commute or phone call could make your day that much worse. Some people just "wake up on the wrong side of the bed" and their entire day just seems to be going wrong.
Sometimes, there are physical reasons for it as well. For women and men, there may be hormonal issues (for women, sometimes it's due to the menstrual cycle) that cause you to feel more stressed out, even if there really isn't a reason for you to be stressed. In some cases, physical pain can make it worse. No matter what the reason, some days are worse than others, and because of that, it's important to understand healthy ways to deal with it.
Coping Methods that Work
Yes, you too can feel some relief from the stress and irritation that you may be feeling as a result of your stressful days. Here are some tips that can help you out.
Learn how to be more confident in yourself and your skills. Sometimes stress comes because we aren't confident in what we can do, so we worry about things that we really can't control. So work on your self confidence and believe that you are capable of even the most difficult tasks that are on your plate. Confidence can help relieve some of that stress.
Make sure that your have your life organized and in order. Disorganization and clutter both play a role in stress, and if your life is super cluttered, you may be feeling overwhelmed. Take some time to figure out what you have to do and get organized. That way, you aren't going to worry yourself as much and your day to day stress will be greatly reduced, leaving you with a bit of relief on a daily basis.
Remove people from your life that make it more stressful. Sometimes, there are people in our lives that make it difficult for us to go through our lives in a happy and comfortable way. Because of this, we do things that we may regret, or we avoid people or situations daily because we're afraid of the stress that may occur from interactions. Take these people out of your life as soon as you can - they're just going to make things worse over time, and it's really not healthy for you to be avoiding things either.
Identify changes that need to be made in order to reduce stress. There may be other changes in your life that need to happen to reduce your daily stress as well. Sometimes, it's hard to evaluate this because it means that we are removing activities that we may enjoy, but because of time constraints, are causing us more stress than they're actually worth to us. So sit down and look at your schedule, see how much time you truly have, and make the appropriate changes so that you are better prepared to deal with daily stress.
Seek out help if it's gotten to be too much to handle. Sometimes, stress gets to be too much for us to handle, and that's really sad and it can be disheartening. If you feel like you can't handle the stress, or you need help, don't be afraid to seek it out. There are qualified therapists and counselors out there that can help you decide what you need to do in order to reduce your stress, and they can teach you even more coping skills so that your day to day stress is greatly reduced. You don't have to walk through it alone - find a counselor in your area that can help you get the resources and help that you need to thrive.
You do what you need to do in order to relieve the stress in your every day life. Sometimes, it may take some hard decisions, but with the help from a professional, you can make those decisions and move forward in a healthy manner.
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Canadian Mental Health Association of Richmond, BC. (2023). Strategies for Good Mental Health Wellness. Retrieved May 28, 2014, from http://mhww.org/strategies.html
Centre for Studies on Human Stress. (2013). Coping strategies. Retrieved May 28, 2014, from http://www.humanstress.ca/stress/trick-your-stress/steps-to-instant-stress-management.html
Ponton, L. (2006). 20 Tips to Tame Your Stress. Psych Central. Retrieved on May 29, 2014, from http://psychcentral.com/lib/20-tips-to-tame-your-stress/000102
Scott, E. (2013, July 2). Proven Strategies For Coping With Stress. Retrieved May 28, 2014, from http://stress.about.com/od/tensiontamers/a/coping_with_stress.htm
Smith, M., & Segal, R. (2014, May). Stress Management. Retrieved May 27, 2014, from http://www.helpguide.org/mental/stress_management_relief_coping.htm
About the Author
Marti Wormuth, MAMarti has a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology and a Master’s in Communication Studies. Her favorite activities include reading, playing games, and hanging out with the students at her church. Marti volunteers with the youth ministry at her church as a teacher and mentor. Because of this, she recently started another degree, her graduate certificate in student ministries. She considers her current graduate work to be a stepping stone to becoming a youth pastor or a published author.
Professional Website:
martis-miscellany.com/