Look
around
See if there really is something you can change or
control in the situation |
Learn
how to best relax yourself
Meditation and
breathing exercises have been proven to be very
effective in controlling stress. Practice
clearing your mind of disturbing thoughts. |
Remove
yourself from the stressful situation
Give yourself
a break if only for a few moments daily |
Set
realistic goals for yourself
Reduce the
number of events going on in your life and you may
reduce the circuit overload |
Don't
sweat the small stuff
Try to prioritize a few truly important things and
let the rest slide |
Don't
overwhelm yourself
by fretting
about your entire workload. Handle each task as it
comes, or selectively deal with matters in some
priority |
Selectively
change the way you react,
but not too much at one time. Focus on one
troublesome thing and manage your reactions to
it/him/her |
Change
the way you see things
Learn to recognize stress for what it is. Increase
your body's feedback and make stress self-regulating |
Avoid
extreme reactions
Why hate when a little dislike will do? Why generate
anxiety when you can be nervous? Why rage when anger
will do the job? Why be depressed when you can just
be sad? |
Do
something for others
to help get
your mind off your self |
Get
enough sleep
Lack of rest just aggravates stress |
Work
off stress
with physical
activity, whether it's jogging, tennis, gardening |
Avoid
self-medication or escape
Alcohol and drugs can mask stress. They don't
help deal with the problems |
Develop
a thick skin
The bottom line of stress management is "I
upset myself" |
Try
to "use" stress
If you can't fight what's bothering you and you
can't flee from it,
flow with it and try to use it in a productive
way
|
Try to be
positive
Give yourself messages as to how well you can cope
rather than how horrible everything is going to
be. "Stress can actually help memory,
provided it is short-term and not too severe.
Stress causes more glucose to be delivered to the
brain, which makes more energy available to
neurons. This, in turn, enhances memory
formation and retrieval. On the other hand,
if stress is prolonged, it can impede the glucose
delivery and disrupt memory."
|
Most importantly, if
stress is putting you in an unmanageable state
or interfering with your schoolwork, social
and/or work life, seek professional help
at your school counseling center
|
