Stress: Managing it Effectively [1]

Stress Overview

Growing up, I had a hard time juggling multiple tasks because I get easily stressed up and when I try to force myself to continue, it doesn’t tell well on me as I become so dull and unhappy, worst case scenario I fall sick.

At this point, my parents felt I was just being lazy and I didn’t like doing house chores. At some point, I started accepting the fact that I was just been lazy and wanted to double my game, tried to be a workaholic but the more I tried, the more negative effect it had on my health, because, first I discovered that it wasn’t a habit that I could just start changing, it was my nature.

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So, technically it’s not something that I could just wake up one morning and say I do not want this character again, and try to do away with it. In fact, the more I tried to outdo it, the more I realize it had a negative effect on my health so I stopped.

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But then, I am a lady. I would get married someday, give birth to children, take care of my own home, and plus I have goals and vision that I am working on, which at different intervals needs me to joggle multiple tasks, otherwise, things would go wrong.

I would not want this as an excuse when things go south, and since I cannot do away with getting stressed up easily, I had to find a way to handle the stress so as to enable me to get on my feet faster, and also get things done as soon as possible.

So I got reading and I learned a lot of things about dealing with stress which helped me a lot and I would be sharing the same here for you to also learn from.

I am going to adopt a simple definition of what stress all about at it best defines what we would be discussing.

Stress is an adaptive reaction to an external situation that results in physical, psychological and /or behavioral deviation from the norm – Sumita Roy

Stress generally is used when one is asked to change from what he or she normally does, so the process of trying to discharge the task given to a huge extent is what creates stress. Hence, stress is a by-product of pressure. It is the repercussion of change that life brings along with its experience each day.

Things like trying to meet a deadline, fitting into a work frame which others create for us, keeping to time schedule, trying to excel because that is what is expected for us or what we have set as our goals and to mention a few, actually exert pressure on our mind, leading to stress.

Stress can be illustrated in our day to day life and experiences. For example, in a family, there are some people that do more of the house chores than some others and have no time to relax.

A mother may feel that she does more than who she has been serving all her life, a man who works round the clock may think that the wife nor the children do nothing to contribute to the family, that he has to shoulder the whole work alone. All this could result to stress.

Even married couples face stress because after marriage they tend to regulate their lives in other to suit the requirement of each other in even simple matters like cleanliness, communication – how much they talk, food habits, how attentive one is when the other is talking, when one partner is too rigid, it all results to stress in the other party.

Bringing up children could also be stressful because, from the birth of the child when they are yet to be able to talk but only cries, the parents get stressed especially when they do not know the reason for the tears.

And then, they are anxious about what the child would be when he or she grows up, how to keep the child in good health and how to cater to their needs, and if not controlled they become too lenient or even negligent.

Asides in the family setting, in our places of work there are different stressors. A boss making endless demands from his employees or a subordinate who depends on you for every little task to be done or a colleague who disturbs you at work with the excuse of wanting to spend time with you.

Even in your neighborhood, there are different stressors; a flatmate that uses up more resources than his or her actual share, be it water, parking space or even electricity may not only be inconvenient but after some time, may lead to stress.

So, stress occurs in all facets of our lives. From being a child, a student, a parent, in your workplace, in the family, in your neighborhood, the list goes on and on, and that is because stress is inevitable especially in our present-day lives.

Thinking of doing away with stress completely is impossible, what is needed is the inner will to handle, control or prevent it. Most often, it is the lack of control a person feels while facing a difficult situation that leads to tension or stress as the case may be.

Moving on, I discovered that not all stress is bad. For example, when preparing for an interview or an examination your performance depends on how much stress you have at that point in time. If it is excessive, then it stops you from doing your best but complete lack of stress makes you feel like what you are preparing for is ordinary and therefore, you don’t put any extra effort to excel.

In other words, there is positive stress (Eustress) and negative stress (Distress). Therefore, what is needed is the right amount of adrenaline that makes you realize that you are going through a special occasion and it requires a large amount of effort in order to make the most out of the opportunities that come your way.

Just as positive stress is welcomed, the same energy should be channeled to preventing negative stress or better still put it in check.

EUSTRESS OR POSITIVE STRESS is a pleasant side of stress that is caused by good things. This stress helps one meet up with a deadline; this kind of stress causes a person to prepare with more concentration for an examination.

Any stress that helps you go through trying times to keep the adrenaline high, that helps you achieve an optimum level of performance is a good aspect of stress.

DISTRESS OR NEGATIVE STRESS is caused by bad and unpleasant experiences and it has hazardous effects. This kind of stress may be accompanied by nervous tension, anxiety, and might result in psychological disturbance.

Effects of Stress

Although, the positive aspect of stress which is considered low-level stress is considered good and helps increase performance, the high-level stress affects the performance of important tasks, the rising level of the negative stress results in the falling of performance rates.

Stress is hazardous to health; it is not only harmful to the mental peace but also has a prominent effect on our physical health.

Heart diseases, arthritis, high blood pressure, ulcers are some of the sicknesses that can be caused by stress, which can get very serious and prolonged.

We must keep in mind that there is a link between the mind and the body. In order to keep the body healthy and functioning at its optimum capacity, the mind must be kept stress free. Since stress is mainly of the mind, it causes a lot of psychological problems.

Depression, anger, nervousness, irritability, anxiety, boredom, Aggressiveness, destructive actions, hostility, and the likes are all results of stress. Stress lowers self-esteem; it lowers concentration and leads to dissatisfaction.

After a long while, it results in behavioral problems, such as undereating, overeating, oversleeping, lack of sleep, absenteeism, drinking and drug abuse, increased smoking, and more.

Sometimes, these behavioral problems are ignored and not attributed to stress. It is important that they are diagnosed carefully and controlled effectively.

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Coping With Stress

The first criterion for managing stress is to be aware that we are prone to stress and to also acknowledge that we have to make an effort in overcoming it. Coping with stress involves three stages; handling, controlling, and preventing.

Handling Stress: This is a self-help method and can also be called the do-it-yourself program and it is more reactive in nature.

It is important because you are taking responsibility to make positive changes in your life. Some ways to handle stress involves;

Time management: you should get your to-do list ready at the beginning of each day. Learn how to delegate work, you can’t do it all by yourself. In time management, you should understand that jobs fall into two categories; important and urgent, learn to deal with important jobs before they become urgent. That way, you work under less pressure.

Relaxation: this implies taking things easy once in a while, but this is a difficult task for most of us. Some ways of relaxing includes doing your hobbies, like reading, singing, painting and more.

You could also relax by breathing deeply, consciously relaxing your shoulders, stay calm by repeating some soothing sounds.

Cognitive therapy: This involves ‘self-talks’ positive self-declaration, recognizing events that cause stress, their effects, and replacing them with more adaptive strategies.

Controlling Stress
This implies that the person is already suffering from stress and is trying his or her possible best so that it does not become dangerous. It is applying correctives to a stressful situation.

Some routine activities that help control stress includes;
Exercises: it makes you feel good which does much to change the makeup of a person’s mind, therefore making the mindless vulnerable to stress. It helps to get the mind off work for some time each day.

Behavioral self-control: This means taking control of your own behavior. Self-control should be exercised even in the most trying times.

Networking: this involves making alliances with like-minded people who would support you and give you advice when you are in need. The people we interact with especially in a positive manner give us the sustenance we need, when we are under duress.

Preventing Stress

A popular proverb rightly says’ “prevention is better than cure’ The two strategies are given earlier mainly speaks about a cure. Now, this is related to a system of values that are inherent in you as part of your upbringing. These values help one to reduce or relieve stress. Some of these values include;

Moderation: Some individuals tend to labor under a ruling passion of something so much that every other thing disappears from sight; Like the pursuit of power, money, or fame.

Some other people love work more than anything, forgetting about their health, In all you do, calm down and be moderate in all things.

Then there is also unselfishness, empathy, humility.

Then again, another way to prevent stress is correcting your perspective about how life work, live in the present let the past be past.

The way things were done long ago has changed drastically and it will still continue to change as long as the earth exists.
Understand the times and act accordingly.

Then, always be willing to learn. Do not keep a closed mind to your past experiences and experiences of people. Be flexible.

Build up your confidence and be mindful of whatever you do and most of all, be disciplined.

I could go on and on about emphasizing the need to handle stress as it is part of our day to day life. I do hope this helps to work on our body and mind as well.

Remember, “health is wealth”.