What is the basis of stress management?

The way we live our lives can have a huge impact on the way that we experience stress.

Life is quite a long journey! Well trained marathon runners are able to consistently perform well, whereas poorly trained ones tend to get injured quite often. This is true with stress management too.

Adopting a healthy lifestyle means that you can concentrate better and are more energetic in what you do. This is particularly important when you are in challenging or stressful situations. It is also important in building stamina (the ability to survive intensely stressful situations over the long term).

How can I reduce the effects of stress?

Rest is what we do to let stress subside. Rest at the end of a day, and at the end of a week, helps us to calm down. Doing fun things that we enjoy in our leisure time compensates us for the stress we experience at work, bringing some balance back into life. This is particularly important if we routinely experience unpleasant levels of stress.

How should I approach stress management?

There are three major approaches that we can use to manage stress:

·       Action-oriented: In which we seek to confront the problem causing the stress, changing the environment or the situation;

·       Emotionally-oriented: In which we do not have the power to change the situation, but we can manage stress by changing our interpretation of the situation and the way we feel about it; and

·       Acceptance-oriented: Where something has happened over which we have no power and no emotional control, and where our focus is on surviving the stress.

Where should I start with stress management?

A good way of getting rest and reducing long-term stress is to take up an enjoyable, non-rushed sport or hobby. If you spend all your working day competing, then can be very pleasant to be completely non-competitive for some of your free time. Slow physical activities such as sailing or walking are good for this, as are others where there is little or no pressure for performance. Reading novels, watching television or socializing can also be very restful.

 Vacations are particularly important, and you really do need to take these. Where possible, take two weeks off rather than just one week: A common observation that people make is that they really do not start to relax properly until the end of their first week of vacation.

 Make sure that you take your vacations and that you use them to relax. Also, make sure that you get enough good quality rest during the week, so that you can keep on enjoying life to its fullest.