52 Proven Stress Reducers

**sweetu** · by **sweetu** on Sun Jan 04, 2009 2:36 pm

1. Get up fifteen minutes earlier in the morning. The inevitable morning mishaps will be less stressful.
2. Prepare for the morning the evening before. Set the breakfast table, make lunches, put out the clothes you plan to wear, etc.
3. Don?t rely on your memory. Write down appointment times, when to pick up the laundry, when library books are due, etc. ("The palest ink is better than the most retentive memory." - Old Chinese Proverb)
4. Do nothing which, after being done, leads you to tell a lie.
5. Make duplicates of all keys. Bury a house key in a secret spot in the garden and carry a duplicate car key in your wallet, apart from your key ring.
6. Practice preventive maintenance. Your car, appliances, home, and relationships will be less likely to break down/fall apart "at the worst possible moment."
7. Be prepared to wait. A paperback can make a wait in a post office line almost pleasant.
8. Procrastination is stressful. Whatever you want to do tomorrow, do today; whatever you want to do today, do it now.
9. Plan ahead. Don?t let the gas tank get below one- quarter full; keep a well- stocked "emergency shelf" of home staples; don?t wait until you?re down to your last bus token or postage stamp to buy more; etc.
10. Don?t put up with something that doesn?t work right. If your alarm clock, wallet, shoe laces, windshield wipers ? whatever ? are a constant aggravation, get them fixed or get new ones.

**sweetu** · by **sweetu** on Sun Jan 04, 2009 2:37 pm

11 . Allow 15 minutes of extra time to get to appointments. Plan to arrive at an airport one hour before domestic departures.
12. Eliminate (or restrict) the amount of caffeine in your diet.
13. Always set up contingency plans, "just in case." ("If for some reason either of us is delayed, here?s what we?ll do?" kind of thing. Or, "If we get split up in the shopping center, here?s where we?ll meet.")
14. Relax your standards. The world will not end if the grass doesn?t get mowed this weekend.
15 . Pollyanna-Power! For every one thing that goes wrong, there are probably 10 or 50 or 100 blessings. Count ?em!
16. Ask questions. Taking a few moments to repeat back directions, what someone expects of you, etc., can save hours. (The old "the hurrieder I go, the behinder I get, " idea.)
17. Say "No!" Saying "no" to extra projects, social activities, and invitations you know you don?t have the time or energy for takes practice, self- respect, and a belief that everyone, everyday, needs quiet time to relax and be alone.
18. Unplug your phone. Want to take a long bath, meditate, sleep, or read without interruption? Drum up the courage to temporarily disconnect. (The possibility of there being a terrible emergency in the next hour or so is almost nil.) Or use an answering machine.
19. Turn "needs" into preferences. Our basic physical needs translate into food, water, and keeping warm. Everything else is a preference. Don?t get attached to preferences.
20. Simplify, simplify, simplify?

**sweetu** · by **sweetu** on Sun Jan 04, 2009 2:39 pm

21. Make friends with nonworriers. Nothing can get you into the habit of worrying faster than associating with chronic worrywarts.
22. Get up and stretch periodically if your job requires that you sit for extended periods.
23. Wear earplugs. If you need to find quiet at home, pop in some earplugs.
24. Get enough sleep. If necessary, use an alarm clock to remind you to go to bed.
25. Create order out of chaos. Organize your home and workspace so that you always know exactly where things are. Put things away where they belong and you won?t have to go through the stress of losing things.
26. When feeling stressed, most people tend to breathe in short, shallow breaths. When you breathe like this, stale air is not expelled, oxidation of the tissues is incomplete, and muscle tension frequently results. Check your breathing throughout the day, and before, during, and after high-pressure situations. If you find your stomach muscles are knotted and your breathing is shallow, relax all your muscles and take several deep, slow breaths. Note how, when you?re relaxed, both your abdomen and chest expand when you breathe.
27. Writing your thoughts and feelings down (in a journal, or on paper to be thrown away) can help you clarify things and can give you a renewed perspective.
28 . Try the following yoga technique whenever you feel the need to relax. Inhale deeply through you nose to the count of eight. Then, with lips puckered, exhale very slowly through your mouth to the count of 16 , or for as long as you can. Concentrate on the long sighing sound and feel the tension dissolve. Repeat 10 times.
29. Inoculate yourself against a feared event. Example: before speaking in public, take time to go over every part of the experience in your mind. Imagine what you?ll wear, what the audience will look like, how you will present your talk, what the questions will be and how you will answer them, etc. Visualize the experience the way you would have it be. You?ll likely find that when the time comes to make the actual presentation, it will be "old hat" and much of your anxiety will have fled.
30. When the stress of having to get a job done gets in the way of getting the job done, diversion ? a voluntary change in activity and/or environment ? may be just what you need.
31. Talk it out. Discussing your problems with a trusted friend can help clear your mind of confusion so you can concentrate on problem solving.

**sweetu** · by **sweetu** on Sun Jan 04, 2009 2:43 pm

32. One of the most obvious ways to avoid unnecessary stress is to select an environment (work, home, leisure) which is in line with your personal needs and desires. If you hate desk jobs, don?t accept a job which requires that you sit at a desk all day. If you hate to talk politics, don?t associate with people who love to talk politics, etc.
33. Learn to live one day at a time.
34. Every day, do something you really enjoy.
35. Add an ounce of love to everything you do.
36. Take a hot bath or shower (or a cool one in summertime) to relieve tension.
37. Do something for somebody else.
38. Focus on understanding rather than on being understood; on loving rather than on being loved.
39. Do something that will improve your appearance. Looking better can help you feel better.
40. Schedule a realistic day. Avoid the tendency to schedule back-to-back appointments; allow time between appointments for a breathing spell.
41. Become more flexible. Some things are worth not doing perfectly and some issues are well to compromise upon.
42. Eliminate destructive self-talk: "I?m too old to?," "I?m too fat to?," etc.
43. Use your weekend time for a change of pace. If you work week is slow and patterned, make sure there is action and time for spontaneity built into your weekends. If your work week is fast-paced and full of people and deadlines, seek peace and solitude during your days off. Feel as if you aren?t accomplishing anything at work? Tackle a job on the weekend which you can finish to your satisfaction.

**sweetu** · by **sweetu** on Sun Jan 04, 2009 2:45 pm

44. My favourite stress relief tip of all. Take a relaxing bath. Add music,
candles and a glass of your favourite drink: beer, tea, hot chocolate, wine
or even champagne. Close the door and forget about everything else for
an hour or so. This helps to increase levels of calmness and the calmer we
feel, the less likely we are to get stressed out or depressed. A luxurious way
to find stress relief.

45. Comedy night: get in your favourite nibbles: chips, tortillas, salsa, crackers,
cheese, pizza, chocolate, cookies, ice cream etc. Crack open a bottle of wine or
pour yourself a beer or two and spend a full evening watching your favourite
funny films or comedians. Finding stress relief through laughter will raise your
spirits and is a great antidote to the pressures of modern life.

46. Need stress relief quickly but feel overwhelmed? Get out of the firing line.
Just scoot off for some peace and quiet for a day or better still a weekend or a
week. Take a journal, relax and gather your thoughts. When you're under
pressure or struggling to cope with a major situation or event in life,
seeing solutions to problems can be really difficult. Distance from problems can
bring clarity. I love going to the coast when I feel like this and it always,
without fail, helps me to quickly find stress relief and the calmer I am, the
easier I discover solutions. I don't know why, but being near the ocean helps
me find stress relief almost instantly. Being near water, come to think of it.

**sweetu** · by **sweetu** on Sun Jan 04, 2009 2:47 pm

Find stress relief and feel great by indulging in massage. Share a massage
with your partner - create a relaxing atmosphere by softening the lights and
have oils and towels to hand. Lavender oil is particularly relaxing. Or, treat
yourself to a massage from a professional masseur or masseuse. For a really
invigorating massage, visit a Turkish baths if you're fortunate enough to have
one nearby. Massage is very relaxing and increases intimacy between lovers.
It's an excellent way to get stress relief but be warned, it's addictive! Not a bad
thing to be addicted to though, and it will do you the world of good.

5. Spend a week without watching any television. Television can fill your mind
with negativity, bombard you with image manipulation via commercials and
give you a distorted view of reality by showing you everything that's bad about
the world. Famines, disasters, murders, violence, war - the list is endless - and
news programmes and soap operas are full of such events. Continually watching
such things will cause you no end of stress! Find some much needed stress relief
by giving your mind a break from this assault on your senses. Abandon the
television for a week and do something more rewarding instead: Read a book,
listen to music, socialize, workout, go for a walk or try your hand at something
new. If you need to hear the news, listen to a radio news bulletin once a day. But
try and avoid them for one week, replace them with something more life
enhancing. Out of all the stress relief tips, this is perhaps one of the easiest. Try
it, see stress levels drop.

The above stress relief tips are very easy to implement but they are also very
effective in helping to relieve stress, depression and anxiety. Give them a try and
watch your mood levels rise

crazy girl · by crazy girl on Sun Jan 04, 2009 8:49 pm

Thanx sweets 4u sharing we appreciate u Smile

mwahs

dido101 · by dido101 on Wed Jan 07, 2009 4:24 am

what a great topic !!! Smile

well..

i wanna add something important here from my experience.

medically, a lot of people have misunderstanding between:
Stress, Anxiety, Depression!!!

we must be able to distinguish between them :

Stress : i will summarize it:
it is the daily normal pressure that makes you feel slightly sad or nervous that cannot control your self well,"emotional strain or tension that found on the mental state"
usually it takes a few time "comparing with the other problems" depends on the cause of the problem then it reliefs spontaneously.
and no need for medical drugs here, having the rest is the best here and following those tips which Sweetu had mentioned above Smile

anxiety : is an unpleasant state of tension, apprehension or uneasiness "a fear that seems to arise from an unkown source" and it has many symptoms like tachyrdia, swearing .. bla bla bla ..
the "mild anxiety"
are common in life and there's no medical problem with it " another definition of stress" Smile

depression : is a feeling of deep sadness that makes think seriosly to get rid of your life and commit to suicide and keep plainning for, and those kind of people are often succeed in determining their lives. and sometimes they show you they are happy, then suddenly you'd find them had killed themselves by a perfect plain
it often comes with causes or without.
and usually it symptoms are concern in "intense feeling of sadness, hopelessness, despair, and the inability to experience pleasure in usual activities including libido, appetite and so on .. Smile

the latter two problems must be treated by a special medical for each problem drugs under controls Smile

i know alot of people who when they got under NORMAL DAILY STRESS or mild anxiety.. they run to pharmacies to have Anti-depressant drugs " such Flouetine " or Anxiolyic drug "such Diazepam" and those poors minded cannot understand the serious problems of those kinds of the drugs if they keep using them "including the major problem of addiction and a lot of the adverse effects to the body"

so beware Smile

and put in your mind "common life experience DO NOT warrant treatment" Smile

may god keeps you always in good health Smile

regards
dids..

**sweetu** · by **sweetu** on Wed Jan 07, 2009 6:20 pm

Wow dido thank you for clarifying this topic...
Please keep sharing with us..
And keep smiling Smile

52 Proven Stress Reducers

52 Proven Stress Reducers

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