Stress can affect anyone at any point in their life.
Being prepared for periods of stress can make it easier to get through them - and knowing how to manage our wellbeing can help us recover after a stressful event. Some of us may refer to our ability to manage stress as our resilience.
The terms 'resilience' and 'managing stress' can mean different things to different people. We might understand them differently because our experiences shape how we feel stress, and how easily we can respond to it.
Some people may think that our response to stress is something that we can all easily control, but this is not true. There are some causes of stress that are beyond our control. And some ways of managing stress and building resilience are not always available to us.
This makes dealing with stress very personal – it may be harder for some of us than for others.
Tips for managing stress
Below are some tips you could try to help you manage stress and build your resilience. Trying these ideas won't make all the stress in your life disappear. But they could make it easier to get through stressful situations.
Look after your wellbeing
Taking care of your wellbeing can help you feel more able to manage stress. Different things will work for different people, but these are some ideas you could try:
- Be kind to yourself. Learning to be kinder to yourself can help with how you feel in different situations. Try to take breaks in your day for things you enjoy. And reward yourself for your achievements, even if they seem small.
- Try to find time to relax. This might feel hard if you can't do anything to stop a situation that is making you stressed. But if you can allow yourself a short break, this can help with how you feel.
- Develop your interests and hobbies. Spending time on things you enjoy could help distract you from a stressful situation. If stress is making you feel lonely or isolated, shared hobbies can also be a good way to meet new people.
- Spend time in nature. This can help to reduce stress and improve wellbeing. You could try going for a walk in a green space, taking care of indoor plants, or spending time with animals.
- Look after your physical health. Getting enough sleep, staying physically active and eating a balanced diet can make stress easier to manage. Stress can sometimes make these things difficult to look after, but even small changes can make a big difference.
Build your support network
Research shows that having a good support network can help to build resilience and make stress easier to manage. Support from people you trust can make stressful situations easier to manage.
This support could include:
- Friends and family. Sometimes telling the people close to you how you're feeling can make a big difference. They might be able to help with some of the things causing you stress.
- Support at work. For example, this may be from your manager, human resources (HR) department, union representatives or employee assistance scheme. Your wellbeing is important and responsible employers should take it seriously.
- Support at university or college. This could be from your tutors, student union or student services.
- Peer support. If you're finding things hard, talking to people who have similar feelings or experiences can help. This could be face-to-face at a peer support group or online. See our support page for what we offer here at Darlington Mind.
Identify your triggers
Working out what may trigger stress can help you prepare for it. Even if you can't avoid these situations, being prepared can help. Knowing what you can and cannot change could help you work out the best way to deal with stress.
Take some time to think about situations that might make you feel stressed. You could do this on your own or with someone you trust. You could consider:
- Situations that come up often and that you worry about, such as paying a bill or attending an appointment.
- One-off events that are on your mind a lot, like moving house or taking an exam.
- Ongoing stressful events, like being a carer or experiencing discrimination.
- Something that you are worried about happening again, such as going back to a place that you had a bad experience.
Reflecting on these things may sometimes be upsetting. If remembering or talking about these experiences makes you feel worse, you can stop.
Organise your time
Some of us may feel stressed because we have a lot of things to manage in our lives. In this case, changing the way we organise our time can help us feel more in control.
If you think this may help, you could:
- Try to identify when you have the most energy, such as in the morning or in the evening. If you can, do your most important tasks around that time of day, to help you concentrate better.
- Make a list of things you have to do. Arrange them in order of importance. Try to focus on the most urgent thing first. You might find it helpful to create a timetable, planning when to spend time on each task.
- Set smaller, achievable targets. When we feel stressed, it's easy to set ourselves large or unrealistic goals. This might be to try to overcome the situation that is making us feel stressed. But often, this can make us feel more stressed and frustrated, if we don't reach the targets we set. Setting smaller, more achievable goals can help us feel more satisfied and in control.
- Vary your activities. Try to balance boring tasks with more interesting ones. And mix up stressful tasks with those you find easier, or that you can do more calmly.
- Try not to do too much at once. If you take on too much, you might find it harder to do any individual task well. This could make you feel even more stressed.
- Be clear with others about what you can take on. In some situations, it might not always be possible to say no to things, or tell people exactly how you feel. If you can, let people know if their demands are unreasonable or unrealistic.
- Have breaks and take things slowly. It might be difficult to do this when you're stressed. But it can help to deal with things better and get through a stressful situation.
- Ask someone if they can help. For example, you could ask a friend or family member to help with some of your daily tasks. This can give you more time to spend on any tasks that are making you stressed.
If you would like to learn more about how you can deal with stres and improve your resilience, take a look at our Emotional Resilience Courses we offer here at our Darlington site.
If you are struggling to cope, you can always speak to us:
Darlington Office: 01325 283169 / 07572 888084 / contactus@darlingtonmind.com
Northallerton Office: 01609 780758 / nyteam@darlingtonmind.com