Have you ever ended the longest Monday ever, only to realize the week had only just begun? Feeling stressed out can happen to anyone. At home, it might be over money. For example, disagreements with your partner over financial decisions. At work, you might feel your boss doesn’t treat you fairly. In an APA Harris Poll, 61 percent of adults reported they felt stress in relation to workplace discrimination.
Have Happier Healthier Week
The results of stress when left unchecked show up almost immediately in poor physical health. Health experts believe you are at greater risk of asthma, obesity, and heart disease if you live a stressed-out lifestyle. Additionally, that headache you have right now? According to this Atlanta chiropractor, “Stress, accidents, trauma – they all make headaches happen.”
Amid all of this, are there measures you can take to stay positive even while those around you aren’t behaving their best? The answer is yes. Here’s how.
Your Physical State Takes Priority
If your body is rundown, or you have lost sleep, little annoyances of life have the power to get you down. Prioritize taking care of your health as a means of preventing stress.
Are you getting enough sleep at night? The hours of sleep a person needs is different from person to person. Look at averages, most require 7 to 8 hours of quality sleep every night to perform at their peak. You can determine how many sleep hours you need by keeping a log and tracking your sleep hours and comparing that with how you felt during the day.
Lack of sleep causes our emotions to run amok. You may know this in theory, but studies are now proving its truth. One researcher conducting a related study noted how sleep deprivation causes the brain to lose its neutrality. In other words, we can’t differentiate between important and non-important events when we haven’t slept well. Does every small daily occurrence feel like the end of the world? Lack of sleep could be playing tricks on your mind.
Exercise Will Do Wonders for Your Mood
If you have been battling with stress and feeling unhappy at work, ask yourself when was the last time you did something dedicated just for you. Can’t remember? You might want to consider getting back into your exercise habit.
The American Psychological Association believes it’s an effective treatment for depressed individuals. The link between mood and exercise is just that strong. It is also a natural anti-anxiety treatment and can help to relieve stress and tension. Not only that but also it can enhance your overall wellbeing through endorphins that are released as you exercise.
Taking that walk is doubly important when things are crazy at home or at work. Step away from it all and walk in nature or hit the gym. This puts you in an environment where you no longer need to respond to others’ demands. This isolation can provide you with the rest from social interactions that we all need from time to time when others are getting you down.
Schedule Mini-Breaks into Your Day and Your Week
Vacations are spread out too far apart to do much good in relieving day by day and week by week stress. But there’s a way to get the benefit of vacation into your days and weeks. Schedule a mini-vacation mid-week. Choose a day out of your week where you consistently do those things that you enjoy, but that you’ve been putting off.
Put something that you are looking forward to on your calendar. Take yourself out for a spa treatment, or a nature walk to a nearby nature preserve. Mark your calendar, and then look at your calendar daily, and look forward to that a little. Having a mid-week mini-break will give you something other than the weekend to look forward to. This small move can help the whole week pass by more quickly.
If you want to take this a step further, give yourself an hour off from life every day at the same time. If mornings are better for you, then put this hour in the morning. If your mornings are hectic, schedule your “You-time” hour for the evening.
Making time for yourself and for self-care can be a challenge when you are juggling multiple responsibilities. But by scheduling it into your day, you increase the likelihood of it happening. You wouldn’t brush off an appointment with a friend or coworker once it’s scheduled, right? So keep your promise to yourself. After all, without taking good care of yourself, you won’t be in good shape to help anyone.
