10 Ways to manage stress - Part II

Here are another 5 ways of managing stress as a continuation of the previous article!

1. Be kind to yourself

Have you ever had extremely high expectations for yourself - like scoring full marks on a math test or achieving targets that seem beyond reach? It is good to aim high, to have targets, to want to constantly improve ourselves. However, setting too high expectations may unknowingly lead to increased levels of stress. Having unachievable expectations simply set you up for failure and disappointment. Set realistic goals and be kind to yourself.

2. Focus on what’s working for you and those things that are within your control

There will always be things that work out and things that don’t because each one of us has different strengths and weaknesses. It is important to know what works for us because it minimizes the chances of problems surfacing and issues will be piling more onto an already full plate. This is even more so when we are unable to come up with solutions to our problems.

3. Take a break

Life is tough and we are humans. We are not robots. Hence, even when the tough gets going, it is essential that we learn to take a break. Stop whatever work we are doing and look far. Take in your surroundings, look at trees, listen to the sounds around you. There are many simple things in life which we don’t notice when we are all caught up in our work. Take this time to embrace your surroundings. This helps us relax and soothe our feelings of stress or anxiety. Although temporary, little things like perking up our mood is bound to help us work more efficiently and produce better quality work. Hence, this produces a positive cycle of positive emotions and productive work.

4. Challenge your negative thoughts

Have you ever had such a bad day where you just wanted to give up on everything that you had going on? Motivation levels hitting rock bottom? And then you start to contemplate life. Well, as they always say, there are always two sides to everything. The most common example would be the cup of water half-filled with water. In this case, you could either see the cup as half-filled or half-empty. An optimistic person would see it as half-filled while the pessimistic would see it as the latter. When you have a bad day, have faith that everything will become better and try to have an optimistic outlook in life by challenging your negative thoughts.

5. Hit the unfollow button

The last tip is to hit the unfollow button. Yes, it is what you think it is. Social media, an extremely addictive yet toxic invention. No doubt, social media is what keeps us connected, up to date, trendy. However, as mentioned, it is addictive. And this addiction towards social media might very well cumulatively take up more than 24 hours of your time in a week. Not only that, looking at other people’s posts may subconsciously lead to one’s desire to ‘compete’ against another. This then adds even more stress into our lives. So, hit the unfollow button! Of course, social media can still be used, just be more cautious of the time we spend on it. Controlled usage is the key!

Done by: Alexis Lee