Able to deal with stress, risks and uncertainty
Since everyone is different, there are multiple reasons for feeling stressed. The best way to recognize that you are facing stress is to be attentive to your body. Good physical and mental health is the basis for being able to face stressful situations. Taking good care of yourself allows you to reduce the negative effects of stress on your health.
To help you along the way, you will find some exercises below.
1. Identify the agents of stress
Think about the things that stress you—it could be your workload, interpersonal problems, excessive pressure, major life changes, and so on.
Name the three most stressful aspects in your life and try to come up with ways to reduce stress in these areas. Try to answer these questions for each:
- Why is it stressful?
- Is it temporary or permanent?
- Does the stress impact you negatively?
- Can you change something about the situation?
- What would need to change to make it less stressful?
- What are realistic and concrete steps to reduce stress in this particular area?
Identifying Agents of Stress as PDF
2. Have a positive attitude
A positive attitude can help keep you a step ahead when facing the stresses of everyday life. View these obstacles as a learning experience and remain objective in all situations. Put things into perspective. Stress is often more the result of how you see things than how they really are.
Choose one of the stressors you have identified in the previous exercise. Take a step back and try to describe the situation objectively. Don’t judge yourself or others and write your description down without any emotions. Detaching yourself from the situation helps you to reduce stress. It also helps you to determine if your reaction is proportionate.
Now write down what positive effect the situation has on you. What can you learn from it?
Developing a Positive Attitude as PDF
3. Manage your time more effectively
Organizing your time and priorities effectively can reduce significantly. Here are some measures that help with that:
- Create a to-do list! This helps you to make sure you don’t forget anything but also to prioritize. You do not have to do everything at once.
- Learn to delegate! When you have your to-do list, try to determine if some of the tasks could be done by someone else, even if it just a small task.
- Learn to let things go! Aiming for perfection in everything you do is a major source of stress.
- Consciously make time for activities that provide you with satisfaction and pleasure.
One way of organizing your tasks for better time management is the Eisenhower Matrix. It helps you decide what to do first, what to schedule, what to delegate, and what to eliminate.