Dealing with stress
What is stress?
Stress is a physical response to a situation we find challenging that causes the body to release hormones like adrenaline. The situation might be challenging because it’s new and we don’t know what to expect or because we’ve experienced the situation before and found it difficult. For some people, this stress will lead to anxiety.
That being said, stress isn’t always bad. In fact, it’s very normal to experience stress in our day-to-day lives, and it can even serve as a useful motivator. For example, you may be stressed about delivering an important presentation at work and that stress may motivate you to prepare more thoroughly.
As such, stress management is less about eradicating stress than reducing its unhealthy variants. This is the kind of stress that leaves you feeling overwhelmed and burnt-out, negatively impacting your quality of life.
What are the signs that you’re too stressed?
The difference between productive and non-productive stress varies from person to person, but some signs to look out for include:
- Feeling that you’re not able to cope with your current stress levels
- Having difficulty maintaining sleep patterns and feeling exhausted
- Being unable to maintain concentration
- Feeling that you’re always on alert and unable to relax
- Noticing a change in your appetite
- Having physical symptoms like headaches, nausea or tension
- Feeling irritable, angry or withdrawn
If you notice yourself experiencing any of these symptoms on an ongoing basis, it’s worth exploring the following stress-management strategies.
Ways to cope with stress
Practise relaxation techniques
Meditation, mindfulness routines and deep breathing exercises are all common ways to relieve stress and promote relaxation.
Meditation requires you to focus your mind to achieve a deep state of relaxation. Practising meditation often makes it easier to let go of negative thoughts and reach a state of tranquillity. On the other hand, mindfulness involves observing your thoughts instead of directly ‘feeling’ them, creating a healthy distance between them and you. Both can be powerful ways to diminish the impact of stress.
Though we may not think of physical activity as ‘relaxing’ the end result often does promote relaxation. Why? Exercise causes the body to produce the ‘feel-good’ hormones known as endorphins, which can provide a mood boost and alleviate anxiety. While there are lots of health benefits associated with exercise, stress reduction is one of the most significant.
Did you know that Central Park has a dedicated fitness centre for tenants? Explore the classes and amenities on offer.
Call on your support network
In times of stress, talking to trusted friends and family members can provide immense comfort and security. But as well as being an outlet for stress, seeking an outside perspective can also help you better identify the stressors in your life, which is an important step towards managing them.
By the same token, stress shouldn’t be the only topic of conversation you discuss with your friends and family. You should also prioritise quality time to give you (and them!) a break from the stress. This could be as simple as watching a movie together or something more involved like a hike or a day trip.
For these relationships to be mutually fulfilling, they need to be maintained and remain balanced. That means being a part of the other person’s support network as much as they’re a part of yours. By doing this, you’ll be able to cultivate a stronger relationship.
Focus on self-care
No matter how stressed you are, it’s important to try and carve out time for yourself to do the things you enjoy. This will likely involve setting up and maintaining boundaries between you and your stressors to give you some downtime.
During this time, you can practise healthy coping mechanisms, like socialising and hobbies, as well as stress-relieving activities like mindfulness or exercise.
If you’re having trouble doing this on your own, you might benefit from professional help. Whether from a psychologist, a councillor or your GP, getting informed advice on how to deal with stress can help you look after yourself more effectively.
Central Park stress solutions
At Central Park, we offer a number of facilities to help our tenants reduce stress and improve their physical wellbeing. From lush green space to state-of-the-art End of Trip facilities, we make relaxation and exercise easier to fit into your working day.
Explore lease opportunities with Central Park.