35 things you can do to manage and reduce your stress …

Every year, there are more than 600,000 applications filed for patents on new inventions. In 2020 alone there were 399,055 patents actually granted to hopeful inventors.

Some of those new inventions are remarkable and will be wildly popular for the benefit they provide. But the truth is, many of those new inventions aren’t very good ideas.

Take, for example, the idea one company had to produce a “stress bracelet.” The story was told in “Turning Point Daily Devotional”:

“A Netherlands-based electronics firm is creating a bracelet that will change color and flicker from yellow to red when a person’s emotions rise to unhealthy levels. It’s being developed chiefly for stock traders on European exchanges. When trading becomes too intense and the trader’s blood pressure rises, the device will issue a warning to, ‘Take a time-out, wind down, or reconsider their actions,’ said the manufacturer. The results, hopefully, will be beneficial to investors — to say nothing of the stock brokers themselves.”

Let me ask you a question: When YOU are stressed, do you need a bracelet on your wrist to flicker a colored warning for you to know that you’re stressed and perhaps you ought to do something about it?

Not likely.

Most of us know all too well when we are overly stressed. What’s odd is how most people do very little to manage or reduce their stress, they just keep on with what causes them to experience stress at levels that isn’t healthy for them.

WHAT IS STRESS?

First, let’s get a simple definition for what stress is. A common definition most of us can relate to is, “Stress is a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances.”

But stress is more than that, because stress packs a “whole person” punch. Which is why I like this definition added to the one above: “Stress can be defined as any type of change that causes physical, emotional, or psychological strain. Stress is your body’s response to anything that requires attention or action.”

When you’re feeling stressed you’ll know it, but you may not always identify the feeling as stress because of the multiple ways stress can impact a person. Do you think you might be overly stressed? Some signs you can look for include:

Psychological signs such as difficulty concentrating, worrying, anxiety, and trouble remembering.
Emotional signs such as feeling angry, being easily irritated, moody, or feeling frustrated.
Physical signs such as high blood pressure, changes in weight, loss of appetite or increased appetite, frequent colds or infections, and changes in the menstrual cycle and libido.
Behavioral signs such as poor self-care, lack of motivation, lack of interest for the things you enjoy, or relying on drugs and alcohol to cope.

Stress is actually a natural part of life. Some stress is good for you and can trigger your fight-or-flight response to help you handle emergencies. It can be helpful to know there’s more than one type of stress you may experience, such as:

Acute stress is short-term stress that can either be positive or more distressing; this is the type of stress we most often encounter in day-to-day life.
Chronic stress is stress that seems never-ending and inescapable, like the stress of a bad marriage or a demanding and difficult job; chronic stress can also stem from traumatic experiences and childhood trauma.
Episodic acute stress is acute stress that seems to run rampant and be a way of life, creating a life of ongoing distress.
Eustress is fun and exciting. It’s known as a positive type of stress that can keep you energized. It’s associated with surges of adrenaline, such as when you are skiing or racing to meet a deadline.

In addition to these types of stress, stress factors fall into four categories: physical stress, psychological stress, psychosocial stress, and psycho-spiritual stress. MentalHelp.net describes these categories as follows:

Physical stress: trauma (injury, infection, surgery), intense physical labor/over-exertion, environmental pollution (pesticides, herbicides, toxins, heavy metals, inadequate light, radiation, noise, electromagnetic fields), illness (viral, bacterial, or fungal agents), fatigue, inadequate oxygen supply, hypoglycemia I (low blood sugar), hormonal and/or biochemical imbalances, dietary stress (nutritional deficiencies, food allergies and sensitivities, unhealthy eating habits), dehydration, substance abuse, dental challenges, and musculoskeletal misalignments/imbalances.

Psychological stress: emotional stress (resentments, fears, frustration, sadness, anger, grief/bereavement), cognitive stress (information overload, accelerated sense of time, worry, guilt, shame, jealousy, resistance, attachments, self-criticism, self-loathing, unworkable perfectionism, anxiety, panic attacks, not feeling like yourself, not feeling like things are real, and a sense of being out of control/not being in control), and perceptual stress (beliefs, roles, stories, attitudes, world view).

Psychosocial stress: relationship/marriage difficulties (partner, siblings, children, family, employer, co-workers, employer), lack of social support, lack of resources for adequate survival, loss of employment/investments/savings, loss of loved ones, bankruptcy, home foreclosure, and isolation.

Psycho-spiritual stress: A crisis of values, meaning, and purpose; joyless striving (instead of productive, satisfying, meaningful and fulfilling work); and a misalignment within one’s core spiritual beliefs.

THE DANGERS OF STRESS

Everyone experiences stress to some degree throughout their lives, but the National Institute of Mental Health reports that the affects of chronic stress can be dangerous:

“Chronic stress can disturb the immune, digestive, cardiovascular, sleep, and reproductive systems. Some people may experience mainly digestive symptoms, while others may have headaches, sleeplessness, sadness, anger, or irritability. Over time, continued strain on your body from stress may contribute to serious health problems, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and other illnesses, including mental disorders such as depression or anxiety.”

Other stress-induced conditions may include diabetes, hair loss, heart disease, hyperthyroidism, obesity, sexual dysfunction, tooth and gum disease, and ulcers.

Because of the dangers from prolonged experience with stress, medical and mental health professionals routinely recommend people learn how to manage and reduce the stress they experience.

How?

35 THINGS YOU CAN DO TO MANAGE AND REDUCE YOUR STRESS

If your life is impacted by stress, seek help from a medical or mental health professional. Regarding treatment for stress, VeryWell Mind notes:

“Stress is not a distinct medical diagnosis and there is no single, specific treatment for it. Treatment for stress focuses on changing the situation, developing stress coping skills, implementing relaxation techniques, and treating symptoms or conditions that may have been caused by chronic stress. Some interventions that may be helpful include therapy, medication, and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).”

For some people, just a few of the recommendations listed below can help them manage stress to a healthy level; for others, it may be a combination of a few recommendations, or several things. The good news is, there’s a lot YOU can do to manage and reduce stress, such as:

1. Be consistent with your practice of spiritual disciplines of your Christian faith. Prayer, reading the Bible, worship, fellowship in a local church, and an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit are ways of nurturing peace through Christ that can reduce some symptoms of stress.

2. Develop a habit of thinking rationally. Negative symptoms of stress are fed by irrational and fear-based self-talk. A competent Christian therapist skilled in Cognitive- Behavioral Therapy can help you identify patterns of irrational thinking and habits of cognitive distortions and can teach you how to reframe your thinking so that you develop a habit of thinking more rationally.

3. Learn to regulate your emotions. Instead of “bottling up” your emotions and not processing them, a competent Christian counselor can help you better identify your emotions and then process them with healthy and God-honoring choices.

4. Learn to designate your time. Don’t just “manage” your time, but designate your time. When it’s time to work, focus your thoughts, emotions, and physical energies on the work designated during that time. When it’s time for recreation, don’t allow nagging thoughts of work to intrude in your recreation time. Keep your thoughts, emotions, and physical energy focused on what is designated for that particular time.

5. Improve your breathing. The longer we experience stress, the more prone we are to develop a shallow breathing pattern that insufficiently oxygenates the body, creating feelings of anxiety, panic, etc. A mental health professional can teach you how to practice deep-breathing exercises to establish a healthier, deeper pattern of breathing. Biofeedback can also be very helpful in learning how to develop a healthier breathing pattern.

6. Make physical exercise a permanent lifestyle. Multiple studies have shown that a lifestyle of adequate exercise can be as, or more, effective as medication used to treat stress, anxiety, and depression. Making a serious commitment to make exercise a permanent lifestyle is one of the most beneficial things you can do for your mental, emotional, physical, and even your spiritual health.

7. Adopt a lifestyle of healthy nutrition. Everything noted about physical exercise above applies to the value of making healthy nutrition a permanent lifestyle. Not only does your body rely on consistent healthy nutrition, so does your brain!

8. Develop and keep the habit of getting adequate sleep every night. Healthline Media offers a concise summary as to why developing and maintaining a healthy sleep pattern is so important: “Sleep is a vital, often neglected, component of every person’s overall health and well-being. Sleep is important because it enables the body to repair and be fit and ready for another day. Getting adequate rest may also help prevent excess weight gain, heart disease, and increased illness duration.”

9. Organize yourself. The functional design of how you live can be a root cause for stress. If you’re always disorganized and find you have to first semi-organize yourself before you can do anything, that lack of organization is likely a major contributor to you experiencing stress. Manage the problem by organizing yourself!

10. Simplify your life. This is sometimes referred to as minimizing your life to what’s important, or practicing what is called essentialism where you reduce or eliminate things that aren’t essential to giving your time, attention, and effort to. The key idea here is to give values and priorities to everything that tries to place demands on your life so that you don’t allow everything in and, thus, be overwhelmed (“stressed out”).

11. Learn and practice relaxation techniques. The more stress impacts your life, the more you will have physical tension and physical responses to stress. You can reduce the negative physical and mental impact of stress by learning and practicing relaxation techniques, such as developing your prayer life, progressive muscle relaxation exercises, deep-breathing exercises, meditation, biofeedback, music and art therapy, etc. A competent mental health professional and some medical professionals can teach you such techniques to help you lessen the mental and physical impact of stress.

12. Develop your self-awareness. Therapist Glyn Blackett explains, “Self-awareness is a prerequisite for choice and control. If your thoughts and feelings are operating outside of awareness, then they control you. If you want to control them, the first thing is to open up a window of awareness that is an opportunity to pause and consider, before choosing, deciding and acting.” The less self-aware you are, the more stress can “run rampant” in your life.

13. Practice mindfulness. Mindfulness is a state of intentional focus on the present moment. There are multiple ways mindfulness can positively impact stress, such as helping you have less intense stress responses, improving mood, and improving brain function.

14. Talk about your problems. Instead of trying to ignore problems or stifle emotions, if something is bothering you talking to someone about it can help to lower your stress. You can talk to God through prayer, your spouse, a family member, a trusted friend, your pastor or an elder in your church, a mental health professional, and others. You can also talk to yourself (see number two above)!

15. Improve your decision-making skills. Making bad decisions – and then having to face the consequences – is a stress inducer, especially if you consistently make bad decisions. Anyone can learn skills for making better decisions (to give you a start, check out my post here).

16. Take control of your environment. If you’re finding yourself angry, afraid, or even depressed about what’s going on in the world … but you have the news on all the time, listening to such reports … turn off your television! Does traffic stress you out? Take the quieter, albeit longer way to work or home. Do arguments on social media leave you feeling stressed? Limit your time online and who you follow on social media. In other words, there is often direct steps you can take to take control of your environment instead of leaving it full of “triggers” and stress inducers. Make some changes in your environment!

17. Fix what should and can be fixed. Leaving broken relationships unreconciled, serious arguments unresolved, or procrastinating about getting things done are ways you can generate stress for yourself. If something is broken and you can/should fix it, then get it fixed; leaving it broken perpetuates stress.

18. Make time for friends. When all of your time is consumed with tasks, responsibilities, and chores, you’re ensuring the likelihood of feeling more stressed and staying stressed. Make time to nurture your relationships, to spend enjoyable time with friends, and you’ll relieve some of the constancy of stress in your life.

19. Reduce your to-do list. Many people have items on their to-do list that have been on there for weeks or months. Chances are, these are things you would like to get to when you have more free time, but if they’ve been on your list for that long, they’re probably NOT important … but keeping them on your list fosters stress as you tell yourself you have so much to do on your list! Pare your list down to the important things you must get done now or the immediate future; you can always go back to those lesser important things you’d like to do when you have more time for lesser important items.

20. Improve your collaboration and communication skills. Not communicating well causes many of the problems we experience with other people, and problems foster stress. The weaker our communication skills, the weaker our capacity to collaborate with others in getting anything done. By purposely building your communication and collaboration skills, you’ll enhance your capacity to connect and cooperate with others, which reduces stress.

21. Don’t try to control the uncontrollable. Much of the stress people experience relates to things they have no control over; and to allow yourself to be “stressed out” about something you can’t control is simply irrational. If you can’t control something, instead of ruminating over that fact, give your attention to the things you can control.

22. Learn to delegate. There’s only so much you can do in a work day, or in your personal time. If you’re overloaded, learn to delegate assignments to other employees if possible; in your personal life, you can delegate to family members, friends, or fellow church members who can help share your load. Delegation isn’t always possible but should be considered when it is. And when it comes to the burdens you carry, God says delegate those to Him, He’s happy to help you with those!

23. Hire someone to help you. It doesn’t cost much to pay someone to mow the lawn, or for a handyman to knock out a few tasks around the house, or to launder some clothes. Virtual assistant services are popular and can be used for an assortment of tasks, from making calls, answering emails, and scheduling appointments, to conducting research, making travel arrangements, paying bills, and shopping for you. If you need help to get things done, hiring someone to help is one option for you.

24. Find the upside. Many people feed stress by always focusing on what is wrong or could go wrong. You can change that – and thereby reduce stress – by developing the habit of always looking for the “upside” (the positive, or potentially positive) in your circustances.

25. Forgive. Holding a grudge grinds on your soul and keeps you feeling stressed. “Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you,” Ephesians 4:32.

26. Practice gratitude. Elizabeth Scott, a wellness coach who specializes in stress management, notes: “Cultivating gratitude is one of the simpler routes to a greater sense of emotional well-being, higher overall life satisfaction, and a greater sense of happiness in life. People with a greater level of gratitude tend to have stronger relationships in that they appreciate their loved ones more, and their loved ones, feeling that appreciation, tend to do more to earn it. And because those who are happier, sleep better, and enjoy healthy relationships tend to be healthier, grateful people tend to be healthier people.” And less stressed.

27. Serve others. When all of our time and focus is on our self, we tend to ruminate and stress over much more. Serving others is one way we can express the love of Christ and take our focus off our own troubles by helping others with theirs.

28. Actually having a support system. Counselors and church leaders routinely encourage people to have a “support system” of people in your life who support, encourage, and “do life” with you, sharing each others burdens and loving one another. The problem is so few of us actually purposely make sure we have such a support system in place. When we do, that support from those encouraging and supportive relationships reduces our stress.

29. Walk away and come back later. Sometimes you reach a pique in a problem and are so stressed you can’t be productive about addressing it. Stepping away to refresh, rest, and recharge and then coming back will often allow you to more clearly – and more effectively and efficiently – deal with what was stressing you.

30. Slow down. When you’re moving too fast, you’ll make more mistakes and more bad decisions, all of which just compound what is making you feel stressed. Often by slowing down you can be more fruitful with your efforts and thereby reduce your stress.

31. Take a break. So often we try to deal with things that stress us when we’re tired – too tired to give our best thoughts and crisp attention the way we need to. Often taking a break to rest so you have the energy and clarity to revisit issues can help you be more fruitful and manage your stress.

32. Make recreation more important. All work and no play makes, and keeps, Johnny stressed out! Make time to play, to relax, and to recreate and you’ll see your stress levels shrink.

33. Make time for hobbies. Making time to do things you enjoy doing directly heightens your sense of joy with life, and that helps to reduce your stress.

34. Make journaling a habit. Journaling a great way to process your thoughts and can be a way of managing your stress. Check out my blog post on “Six benefits of making journaling a habit …” here.

35. Practice laughter. The act of laughing has powerful affects on your mental health and your tense body! Check out my recommendation for adding some laughter to your life in my blog post, “How to sleep (and live) better …” here.

There are even more ways you can manage and reduce your stress. If you are struggling with stress, if stress is negatively impacting your life, make an appointment with a mental health or wellness professional can help equip you with specific ways you can better enjoy life by managing and reducing stress.

Scotty