How to Deal with Stress – 5 Simple But Healthy Ways to Deal with Stress

Each one of us has a certain amount of stress, both positive and negative, that we deal with every day. With many people struggling to make money, dealing with family relationships & friends and trying to make sense of life, the pressure we feel can really make us feel stressed out at times.

So how do we deal with stresses in life so that we don’t "lose it" and do something crazy that lands us on the evening news?

There are a number of ways to deal with stress, but for the purposes of this Hubpage article I’m going to give you 5 simple, but healthy ways to deal with stress. And by putting these methods into practice, you will learn how to better deal with the stresses in your life.

Start your day by waking up 15 minutes earlier. This needs to be a time for you to get your mind straight, fix your mental attitude for the day and just relax. I know many people don’t like getting up early (or don’t want to get out of bed period … especially on Mondays!), but once you get used to it, getting up early in the morning really helps you have a good full day. To make sure you actually get out of bed early, you need to change your attitude about it and get moving. Listen to some feel good music, do a quick 15 minute workout to get the heart pumping, pray, make yourself laugh or just relax during your “me” time.

Think about and plan for those little inconveniences that can be a source of anxiety and stress. It may even be a good idea to make a list of those things along with your contingency plan. For example, not knowing where the keys to your house key or car can stress you out, especially when you’re pressed for time. Therefore, one way to prepare for things like that is to make a set of spare keys and put them in a secret place that’s easy for you to remember. This will ensure that these events will not be as stressful when they happen. For your other events that make the list, come up with a simple solution to eliminate or reduce your stress when they happen.

Don’t lie or compromise your personal integrity. Everyone tries to keep certain aspects of their lives private or attempts to make themselves look good and do or say a number of other things that might put them in a situation where they are tempted to tell a lie. Don’t do it, because it can be quite stressful trying to keep the lie straight with the person(s) you told it to. On the same end, do not put yourself in compromising situations that you will have to lie about later. If you do things that you have to cover up or lie about after the fact, then you are creating a far worse situation for yourself that’s simply not worth it.

Set worthwhile goals and work toward achieving them daily. You need to make sure you keep goals for yourself, and have them written down in a journal if possible. Working towards your goals helps alleviate stress because you are doing things that are important to you and working on you as a person. You are paying attention to yourself, and everyone needs time for themselves. Working towards your goals makes you happy, and it helps you cope with other stressful situations that may arise as a different part of your day.

Do something good for someone else. Sometimes it’s very easy to get caught up in the stresses of daily life, become oblivious to the people around us and even shut them out. But doing good things or random acts of kindness for the people around you, without expectation of any reward, will go a long way in helping you take stress away from yourself. Yes, helping others, especially during times when things are the most stressful for you, can help reduce or take away your stress, refocus your energy, and actually make you feel good about yourself & life in general. The amazing thing is these good deeds or acts of kindness don't have to be anything major; no, they can be very simple things. From my personal experience, these seemingly small good deeds can have a major impact on the lives of others.

Do not hold grudges. Grudges take too much energy, and there is no point in focusing that energy on something negative. A person holds a grudge because he or she thinks it is against another person when in reality it’s hurting the both of you or maybe just you (if you’re the one holding the grudge). Either way, it is not worth the time put into it. Life is too short, and you need to focus on positive things.

Conclusion

From what you’ve read so far, I hope you realize that there are many little things that you can do in your day - to - day life to make it less stressful. By actually practicing these healthy ways to deal with stress, you will have a better handle on how to deal with the stresses in your life.