4 Tips to Lower Your Stress
Posted January 7th, 2012
We’re all over stressed these days, and many of us are trying various methods of handling it – going to the gym, getting more sleep, ramping up our social activity.
But if these things aren’t having the impact you would like, motivational psychologist Heidi Grant Halvorson has a few other ideas that you might try, ideas that have been scientifically proven to work.
- The first idea involves your attitude, your attitude about yourself. It means not being so hard on yourself when you make a mistake, or when you fall short of a goal. Be a little more understanding with yourself and give yourself a break. People who have this attitude are not only happier, more optimistic and less depressed, they also are more successful. Not being so hard on yourself when you run into difficulty can actually reduce stress and improve performance.
- Another way to reduce stress is to look at the big picture, to look at a routine task not as an isolated event, but as something that is part of a larger whole or purpose, something that will help you achieve that larger goal. For example, you can look at staying late at the office as just drudgery, or look at it as something that will advance your career.
- Something else that is stressful that we don’t even realize is making decisions. The act of making a decision, even if it involves just deciding what you want to have for lunch, creates a mental tension that produces stress, Halvorson says. The thing to do then, to reduce stress, is minimize the number of decisions you have to make during the day. To do this, you want to establish routines, set patterns to your day, to eliminate decision making for the little things, so that you expend your mental energy on the big ticket decision making items.
- Still another stress reducer is this – taking time out to do something interesting for five or ten minutes during the day. In this case interesting doesn’t necessarily mean pleasant, or even effortless. It might be something challenging, downright difficult, and maybe something a little frustrating, but it is something that truly interests you, something you do because you just enjoy doing it. Research has shown that this activity not only reduces stress, it replenishes your energy, Halvorson says.
Hoping to lessen the stress of your Oakland-area job search? Let Bayside Solutions help you land that next great job. We have great direct-hire positions with some of the Bay Area’s best employers. Contact us today to learn more.
