I was really starting to feel the stress yesterday, so I reached out to a couple of dear friends and asked them to pray for me, and then I began my plan of action. Check out these action steps to find some ideas that can help when stress threatens your wellbeing.
The Three Item To-Do List:
No matter how long our to-do list might be, identify the “three things that are top priority” and focus there. I ask myself, “With my big picture goals and values in mind, what key three things are most important?” I start there by recording them on my Five Minute Journal app, and complete one at a time without multitasking (research on multitasking here). Inevitably, I get those three things done and feel like a champ because I end up overachieving by getting a number of other things accomplished. For some more unique suggestions on writing a to-do list visit this blog!
Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash
2. Energizers:
We are quick to say, “I have too much to do, I don’t have time to…. (fill in the blank with activities that energize).” For example, research has shown that exercise for both young and old will make us more focused, less stressed and better able to accomplish our tasks. In a sense, we will buy time by sticking with our energizing routines. If you feel like you must, shorten the plan…run for 30 minutes instead of an hour, but think twice about skipping the activity completely!
Photo by Jenny Hill on Unsplash
3. Laugh it Out!
Identify your “go to funnies” and keep them easily accessible. Laughter is known to lower the stress hormones, improve our mood, and enhance teamwork. If you need a starting point here are some of mine: Ducky Raincoat, Kristin Hampton’s product reviews, and the comedy of Tim Hawkins. What are your favorites?
4. The 80/20 Principle:
The Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, “stumbled” upon the concept of the 80/20 principle when observing that about 20% of the peapods in his garden contained 80% of the peas, and then he kept observing the same pattern everywhere else. Including, that there are a small number of tasks that account for the majority of results. This ratio in reality, could be 90/10, 95/5 or even 99/1. The value of this mental model is that it forces me to analyze where my focus is compared to where it should be. This in turn reduces the stress level when I priorities the 20%! Focus on the 20% that makes the biggest impact.
Photo by Rachael Gorjestani on Unsplash
5. Go to extremes!
You might know by now that I am big on the benefits of the sauna, including it’s impact on our outlook, and more recently I have experienced and wrote about the mood enhancing benefits of cold therapy. If you don’t have access to a sauna or cryotherapy try alternating 1 minute cold with 1 minute hot water during your next shower to see if there is an impact on your stress levels!
Photo by Fezbot2000 on Unsplash
6. take magnesium:
Whether in a powder you add to hot water to make a drink or a pill, magnesium is very calming (and many of us are deficient). I started using it to reduce muscle twitches when I was running multiple marathons a year. I still take it, and find that it helps me deal better with stress and enhances sleep.
7. drink mushroom coffee:
Some of the mushroom’s in coffee include calming chaga, and lion’s mane mushroom extracts, which is thought to have cognitive-enhancing properties. Mushroom coffee contains some coffee, but with half the caffeine of most, which results in focused energy without anxiety. I use Four Sigmatic Mushroom Coffee, and now they have a form I can use in my Aeropress. it’s quite good and effective especially during stressful times.
What do you do to deal with stress?!
“Suppose you want to take a picture of the back yard here, but you can’t get everything into one shot. Instead, you decide to feature the apple tree in the corner, but even that tree is really too big, so now you zoom in on a single branch, but even that isn’t quite small enough, so you finally choose one leaf, or one apple, and you zoom in really close and take that particular picture. That’s what I do when I have so many things to think about. I zoom in, I narrow my focus.”
Wendy Dellis is a certified wellness coach. She joins years of training and work in the area of behavior change, experience as a fitness instructor and run club coordinator with a passion for adventure and people. She lives in Minnesota with her husband, Jay, and two sons.
The information contained on this page is for general information purposes only. Nothing here should be construed as medical or healthcare advice, but only topics for discussion. No physician-patient relationship exists; please consult your physician before making changes in diet or lifestyle.