Our lives are filled with hectic schedules and tons of responsibilities like raising families, work pressure, and bills to pay. As such, millions of people all over the world feel overwhelmed from time to time. When stress piles up, it can have negative side effects such as elevated heart rates, hormone surges among others.
Fortunately, you can minimize stress to enjoy a healthier and happier life. Better yet, you do not have to turn your life around in a single day. Attempting to fix cumulative stressors in a day will only add salt to the injury. Read on for stress-free habits you can implement.
Simple Stress-free Habits to Overcome Stress
Feeling overwhelmed by stress? Worry no more. Here are easy habits that you can incorporate into your life to lower your stress levels.
Set Achievable Goals
One major cause of stress is setting over-ambitious goals that are hard to achieve.¹ Of course, it pays to be goal-oriented. However, failing to achieve your goals can leave you feeling frustrated leading to stress.
Setting achievable goals will help you to work without pressure. As a result, you will work efficiently and ultimately hit your targets. Similarly, attaining your goals will make you feel accomplished thus boosting your overall emotional health.
Simplify Your Schedule and Set Boundaries
While some stressors are beyond your control, some like schedules are within your control. Adding too many activities to your schedule will escalate your stress levels and steal your self-care time.
Selectively handle your tasks and accept that you cannot handle everything on your own. Even Rome was not built in a day. Prioritize your responsibilities and handle the most important ones first. The rest can wait.
If you are the go-to person, you will juggle various tasks leaving you feeling overwhelmed. In this case, learn to say no and mean it. Saying no won’t make you a bad person and it will improve your health.
In addition, setting boundaries is a good way to eliminate stress. Toxic people in your life can escalate your stress levels. For instance, if you have a friend who drops by unannounced causing friction in your marriage, cutting them off will earn you peace.
Declutter and Stay Organized
Staying organized may be difficult, especially with a hectic schedule. Unfortunately, cluttered spaces make navigation difficult. Besides, they waste time since you take longer to find what you are looking for. Consequently, you will feel stressed.
Fortunately, decluttering doesn’t have to take the whole day. You can dedicate 30 minutes to decluttering every now and then. During this time, get rid of things you no longer need or use. As a result, your surroundings become more inviting and relaxing to work, live and play in.
Engage in Calming Activities
When feeling stressed, the body experiences tension. You can release this tension by finding something calming to do. Deep breathing exercises are an excellent way to slow the pace of breathing and attain a relaxed state of mind.
Other relaxing activities include yoga, meditation, spending time with pets, listening to soft music, walking and gardening. However, everyone is unique and what works for one may not work for another. Therefore, it is imperative to find what calms you best.
Simplify Your Finances
According to a recent study, money is a major stressor for most people.² If not planned well, finances can easily spiral out of control leading to stress. Luckily, you can manage your finances by assessing your situation and taking steps to address the issue.
Here are some ways you can simplify your finances
- Create a budget that your income can accommodate to curb overspending
- Set up an emergency fund to help in times of financial distress. With an emergency fund in place, you can find peace.
- If you have debts, create a repayment plan to ease the financial strain
- Automate your savings and investments so you won’t have to worry about impulse spending
Minimize Stress With the Above Stress-free Habits
Stress is an inevitable part of life that can take a toll on your well-being if neglected. Fortunately, you can keep your stress levels reasonable by adopting simple habits. Setting attainable goals, decluttering, and simplifying finances are effective habits.
You can also relieve stress through services like facial relaxation.
Links to Sources Used
- Work-related stress https://www.stress.org/42-worrying-workplace-stress-statistics#:~:text=In%202019%2C%2094%25%20of%20American,experiencing%20stress%20at%20their%20workplace.&text=According%20to%20Wrike’s%20United%20States,of%20stress%20were%20unreasonably%20high.
- APA money-related stress study https://www.apa.org/news/podcasts/speaking-of-psychology/financial-stress
