10 Practical Stress Reducing Tactics

In today’s society stress is an ever present problem that’s only going to get worse as we are increasingly expected on a personal and professional level to do more with less. We have to work more hours and get more done for less pay and in less time. That’s a depressing shift in our lives and it shows no signs of changing any time soon. As a consequence we have to develop ways of reducing the stress that results. Below I’ve detailed my top ten suggestions for doing just that.

• De-clutter your home
  After a stressful day, you don’t want to have to come back to a cluttered house. It’s old fashioned but the saying “A place for everything and everything in its place” is so true because that way you won’t lose anything or have to worry about finding stuff. Create a cleaning rota to keep everything tidy, and be sure to regularly de-clutter. Check out Real Simple and Life Organizers for house tidying tips.
• Sleep!
  Get plenty of sleep. It keeps your body and mind in top shape and when that’s in top form you are more able to deal with all the stresses and worries. If you are always tired all your problems get amplified.
• Be early
  Give yourself ten to fifteen minutes extra time for appointments, interviews, getting to work, etc. That way you are less likely to be stressed out at the prospect of delays. Move your clock forward by ten minutes to guarantee you arrive early or you can even try out the procrastination clock by David Seah that runs randomly fast by up to fifteen minutes (the trick is you never know exactly how fast it is). Make sure you have everything you need for your appointment prepared early too.
• Avoid stressful people and places
  Hang around with the right people and go to the right places. Those friends that always worry or are always late will have an influence on your own stress levels and time keeping. Likewise, places that make you feel anxious should be avoided where possible as well. Learn to know what you like and don’t like, what works for you and what doesn’t.
• Learn patience
  Be prepared to show patience and wait for things rather than getting stressed about standing around. Have a book, magazine, notepad or music player handy to keep yourself occupied during those times when you are stuck in a queue or waiting for a meeting. Turn the time into something constructive.
• Don’t try and remember everything
  Write down stuff you have to remember, don’t just rely on your memory (if you are following the GTD methodology, you will probably already have tools like a calendar and tickler file in place) because it’s a guarantee that you will forget something important at some point and just think of all the stressful fallout that could result.
• Plan, plan, plan
  Know how you are going to use your time. It is stress-inducing to blindly run into your day without knowing what you are going to do and when you are going to do it. Create a to-do list for each day, or even more specifically, have a breakdown of your time and how you intend to use it.
• Don’t do too much
  Don’t spread yourself too thin. Having too many jobs to do is not conducive to peace of mind because you stress about how you going to do them all. It also means that you can’t put the required effort into each job as you have to spread your time out more. As a result it takes longer to get things completed so they in turn linger on your mind for longer.
• Sign up to a gym or spa
  Exercise is great for releasing tension and pent up energy, and as a general mood booster. Healthy body, healthy mind. If your gym also has a spa section with swimming pool, jacuzzi, sauna, etc. thats great too as they help you to relax and clear your head of worries.
• Indulge in fun interests
  Have activities and hobbies available to you that are fun and take you away from the day-to-day grind. They keep your mind occupied on what you are doing and not on whatever other worries you have. For instance, I recently brought a Nintendo Wii and I like to play on that as a distraction, but you can also have a collection of films ready to watch, some TV shows scheduled or maybe some recipes you would like to cook.