8 Highly Effective Ways to Manage Stress
Read below for my best tips to manage stress, and scroll to the bottom for my favorite post-work de-stressors!
Hello there!
I hope you’re excited for the holidays, because I sure am! I’m ready for time with family, yummy home-cooked meals, and using this change of seasons as another fresh start. Thinking back to this summer, I felt like I was running 100 miles an hour (who can relate??). Late work nights, trying to keep up with workouts, trying to make time time for friends & family, and the list goes on. If you’re like me and have a tendency to get everything done on your do-to list, you’ll even sacrifice sleep (!) to get it all done. Especially with a lot more people working-from-home, it can be hard to disconnect and put work down.
Burnout impacts way too many people and these high sustained stress levels we are taking on as a society has become the norm rather than the exception. The good news is, by learning how stress works & impacts the body, we can be smart about how to manage stress and work our way back towards a life of balance and inner peace.
Let’s start with the basics - your nervous system. In the part of your brain that controls unconscious actions (think breathing, heart pumping, etc.), it houses two systems called the parasympathetic & the sympathetic system. The parasympathetic can be thought of as ‘rest & digest’. The sympathetic system can be thought of 'as ‘flight-or-fight’ mode. We shift back & forth between these two systems throughout the day as our body responds to stress.
We want to spend as much time in the ‘rest & digest’ side of the house so we can to soak up all of the great benefits it has to offer. But when something causes stress to our body, the flight-or-fight response is triggered and cortisol starts being released into your body.
Well why does all of that matter and how does it tie in with your health goals? The body is so integrated, so there is a lot that this impacts if we perpetually remain in a high cortisol state. It impacts other hormones such as insulin resistance, melatonin production, and burning energy efficiently.
What this translates to is your body wanting to burn quick energy like glucose and store fat. Think back to the caveman days - this is a great survival tool to store energy and stay alert in times of fear or uncertainty.
Knowing the science behind your nervous system can help in making the active choice to step out of stressful moments and step back into the rest & digest mode. Read more below for my best tips on managing & mitigating stress!
1) Shift Your Paradigm
Find GRATITUDE in whatever you do. If you are truly grateful, it is hard to be stressed at the same time! If you have a busy or overwhelming day, challenge yourself to be productive & focused in a calm state.
2) Breathe!
This will activate your parasympathetic system and shift you out of that cortisol-pumping state. Count to 6 slowly, hold for 3, and exhale even slower than your inhale. When doing this breathing exercise, notice where you carry stress - is it your shoulders, jaw, eyebrows? Soften your muscles and try to visualize melting stress away as you do these breathing exercises.
3) Don’t Over-Tax Your Body
You can also help manage stress through getting plenty of sleep and reducing caffeine intake. If you know you’ll have some work days that are more taxing, balance out your day with a yoga class instead of a HIIT class. Strategically stack your HIIT classes for your lower stress days.
4) Max Productivity Without Maxing Adrenaline
Whether you are in the corporate work, an entrepreneur, or any fast-paced environment, you can be your most productive self without loading up on 3 cups of coffee. (I KNOW, CRAZY - I THOUGHT SO TOO.) If you are relying on an adrenaline rush to get you through the workday, you are going to be pumping cortisol all day and it is going to throw off other hormones in your body.
Set boundaries, know your big rocks and challenge yourself to work at your most productive pace while remaining in a calm state. Don’t let curveballs frazzle you; constantly re-prioritize as needed, and communicate with those placing more demands on your time, whether that be a client, a boss, or another co-worker or family member.
5) Re-evaluate Where Your Energy is Going
Be mindful of where you spend energy! If you notice yourself having “people pleasing” tendencies, you may naturally want to say yes to everything to help others out. You may not even realize it, but by saying ‘yes’ to everything and always offering to help others, you could be spending a lot more energy than you realize! Being a team player is important, but just be mindful of boundaries if you feel you are overextending yourself and running out of energy for other important tasks in the day.
6) Reel in the Work Day
If you tend to work long hours, shift your perspective from “I will work until everything is done” to “I will prioritize my work to get everything done by 5pm (or whatever time is a typical end time for you)”. While it is not always possible to do this, by having that as a goal, it puts urgency on the work you are doing during the day and forces you to be more focused so you can stick to your big rocks, rather than getting side tracked by emails or tangents.
7) Pinpoint Triggers & Create a Plan
Here is an exercise for you - pay attention to what triggers you to stress out. Does running late stress you out? Telling someone no? Balancing finances? Be an observer, and pinpoint the root cause of the stress, then create a plan for your future self. For example if running late stresses you out, create a new rule for yourself that you must always be ready to leave 30 min before you need to. And if you do run late, just remember stressing yourself out isn’t going to fix anything - changing your habits will though.
8) End-of-Day De-Stressors
Build in a routine that brings you joy and calms you! This is a great way to balance out a hectic day and can help transition you to get ready for bed.
Set the mood for dinner - light a candle, set the table (even if it’s just you), pour some sparkling water in a wine glass and enjoy your meal
Rehabilitation - give your muscles a treat and use a Thera-Gun, foam roll, stretch, or use a lacrosse ball to roll out knots in your back
Sip a warm drink - such as herbal tea or hot water with apple cider vinegar, a golden milk latte, or hot cacao drink
Take a walk - especially if you work from home, this will help you reconnect with nature and physically disconnect from work
Let’s close out this year strong and get those cortisol levels in balance. By managing stress & cortisol, you can do so much for your health, energy levels, and metabolic health! Don’t get me wrong, some stress is good for us and can make us more resilient, especially when we get out of our comfort zone or push our limits - but we just want to find that right balance of cortisol to where we feel happy and healthy. :-)
Take action! If you find yourself getting stressed easily or riding the line with burnout, pick one of the strategies above or create your own stress-reducing ritual and let me know how it works for you!