Personal Stress Management
Starts with You

Personal stress management starts with you.  Every person has a unique set of talents, abilities and interests.  Yet, even these attributes can’t keep stress from invading your life.  It’s inevitable that stress will start to invade your life, especially when people and schedules place demands on your time, and your list of responsibilities keep growing.

There are many things you can do to manage the stress in your life. You have heard that healthy eating habits, exercise and plenty of sleep provide you with resiliency to help deal with stress levels. Also, stress management for women includes creating strategies to comfortably juggle a variety of personal, professional and family responsibilities. 

You are a unique person with a unique set of circumstances which is why there is no one method of stress management that works for everyone. You need to determine what your personal stress management should look like.  We offer these steps for you to find your own brand of personal stress management that works for you.  

Honestly Assess Where You Are In Life

Take time to review what is going on in your life right now.  How are you spending your time?  If you haven’t complete the Wheel of Life exercise, you may want to do that now.  Or you may wish to compare how your current resulting diagram compares to one you completed previously. 

An important part of creating a personal stress management strategy is noticing with whom and how you spend your time.  If you find that you are spending time on activities that are not meaningful in your life, you may need to adjust your time management decisions.  But to make a life change and manage things that are causing you stress, you need to identify those life stressors first.  It’s your starting point for creating an effective stress management strategy. 

Determine Your Vision for Your Future

Once you have a clear picture of what currently is going on in your life, you can begin establishing future goals.  This is a time to decide what you can and can’t do with your life, based on your circumstances.  This also is a time to decide what you like and don’t like in your life.  Who do you like spending time with?  How do you like to spend your leisure time? 

Stress often increases in your life when the way you spend your time is out of alignment with your likes and dislikes. Try establishing a few SMART Goals that reflect where you want to be and what you want to achieve in your future.

If you have a crowded schedule with activities that you don’t enjoy or find stressful, try removing some of these from your schedule or at least limit the time spend on them.  Are you adding more responsibilities because of your own goals or because you are trying to please someone else?

Maintain a Castle in Your Life

Everyone needs a safe haven in their life.  What is your safe haven?  This is your castle.  A place where you can rejuvenate after a stressful day.  A place where you can be yourself and can enjoy time without worrying about what other people think of you or what other people want from you.  If you separate your professional and personal life activities and locations, you can find your home is your castle.

Your personal stress management strategy includes a place to be apart from the stressors around you and a place to rejuvenate.  If your home includes kids and family responsibilities that are part of your stress, find a way to create your own personal time-out location and activities that you can claim as “me time.”  You need to restore your own energy level so that you are ready to tackle the world around you again.

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