Feeling Overwhelmed? Tips to Keep You on Top of Stress
This is a writing sample from Scripted writer Katherine Harris
Everyone feels overwhelmed by life at one point or another. Wherever the stress comes from, it can sometimes feel like you're being buried beneath the weight ofyour own life. The good news is that you don't have to feel that way. Here are some tips for regaining your sense of wellness, peace and focus.
1. Engage in self-care
One of the most important steps for maintaining your sense of well-being and peace is engaging in self-care. You can't pour from an empty cup — you have to take care of yourself before you can take care of others. Self-care doesn't have to be extravagant; it just has to be something that makes you feel grounded and more at peace with the world.
What kind of activities make you feel this way? Whatever your "escape" is, make sure you dedicate at least a little time to that every week. By giving yourself what you need to cultivate peace and presence, you equip yourself to manage the situations in life that demand so much of you.
2. Get organized
Some people love planners and calendars, while others are content with a desk covered in sticky-note reminders and stacks of "to-do" piles. But, if you really want to get a grip on your schedule and stay on top of your responsibilities, using a planner is the most effective way to do it.
With so much going on in your life, it's easy to fall into the "out of sight, out of mind" trap. Then, when meetings, appointments and deadlines sneak up on you, it can be overwhelming. Work on finding the best organizational method for you, and use it daily. When you don't have to keep everything in your head, it frees up your mental energy to focus on the tasks at hand, without having to worry whether you've forgotten something.
3. Take care of your body
When you take care of your body, it will take care of you. Maintaining good health habits can help you beat that overwhelmed feeling in life. This means eating a healthy diet that provides all the nutritional building blocks your body needs to function to its full capacity, as well as building an exercise routine into your week. Not only does exercise help your body function at its best, it also releases endorphins that can help combat depression and anxiety, and increase your resilience in stressful situations.
4. Change your state of mind
Optimism may be easier for some people than others, but we can all learn how to be more optimistic and focused on life's positives. One way to help train yourself to focus on the good and minimize the bad is by gratitude journaling. This isn't just a nice idea — the benefits are scientifically proven.
Get yourself a journal and take just five minutes a day to write down the positive experiences you had that day and/or the things you're grateful for. This can increaseyour sense of gratitude, optimism and satisfaction with life, and also decreasenegative feelings.
These tips are simple and relatively easy, and the benefits are huge. Take 10 minutes to sit down and evaluate where in your life you can make a few small, but important, changes to promote overall peace and wellness. You deserve it.
Sources:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027273589900032X
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022440507000386
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