Managing Stress Better: Personal Development

Subject: Psychology
Pages: 5
Words: 1149
Reading time:
5 min
Study level: Bachelor

How to manage stress

One should use a positive imagery theory to reduce stress as outlined in the stressmanagingtips.com. This involves putting yourself in an imagination that positively brings relaxation to your body and mind. For instance, one can imagine being at the top of a high mountain where you have an excellent view of land, trees, drainage systems, people’s settlement and their activities. This will in return bring you a very relaxed feeling and in time you realize that your stressful situation is no more (Simonton, 2006).

The other thing that one should do is try to be flexible in all aspects of life. This means that if a problem cannot be solved by a certain solution you have, then you are entitled to look for other alternatives to solve the same. You don’t have to give up when one thing fails but instead try other ways of getting through your problems. Moreover, you should live an organized life where you learn to prioritize your situations. You need to know what is the most important and immediate thing to undertake and what follows to avoid the pressure of doing so many things at the same time (Aldwin, 2007).

In addition, one should be realistic in whatever he or she decides to do. This is because setting of unachievable targets and objective eventually brings about stress. One should identify what he or she can do and what is beyond his or her ability, capabilities and resources. By so doing then one will set specific, measurable and attainable goals within the required time. Moreover, to avoid conflicts at the work place one should allocate the firms activities to one’s subordinates and reduce the pressure of doing the work all alone.

The other important way that one should manage stress is by avoiding the root cause of a stressful situation. Some stressful situations are brought about by our friends, colleagues and even the family members. This happens when we cannot be brave enough to refuse their demands and pressures that they subject us to. It is therefore essential to be sincere with ourselves by doing what we feel comfortable and not just to please our friends and family members. People will pretend to be who they are not and thus end up doing things that do not pertain to their age, social status, level of education and more so their religious beliefs. It is always good to accept one the way one is so that others can also appreciate one as he or she is.

How to manage stress better

An individual should put down the goals that will enable one to change him or her to manage stress effectively. One way that one can manage stress better is by changing one’s attitude on different situations that comes one’s way. This is usually attained by learning to adjust to difficult situations and being optimistic by concentrating on the positive side of an issue. The other thing that can help one to manage stress is by taking charge and control of one’s life. Do not let anyone decide for you what you should or should not do. Let all the decisions that you make be implicitly yours. People are there to advise you and not to decide for you. In addition, one should learn to accept what can’t be changed. This will save one’s energy used to try to fit and do things that are beyond one’s control. In this regard one should get a trustworthy and reliable person that one can run to for a solution or advice. Someone who can listen and share in your agony. Thus, you can relieve your problems and pressure when you talk to him or her.

Moreover, it is always advisable to create time to relax and enjoy yourself to break from our daily tight schedules. This enables one to relax his or her mind and body. This can usually be done through listening to cool music, reading an interesting book or novel, visiting friends and having fun together or travelling and visiting scenic places. Lastly it is usually important to live a healthy life by eating a well-balanced diet, sleeping adequately and involving in physical activities to keep fit.

How to measure your development in stress management

One way of measuring your development is through the introduction of a stress journal in which you identify and record the daily causes of your stress, your reactions and behavior when you experience the stress and the solution to what you encounter. The other thing one could use to measure one’s development is through asking oneself questions to see if for instance you have changed your attitude in handling different situations or you still act negatively to such situations. In addition, one can check the time spent in solving a certain problem, that is, how fast does one identify and solve a stressor.

One could also check how frequently he or she approaches his or her entrusted person for advices. This is because if one frequents the person more often then it clearly depicts that there is no development in the stress management area. If there is development then one should visit the person rarely. One should also evaluate his daily routines to see if he or she sets aside time for relaxation and doing exercises. This is because if one does not get the opportunity of resting then it means that his or her schedules are tight and can lead to stressing of one’s body and mind.

Managing stress involves a process whereby an individual follows his or her stipulated guidelines to reduce stress. The individual should therefore work hard and be disciplined in order to effect changes in his behavior, way of doing things, his or her reactions to different situations and his attitude towards life.

The action plan to improve stress management

This action plan explains what, how and when to improve stress management. The first thing that one should do is try to apply the positive imagery where you involve in positive thinking which helps your mind to shift from thinking about your problem. In addition, become flexible and realistic in what you do. Set attainable goals in a given time. In this effect one should try to achieve these stress management strategies for a period of the next two months. One should ensure that he or she says ‘No’ to friends, colleagues and family members who pressure their lives.

After two months one should work on changing one’s attitude of the situations encountered with and for a maximum period of three months one should have already adjusted to his or her action plan, in that his or her views of situations should be different, he or she should manage time effectively and there should be a change in his or her behavior. This will in turn reduce stressful situations in one’s life.

References

Aldwin, C. (2007). Stress, Coping, and Development, Second Edition. New York: The Guilford Press.

Simonton, C. (2006). Creative visualization: A New Age Therapy in Stress Management.