10 steps to become stress-resistant. Instruction from a psychologist

practicing psychologist, blogger

“Stress is a state of increased tension of the body. It occurs as a protective reaction to various unfavorable factors. I tell you how to develop the ability to cope with stress and whether you should do it at all”.

It is impossible to acquire stress resistance forever. We are not soulless machines, but living people. It is inherent in us to experience different emotions and states. Stress is inevitable in our lives. And sometimes it is even in favor.

There are two types of stress:

• Short-term stress is a viable and good condition. It leads to hardening of the body, encourages a person to act, gives him strength, resources and allows you to discover your hidden potential. This type of stress does not need to be resisted. It is more “good” than “evil” for our body;
• prolonged – leads to diseases, mental and physical problems.

The mechanism of stress

How not to fall into prolonged stress? Here it is important to be able to effectively manage your emotions, reactions and crisis situations. To do this, you need to know the mechanism of stress. The stages of development can be described as follows.

1. Anxiety reaction – when you feel unsafe. Then the body through hormones triggers stress to help.
2. The resistance stage is the adaptation to change. The anxiety is almost gone and the body begins to adapt.
3. The stage of exhaustion and emotional burnout. It occurs if the stress factor is too strong or it acts for a long time.

With prolonged stress, emotional burnout is inevitable. Simply put, it is exhaustion of the body with the inclusion of cognitive distortions. People begin to see everything in black colors, experience irritation, loss of joy and interest in life.

There is also professional burnout. It occurs in a situation of constant tension, overload of duties and inability to cope with the tasks at hand. Most of all, those who work with people are subject to emotional burnout.

How to develop stress resistance?

Resisting prolonged stress is important to maintain your physical and mental health. There are several ways that can help.

1. Separate work and home. These areas don’t need to be confused and combined. At work are tasks, at home are relationships.

2. Prioritize according to the system “important-urgent”. To do this, draw a large square on a piece of paper and draw it into four smaller ones.

In the top left write “important and urgent.” This is something you need to do as soon as possible and on your own. In the upper right write “important and not urgent.” These are things that can be done on your own time and ideally delegated.

In the lower left write “unimportant and urgent.” These items should definitely be delegated. The bottom right corner is “unimportant and not urgent.” You can safely read the resulting list and never do these items as there is no point.

3. Delegate- Actively ask for help and willingly use it. This way you will be able to give yourself time to relax. For example, your child can help take the dishes from the table to the sink and your spouse can help wash them.

4. Learn to rest. But the key here is to remember one rule. Recreation is all about minimizing competition, novelty, and responsibility. Going to the mall with a child to keep an eye on isn’t going to help you relax.

Watching your social media feed isn’t a vacation either. There’s bound to be someone there who brings out the competition in you. You’ll start thinking, “She’s already done so many things and I’m wallowing.” Try to eliminate such content as much as possible.

5. Establish a sleep schedule. Agree with yourself, “I’m going to go to bed before 11:59 p.m. tonight.” Ideally, you should learn to maintain circadian rhythms over time.

6. Actively use the word “no” when you are not ready to do something.

7. Remember the Pareto Principle – 20% of effort yields 80% of results. That is, not all actions bring success, but only a small part of them. Get rid of factors that interfere with your effectiveness.

8. Find a hobby. Here it is important to remember what you love. Dare to switch from stressful situations to something beautiful. This will help replenish your resource.

9. Take up any sport. Even a light, unobtrusive warm-up will do. Sport is a great tool to counteract stress. But the main thing – do not overdo it. You can just walk outside for one hour a day. That’s six thousand steps! Such a cool and uncomplicated sport is suitable for everyone.

10. Try to find resources in your life every day. How to do this? Actually, it is easier than it seems.

You will need an ordinary jar, a pen and an A4 sheet of paper. Carefully cut the paper into strips and write on them a list of your joys, pleasures and things that bring relaxation.

Twist these sheets and put them in a jar. Then take out one piece of paper each day and complete the task. In this way, a habit will form to fill up with the resource and enjoy yourself regularly.

Remember that stress is a natural reaction of the body to difficult situations. You only need to learn how to cope with it effectively to avoid its negative consequences. Each person is unique, so it is necessary to find ways to combat stress that are suitable for you.