Do you feel stressed out most (or even all) of the time? There is a good chance that you do. After all, our day-to-day lives tend to be quite stressful. And that stress comes at us from every imaginable direction, from our personal lives to international events and everything in between.
There is hardly ever an opportunity to put all of the stress down at once so you can clear your head and find a calmer state of mind.
That is, there is hardly ever an opportunity unless you choose to be intentional about lowering your daily levels of stress.
Choosing to be proactive in your approach to dealing with stress is a great way to support your mental health. After all, as stress accumulates, it can get metaphorically heavier and heavier—and that can’t help but have a negative effect on your mental wellbeing.
If you are dealing with a mental health disorder, the impact of too much stress can be even greater. That makes it even more important to have a set of strategies for reducing stress when and where you can.
That probably sounds like a difficult (even a stressful) task. But we have some suggestions that can help you find a little more peace in your day.
Stress Reliever: Leaning on Those Who Lift You Up
Take a moment to think about the friends who you can always count on and the family members who always have your back. These are likely the people for whom you would drop everything to help out. In other words, these are foundational relationships in your life.
Spending time with people you love is a wonderful way to reduce your stress levels. It can be all too easy to let those relationships fray a bit under the pressure of your schedule. It is far better to ensure that you regularly carve out time for a cup of coffee, an afternoon spent hanging out, a quick phone call, or whatever keeps you close to your friends and family.
The flip side of this is worth noting. If there are people in your life who tend to tear you down or are always judgmental (and who you are tempted to judge in return), you can lower your stress level by spending less time (or even none at all) with them.
The idea of carving out time to spend with the people closest to you leads naturally to our second stress-relieving suggestion.
Stress Reliever: Building Breaks into Your Schedule
Is your schedule jampacked with various tasks you must do, meetings you must attend, and responsibilities to your kids or your partner you must stay on top of? That is certainly the case for a lot of people, and all of that activity can add up to more and more stress. It can be enough to make you dread even opening up your calendar.
But there is another option. You could include breaks in your schedule and literally put those breaks into your calendar. We would suggest you put all sorts of breaks into your calendar—short breaks in the morning and afternoon on workdays, a real lunch break, unscheduled time on the weekends (or time scheduled for a hobby you enjoy), and actual vacation time.
Does it seem odd to put breaks into your calendar? Well, think of it this way: your calendar contains all of your most important responsibilities. One of your most important responsibilities is to take care of yourself and your mental health. So, it only makes sense to include breaks among the other important items on your schedule.
Stress Reliever: Uncluttering Your Surroundings
When the spaces you live and work in are chaotic, it can easily lead to higher levels of stress. It is easier, for example, to lose something you need—your car keys, your phone, your wallet, your shoes—in a messy environment. Meanwhile, it is harder to stay on top of projects if your notes and ideas and resources are scattered around a cluttered office.
Taking some time to declutter your spaces is a great way to address stress and support your mental health. Even straightening up a single jumbled pile of mail can give you a quick win that can make you feel better in times of stress. And if you can clear a space and keep it tidy, you will be doing yourself an even bigger favor.
That might seem daunting at first, but if you start small, you can beat back the clutter and make your spaces places that you enjoy rather than places that stress you out.
Here Is a Point We Want to Stress: We Can Help
Are you struggling with a mental health disorder? That might be a question you have been trying not to ask yourself for a while now. But if you are honest with yourself about symptoms you have been experiencing and challenges that you have been trying to overcome, you may realize that it is time to get some help.
That help is always available at Peak View Behavioral Health. Located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Peak View Behavioral Health can help you improve your mental health and maintain those improvements over time. You can count on us for personalized, evidence-based approaches to care.
