One of the hardest parts about stress is the simple problem of coping with stress. After all, if it were easy to cope with stress, stress wouldn’t be a problem. Unfortunately, once stress arrives, it is such as all-consuming mind-numbing experience that attempting to cope with stress is stressful in itself.
As you try to turn stress away and focus on your work, the stress just comes back and distracts the concentration to the point where you are not even aware your concentration is gone until it is too late and your mind has returned to thoughts of everything but what you are trying to do. Then, the frustration grows as you realize that you just spent a long period of time accomplishing nothing and all that lost work makes the stress even worse.
Thus, coping with stress is vital if you are to accomplish anything and relieve one source of stress: the fact that you need to get something accomplished.However, many people have discovered effective means for coping with stress, so it is not impossible. Thus, you can find methods for coping with stress and you can apply them to yourself, so that you will be able to deal with the pressures of life and get through them.
One excellent method for coping with stress is by eating right and exercising. Sure, this seems to be merely a method for keeping the body healthy, yet it does not seem to help the brain in any way. However, it is vital to keep your body healthy in order to allow your mind to work more effectively. After all, the brain is filled with the same chemicals as the rest of the body, and a happy healthy body will help the mind stay happy and healthy. By giving the body the right nutrients, the brain will also receive the right nutrients, allowing it to work clearly and efficiently. As well, exercise fills the body with hormones that help clear the mind and allow it to focus. This is good news because the hormones will stay in the system even after you are done exercising and, furthermore, the body will continue to produce these hormones long into the day. Thus, your mind will stay balanced and maintain its clarity thanks to proper care of its physical needs.
As well, there is a vital need for you to get the right amount of sleep every night. When you do not sleep enough, and most people are guilty of that, the brain is not allowed to rest and replenish itself with the chemicals it needs to concentrate. Thus, when you wake up after only a few hours of sleep, your mind will not be sharp. Then, as it muddles its way through the day in a fog, it will not be able to get work done. Needless to say, this is no way to ensure that you are coping with stress, since a foggy mind will often wander or simply turn off from time to time. This, of course, is another reason to eat right and exercise, since proper nutrition and fitness will help you sleep better when you do go to bed. Then, once you are getting a good, solid eight hours every night, you will wake each morning with a clear mind that is ready to get some things done. And, on top of that, your subconscious mind will be able to sort through its file cabinet of information on its own and maybe even find solutions to problems that would not occur to you while you are awake. This process is also known as dreaming and it is a very effective way to solve problems that you are not sure how to clear up.
Finally, when coping with stress, there is a distinct need to be able to walk away. This can mean a simple break to get up and stretch your legs every hour, or it can mean a nice, weeklong vacation away from the cares of the world. No matter what you do, you need to get away from the sources of stress and allow your mind a body a chance to replenish themselves. Rather than forcing yourself to just get through as best you can, you will often be able to accomplish more by getting away from your problems and allowing your mind a chance to relax. Then, when you are not trying to think about a problem, your creative mind will be examining problems and finding solutions, not unlike dreaming. Thus, when you walk away, you may just find that you get a lot of things done.
Coping with stress is not easy, but it is not impossible either. With a little determination to help your mind solve its own problems, while giving it the proper material with which to work properly, your mind will feel refreshed, awake, and able to tackle anything. Then, once you sort through your work, you will actually have one less thing to be stressed about. And what could be better than coping with stress that isn’t there anymore?
