Reduce Stress Reduce Panic Attacks
All the stress-reduction techniques in the world are of little value if you don’t find the cause of your stress. You could exercise until you pass out, but if you still can’t make your mortgage payment, no changes will happen for you. When you find out the cause, you can take steps to help yourself reduce stress.
Taking the example of not paying your mortgage, you want to find a solution quickly. But, you don’t want to use a solution like those online loan services. They charge exorbitant rates and the interest is calculated on a daily basis. Taking advantage of any of these services will increase your stress and will leave you stuck with a higher payment.
Your stress may be caused by someone you work with. Perhaps they are lagging behind in their work, and it is bringing your whole team down. One solution is to help the lagging member with his or her work. But, try to show them ways to get work done faster, so it doesn’t happen again in the future.
If your stress is caused by you procrastinating on something important, you need to reverse that immediately. The situation is likely to get worse. For instance, if you let a slow leak in your home keep building, it’s going to make it tougher to handle when it becomes a large leak. If you are not capable of fixing the leak yourself, hire a professional.
From the above scenarios, you would have dealt with the actual cause of the stress points. You could try meditating and participate in extreme sports. Those will help you reduce your stress to some degree. But, it wouldn’t do much to eliminate the situations. Only by finding what is causing the stress and taking actions based on that, would you be able to eliminate the stress it caused.
Stress reduction techniques not related to the cause can still help, however. They can help you relax, which can get you to think about solutions to the problem. The techniques can also help to lower your blood pressure and heart rate. When you are calmer, you will find solutions much quicker than when you are harried and stressed out.
In most cases, you’ll be able to determine what is stressing you out. There are situations where you become anxious, and you are not sure why. Hopefully, it is a temporary condition. Should it become more long-term, consider getting some help before it gets out of control.
Does Your Environment Affect Your Stress Levels?
Your workplace and home are places you spend a lot of time. Therefore, if those environments are set up to cause you conflict, this can add to your stress levels.
For instance, if you live or work in a cluttered area, you will spend a good portion of your time looking for items. This takes away from more important items, like spending more time with family at home or getting more work done at the office. If you don’t have good organization skills, this can be a great first step in reducing some of the stress in your life.
There are companies that are paid big money to design the most efficient office environments. This concept is also being taken into the home as well. When the places you frequent give you a sense of balance, you will be more productive and more at peace. This can only lead to lower stress levels on the whole.
Some people believe these kinds of measures are nonsense, and the companies that espouse their use are just doing it to make money. There are going to be companies that do that, unfortunately. This small percentage of tricksters ruin it for the industry. However, talk to others who may have gone through some transformations, either at home or at their workplaces, and ask them if they noticed any difference in their environments.
Like any industry, design has its fair share of fads. Consider the Feng Shui movement that was so popular a few years ago. It seems to have completely disappeared. This adds fuel to the detractors.
Another factor is an individual’s tolerance for stress. Some people can handle it well while others can only handle minor amounts. For those who can handle a large amount of stress, the environment surrounding them isn’t going to make much of a difference. While a well-designed environment may help them to some degree, they can work or live in just about any surrounding.
Those who have trouble with stress may be served well with an environment redesign. If their outlook and productivity improve, it can be well worth any expense for the design. Since it doesn’t matter much to those who have a high tolerance for stress, a company should consider going forward with the design changes, if they have the budget. Of course, a lot depends on the management’s attitude towards this type of improvement. If they are skeptical, they won’t be easily convinced.
Want to Reduce Stress? Get Some Sleep
If you don’t get the right amount of sleep, your mind cannot be at its best. You won’t function properly and may make some serious mistakes. Unfortunately, stress can cause people to stay awake at night. However, getting the right amount of sleep can help eventually reduce your stress levels.
To get better sleep, start exercising on a regular basis. While exercise may give you energy throughout the day, when you go to bed at night, it will help you to sleep better. You will have a quality sleep as well. Some people find that exercising in the evening causes them to be wired, and they can’t get to sleep. If you fall into this camp of people, consider doing your exercising in the morning. This way, you’ll use that energy burst throughout the day and will give you time to become tired.
Try to avoid using alcohol in excess. Although this seems counterintuitive as alcohol makes you sleepy, it causes you to fall into a deep sleep. You then wake up in the middle of the night and have a difficult time getting back to sleep. Without the alcohol, your sleep will be more even and allow you to sleep throughout the night. If you feel you must have alcohol, don’t have more than one drink.
See a doctor if you have sleeping problems that persist. Not getting enough sleep can lead to a decline in your health. Sleep recharges the body and allows it to function properly, including building up antibodies to fight off diseases. When you are deprived of sleep, a bunch of problems can arise because of it.
Hopefully, if you do resort to seeing a doctor, he will find solutions that are not drug-dependent. This may help your sleep problems in the short term but doesn’t do much to fix the reason why you are not getting sleep. Press your doctor for alternative solutions if drugs are being prescribed.
Consider learning meditation as that can relax the mind. It’s much easier to get good sleep when the mind is relaxed than when it is thinking about all the problems you are facing. Meditation won’t solve those problems. But, getting to sleep can help you to come up with solutions faster.
Eating at the proper times during the day and eating the right kinds of foods, can help you to sleep better at night, as well. If you have a heavy meal right before you are going to bed, you could suffer from indigestion, which will not lead to a good sleep at all.
