Tips for Adults: Coping with Stress

One of the difficult things about dealing with stress is that there often does not seem to be a way to cope. Stressful lifestyles and situations seem overwhelmingly demanding. But you can take back control. Here are some tips that may help.

1. Sneaky Stress

As hard as it may be to believe, stress can be a bit sneaky…or more correctly, causes of stress can be sneaky. One of the first steps toward coping is to identify just what’s causing your stress, and to think outside the box a bit. It may not be as obvious as you think. For example…

2. Maybe It’s You

Not to beat yourself up, but have you ever considered the possibility that at least some of your stress is the result of how you approach things? For instance, you may find your job stressful, but could that be because you procrastinate and end up with everything due at once? That stress is more an issue of how you handle your work than the nature of the work itself.

3. Look at Your Habits and Excuses

Do you find yourself saying, “I just have a lot going on right now,” but “right now” is pretty much all the time? What about people and circumstances – do you find yourself blaming them often?

4. How Do You Currently Cope?

Everyone has some sort of coping mechanism. Do you eat, smoke, shop, withdraw, or indulge in some other habit when you are stressed? Take a look at how you are currently coping and see if it’s self-destructive or unhealthy.

5. Take Control

Take a look at your schedule and put down on paper just what’s stressing you out. Get out a calendar, and rearrange tasks and schedules (to the hour if necessary) to see if you can find a way to grab some down time. There may be some things you can cut out, or perhaps there is a task or two that could be delegated to take some of the pressure off of you.

6. Parenting Stress

Parents are often stressed about their kids. While you’re rearranging your schedule as suggested above, consider cutting back your kids’ schedules, too. Also, seek out a support group where you can air concerns and receive and offer support. This helps so much when you are trying to reduce the stress of parenting.

7. Workplace Stress

As noted above, take a look at what’s causing your workplace stress, and identify your role in it. Then take charge and make changes. Are deadlines stressing you out? Take control and take on deadlines that you know you can meet. Perhaps starting sooner on projects and working in small steps would reduce the stress level, too.

There’s no doubt that stress is a fact of life. But it doesn’t have to run your life! Hopefully, these tips will help you take charge and reduce the stress in your life.