49% of adults across America experience some sort of stress on a regular basis. For 22% of adults, this is an extreme level of stress. So if you find yourself buckling under the pressure of daily life you’re not alone.
But stress is a serious issue and can have a massive impact on your health and wellbeing. It can disrupt sleep, inhibit your ability to work properly and damage your personal relationships. This is why it’s important to take control of your stress.
But this can be challenging because stress doesn’t just come from one area of your life. Finances, relationships, worry, and illness can all contribute to stress. So how do you combat these?
Ridding your life of stress isn’t about overhauling it completely. Instead, making changes in different areas of life can reduce your stress levels and make life better.
Read on to find out our top tips on how to make your life better today!
1. Create Routine
Having a routine allows you to feel more in control of your own life. And this immediately reduces stress. The minute you do this you will feel like you have more time on your hands.
Start with your sleep. Try to wake up and go to sleep at the same time every day. This helps to reset your circadian rhythm, which often becomes upset when you feel stressed.
Getting your circadian rhythm in order will help you to get deep and nourishing sleep. So it will set you up for each day.
Exercising shortly after you wake up might not feel appealing. But it will send endorphins racing through your body and help you to wake up naturally.
In the same way, give yourself downtime in the evening before you go to sleep. Letting your brain switch off naturally is a great way of ensuring you get great sleep.
When planning your daily routine, make sure to work with your body. Some people really are morning people, while others thrive better in the evenings.
Embrace these natural rhythms. If you know you focus best in the morning, then use this time for your most demanding tasks.
2. Don’t Try to Hold It All In Your Head
Accepting your own weaknesses is vital for making a better life. And this is one of them. No one can hold every single thought in their own head all day every day — so don’t!
Writing things down is a great way to clear them out of your brain. It will instantly make you feel calmer and more in control.
If you want to organize your life admin, write it out on post-it notes or in a shared diary. This will help you stay on top of things without feeling like your brain is exploding. For even more clarity you can color-code your thoughts!
Just make sure to keep your notes organized. A wall of post-it notes bombarding you will not make you feel calm.
Doing a similar thing with your emotional journey can be just as helpful. If you find yourself stewing over a problem in your life, writing it down can help you make sense of it. And getting it out of your head will provide much-needed relief.
3. Prioritizing Will Make Life Better
You’re only human and you can’t get everything done in a day. How to make it in life isn’t about getting everything done at once. So prioritize your tasks.
Pinpoint your three most important tasks for a day and focus on those. This gives you an achievable goal for the day.
At the end of the day, you’ll be able to say you achieved everything you set out to achieve. If that doesn’t make you feel successful we don’t know what will!
4. Don’t Put Things Off
When it comes to picking your tasks for the day, be honest with yourself. Leaving the hardest things won’t make them any easier. But doing them first will give you an amazing sense of achievement.
Whether it’s finishing a work project or renewing your short term health insurance, put it at the top of your list.
For particularly difficult tasks, try using the 60-10 method. This is when you optimize your focus by timing your work for 60 minutes straight.
After 60 minutes you have a 10-minute break away from your work before starting again. This gives you enough time to clear your mind and come back feeling refreshed.
5. Take Hold of Your Finances
This is another job not to put off! Finance is one of the leading causes of extreme stress in America. Taking control of your finances can feel like a daunting task but it will make you feel much better.
Familiarize yourself with your regular income and outgoings. This will help you identify where you’re overspending. And if you make a budget, stick to it.
There are loads of useful budgeting apps to help you get on top of your finances. In the meantime, why not start a spare change jar? Every little bit helps!
6. Let Yourself Rely on People
No man is an island so don’t be afraid to reach out and ask for people.
Having people in your life shares out accountability and this means the pressure isn’t all on your shoulders. Relieving this pressure means you can focus on how to be better at life.
Think carefully about the people in your life. We all have people who drag us down with their habits or attitudes. It might be time to say goodbye to them.
7. Take Time for Positivity
If you find yourself googling “how to get a life” it might be time to take a minute and appreciate your own.
Putting positivity out into your life can help to relieve stress and put things in perspective. This change in attitude can actually transform your day.
Ditch negative thoughts, such as grudges, and give yourself time to meditate on what you’re grateful for in life. To boost positivity, try listening to your favorite song while you do this.
8. Learn Something New
Not every day will feel like a triumph. But you can try to salvage a positive from the day by learning something new.
You don’t have to devote a lot of time to this. Reading a non-fiction book, checking in on global news or listening to a podcast can make you feel more grounded and informed.
Or for something totally new, try learning a new word each day to expand your vocabulary. This is sure to leave you with a small sense of fulfillment.
9. Clear Out the Junk
You don’t just have to clear space in your mind by writing things down. Physically de-cluttering your life can make you feel more peaceful.
Arrange your work desk so you can focus properly.
And while you’re at it, sort out your email inbox. Unsubscribing from any unwanted newsletters or mailing lists will help to keep these areas of your life clear.
10. Fill Your Day With Music
Sitting in silence can only help you focus for so long. After that it makes the day feel longer. And it makes it easy to slip into your own thoughts.
Listening to certain types of music while you work can actually help you focus. Classic music or white noise can help you shut out distractions while you work to keep you on task.
Autonomous sensory meridian response (or ASMR) can also boost your focus and make you feel calmer while you work.
11. Take Time Away From Your Phone
We’re all guilty of having our phones out too much. But this can be a huge cause of stress in your life.
Being bombarded by messages or calls that you don’t want or need can feel overwhelming. Social media apps also mean we never get a true sense of alone time with our phone by our sides.
So take some time out. Invest in a watch or bedside clock to so you know what time it is and leave your phone in another room.
This will help to improve quality time with your family or focus while you’re working. Don’t let your phone interrupt much needed time out at the end of the day.
If you worry that this will make you hard to contact, simply put your phone on loud. If anyone tries to call you’ll be able to hear it.
The Bottom Line
Don’t wait for something or someone to make life better for you. Taking control of your own life is extremely liberating and will enhance your quality of life.
But to do this you have to be honest with yourself. You know better than anyone what needs to change to make you happy and how to achieve this. If you’re brave enough to make the change then you’ll be lucky enough to reap the rewards.
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