Copy and Paste this into your blog... answer the questions below.
Are you stressed?
Your answer: Not right now no. This is due to the fact that I have Tuesday completely off.
What are some things that are currently stressing you out?
Your answer: I guess studying for the exams would be the most stressful obstacle.
What are some ways you are dealing with stress?
Your answer: I deal with stress by getting a good amount of work done then rewarding myself by doing something entertaining.
What are some non-healthy ways to manage stress?
Your answer: Some people who are stressed tend to lock themselves up and cry, over eat, over sleep, ect.
What are healthy ways to manage stress?
Your answer: Set goals and then reward yourself, relax, get outside, exercise, and hang out with friends.
Skim through this website:http://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/stress-management.htm and information below.
1. Action-Oriented Approaches
Are you stressed?
Your answer: Not right now no. This is due to the fact that I have Tuesday completely off.
Here are Signs of Stress
Everyone reacts to stress differently. However, some common signs and symptoms of the fight or flight response include:
- Frequent headaches.
- Cold or sweaty hands and feet.
- Frequent heartburn, stomach pain, or nausea.
- Panic attacks.
- Excessive sleeping, or insomnia.
- Persistent difficulty concentrating.
- Obsessive or compulsive behaviors.
- Social withdrawal or isolation.
- Constant fatigue.
- Irritability and angry episodes.
- Significant weight gain or loss.
- Consistent feelings of being overwhelmed or overloaded.
What are some things that are currently stressing you out?
Your answer: I guess studying for the exams would be the most stressful obstacle.
What are some ways you are dealing with stress?
Your answer: I deal with stress by getting a good amount of work done then rewarding myself by doing something entertaining.
What are some non-healthy ways to manage stress?
Your answer: Some people who are stressed tend to lock themselves up and cry, over eat, over sleep, ect.
What are healthy ways to manage stress?
Your answer: Set goals and then reward yourself, relax, get outside, exercise, and hang out with friends.
Skim through this website:http://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/stress-management.htm and information below.
1. Action-Oriented Approaches
With action-oriented approaches, you take action to change the stressful situations.
Managing Your Time
Your workload can cause stress, if you don't manage your time well. This can be a key source of stress for very many people.
Take our time management quiz to identify where you can improve, and make sure that you use time management tools such as To-Do Lists and Action Programs to manage your priorities.
Then use Job Analysis to think about what's most important in your role, so that you can prioritize your work more effectively. This helps you reduce stress, because you get the greatest return from your efforts, and you minimize the time you spend on low-value activities.
Also, avoid multitasking , only check email at certain times, and don't use electronic devices for a while before going to bed, so that you use this time to "switch off" fully.
Score Interpretation
| Score | Comment |
|---|---|
| 46-75 | You're managing your time very effectively! Still, check the sectionsbelow to see if there's anything you can tweak to make this even better. |
| 31-45 | You're good at some things, but there's room for improvement elsewhere. Focus on the serious issues below, and you'll most likely find that work becomes much less stressful. |
| 15-30 | Ouch. The good news is that you've got a great opportunity to improve your effectiveness at work, and your long term success! However, to realize this, you've got to fundamentally improve your time management skills. (Read below to start.) |
2. Emotion-Oriented Approaches
Emotion-oriented approaches are useful when the stress you're experiencing comes from the way that you perceive a situation. (It can be annoying for people to say this, but a lot of stress comes from overly-negative thinking.)
To change how you think about stressful situations:
- Use Cognitive Restructuring , the ABC Technique , and Thought Awareness, Rational Thinking, and Positive Thinking to change the way that you perceive stressful events.
- Take our positive thinking quiz to learn how to think more positively.
- Use Affirmations and Imagery to overcome short-term negative thinking, so that you feel more positive about stressful situations.
3. Acceptance-Oriented Approaches
Acceptance-oriented approaches apply to situations where you have no power to change what happens, and where situations are genuinely bad.
To build your defenses against stress:
- Use techniques like meditation and physical relaxation to calm yourself when you feel stressed.
- Take advantage of your support network – this could include your friends and family, as well as people at work and professional providers, such as counselors or family doctors.
- Get enough exercise and sleep , and learn how to make the most of yourdown time , so that you can recover from stressful events.
- Learn how to cope with change and build resilience , so that you can overcome setbacks.
Copy and paste ways that you are currently using and NEW ways you might handle your stress.
Your answer
Posted 21 hours ago by Annie Almekinder
Stress management strategy #1: Avoid unnecessary stress
Not all stress can be avoided, and it’s not healthy to avoid a situation that needs to be addressed. You may be surprised, however, by the number of stressors in your life that you can eliminate.
- Learn how to say “no” – Know your limits and stick to them. Whether in your personal or professional life, taking on more than you can handle is a surefire recipe for stress.
- Avoid people who stress you out – If someone consistently causes stress in your life and you can’t turn the relationship around, limit the amount of time you spend with that person or end the relationship entirely.
- Take control of your environment – If the evening news makes you anxious, turn the TV off. If traffic’s got you tense, take a longer but less-traveled route. If going to the market is an unpleasant chore, do your grocery shopping online.
- Avoid hot-button topics – If you get upset over religion or politics, cross them off your conversation list. If you repeatedly argue about the same subject with the same people, stop bringing it up or excuse yourself when it’s the topic of discussion.
- Pare down your to-do list – Analyze your schedule, responsibilities, and daily tasks. If you’ve got too much on your plate, distinguish between the “shoulds” and the “musts.” Drop tasks that aren’t truly necessary to the bottom of the list or eliminate them entirely.
Stress management strategy #4: Accept the things you can’t change
Some sources of stress are unavoidable. You can’t prevent or change stressors such as the death of a loved one, a serious illness, or a national recession. In such cases, the best way to cope with stress is to accept things as they are. Acceptance may be difficult, but in the long run, it’s easier than railing against a situation you can’t change.
- Don’t try to control the uncontrollable. Many things in life are beyond our control— particularly the behavior of other people. Rather than stressing out over them, focus on the things you can control such as the way you choose to react to problems.
- Look for the upside. As the saying goes, “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” When facing major challenges, try to look at them as opportunities for personal growth. If your own poor choices contributed to a stressful situation, reflect on them and learn from your mistakes.
- Share your feelings. Talk to a trusted friend face to face or make an appointment with a therapist. The simple act of expressing what you’re going through can be very cathartic, even if there’s nothing you can do to alter the stressful situation. Opening up is not a sign of weakness and it won’t make you a burden to others. In fact, most friends will be flattered that you trust them enough to confide in them, and it will only strengthen your bond.
- Learn to forgive. Accept the fact that we live in an imperfect world and that people make mistakes. Let go of anger and resentments. Free yourself from negative energy by forgiving and moving on.
Stress management strategy #5: Make time for fun and relaxation
Beyond a take-charge approach and a positive attitude, you can reduce stress in your life by nurturing yourself. If you regularly make time for fun and relaxation, you’ll be in a better place to handle life’s stressors.
Don’t get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of life that you forget to take care of your own needs. Nurturing yourself is a necessity, not a luxury.
- Set aside relaxation time. Include rest and relaxation in your daily schedule. Don’t allow other obligations to encroach. This is your time to take a break from all responsibilities and recharge your batteries.
- Connect with others. Spend time with positive people who enhance your life. A strong support system will buffer you from the negative effects of stress.
- Do something you enjoy every day. Make time for leisure activities that bring you joy, whether it be stargazing, playing the piano, or working on your bike.
- Keep your sense of humor. This includes the ability to laugh at yourself. The act of laughing helps your body fight stress in a number of ways.
Stress management strategy #6: Adopt a healthy lifestyle
You can increase your resistance to stress by strengthening your physical health.
- Exercise regularly . Physical activity plays a key role in reducing and preventing the effects of stress. Make time for at least 30 minutes of exercise, three times per week. Nothing beats aerobic exercise for releasing pent-up stress and tension.
- Eat a healthy diet . Well-nourished bodies are better prepared to cope with stress, so be mindful of what you eat. Start your day right with breakfast, and keep your energy up and your mind clear with balanced, nutritious meals throughout the day.
- Reduce caffeine and sugar. The temporary "highs" caffeine and sugar provide often end in with a crash in mood and energy. By reducing the amount of coffee, soft drinks, chocolate, and sugar snacks in your diet, you’ll feel more relaxed and you’ll sleep better.
- Avoid alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs. Self-medicating with alcohol or drugs may provide an easy escape from stress, but the relief is only temporary. Don’t avoid or mask the issue at hand; deal with problems head on and with a clear mind.
- Get enough sleep . Adequate sleep fuels your mind, as well as your body. Feeling tired will increase your stress because it may cause you to think irrationally.
Prioritization
(Questions 1, 4, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15)
Your score is 33 out of 35 
Prioritizing what needs to be done is especially important. Without it, you may work very hard, but you won't be achieving the results you desire because what you are working on is not of strategic importance.
Most people have a "to-do" list of some sort. The problem with many of these lists is they are just a collection of things that need to get done. There is no rhyme or reason to the list and, because of this, the work they do is just as unstructured. So how do you work on To Do List tasks – top down, bottom up, easiest to hardest?
To work efficiently you need to work on the most important, highest value tasks. This way you won't get caught scrambling to get something critical done as the deadline approaches. For information on how to start prioritizing your tasks, see
Scheduling
(Questions 3, 7, 12)
Your score is 10 out of 15 
Much of time management comes down to effective scheduling of your time. When you know what your goals and priorities are, you then need to know how to go about creating a schedule that keeps you on track, and protects you from stress.
This means understanding the factors that affect the time you have available for work. You not only have to schedule priority tasks, you have to leave room for interruptions, and contingency time for those unexpected events that otherwise wreak chaos with your schedule. By creating a robust schedule that reflects your priorities and well as supports your personal goals, you have a winning combination: One that will allow you to control your time and keep your life in balance. To learn specific scheduling skills, see our articles on Pickle Jar Theory and Scheduling Skills .
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