If you’re waking up dreading the thought of going to work, feeling exhausted all the time or constantly sick, you may be stressing yourself out. Signs of stress isn’t always slap-in-the-face obvious, there are often subtle and unexpected ways you’re stressing yourself out, and you don’t even realise it.
MyDeal Pro Tip:
You’re not getting enough sleep. I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again; sleep is so important for your health. Getting at least eight hours of sleep a night can help replenish your brain cells, and it also helps reduce cortisol (the stress hormone). If you lose sleep, you rack up sleep debt, which can be super detrimental to your health. You become hungrier, because a lack of sleep releases the hunger hormone, Ghrelin, which makes you want to eat high-GI foods, offering you short bursts of energy, which makes you feel better for a while, but offer little nutritional value, which makes you feel lethargic and just, blah. If you’re tossing and turning at night, try reading a book, put your phone away an hour before you sleep, and get yourself a comfortable memory foam mattress from MyDeal.
Sonja Courtis | Sonja Courtis
“Stress is a subjective experience that is unique to each of us. A situation that one person may find stressful may not be for someone else. Our decision to see a situation as stressful is based on choices we make and subconscious mind programs we are running. Some ways we are stressing ourselves out is that we feel we need to do everything ourselves and we want to control everything in our lives. We overwhelm ourselves with issues and act as if they are life or death, when in fact, most things that stress us out are not going to kill us at all. We have lost the ability to think rationally and stop, breathe and take note of what is really important. When we are not living in the present moment, we are thinking too far ahead of possible negative outcomes and not allowing ourselves time throughout the day to consciously breathe and be still. We feel that everything needs to get done there and then, as if something bad will happen if we don’t. Most people, if they were to stop for a few minutes throughout their day and just take time to slow down and notice their breath will see how shallow they are breathing. Slowing down to take notice of our state actually calms our mind and makes us achieve things in a more efficient and effective way! Being as mindful as we can as often as we can throughout the day will reduce our levels of stress. This combined with prioritising tasks and delegating others also helps to reduce stress. We are also stressing ourselves out by not taking care of ourselves holistically. We have busy lives and then we do busy activities to keep ourselves on the go. Yet we ignore nurturing a positive mindset and ensuring our emotional well being is taken care of. This lack of connection to our values, needs and wants overwhelms us and puts us in a state of stress because we are reacting to life rather than being in flow with it. “Know thy self” is paramount to avoid reactive behaviour and recognising our triggers so we can deal with day to day situations with ease and calm. Being grateful for what we already have and appreciating life for its small joys and good things, if practiced consistently over time, takes us out of stress and into seeing life as a journey with ups and downs that we can navigate with ease and grace when we know there is always a positive outcome at the end of it all. Shifting our lens from what’s not working to what is takes us away from stress and into flow. And it is flow where stuff actually gets done in a timely and necessary manner.” Find out more about Sonja Courtis by following her on Facebook.
MyDeal Pro Tip:
You’re not making time for yourself. If you find that you’re constantly running around, putting everyone else ahead of yourself, you’re probably wearing yourself out. When you lose focus of yourself, you can forget to take care of your body, your diet, and mental health. A way to fix this is by taking a day, and spending it by treating yourself. Catch up on sleep, have a bath, get outside, grab your pet supplies from MyDeal and walk your dog. Do anything that makes you feel good, and not just for the benefit of others. You deserve nothing less.
Stephanie Lau | Stephanie Lau & The Holiday Psychologist
“It's extremely easy to feel stressed out when you have a large workload, which seems unachievable and you are overwhelmed with thoughts of self-doubt and failure. These persistent worries may start small but can easily snowball and are unhelpful. When facing a large list of to-dos, try to compartmentalise and chunk your work into smaller realistic goals. Prioritise the tasks that must be done each day, try to stay mindful so as not to overwhelm yourself and reward yourself. Acknowledge when you have been able to successfully complete smaller goals and it will be easier to master your workload and overcome those thoughts of negativity.” Find out more about Stephanie Lau by following her and The Holiday Psychologist on Facebook and Instagram.
Maggie Georgopoulos | Mags Inspires
“Often in our lives, it is the little things that trip us up and send us over that imaginary line. In business, in particular, we spend a lot of time worrying about the things that we cannot change or influence. For instance how we perceive someone reacting to something that we have to do or might say, or not knowing what the outcome of the meeting for that next contract is going to work out. A simple way to avoid this unnecessary stress is to visualise the meeting and presentation, visualise what is happening, questions they might ask and me answering them confidently and with knowledge, and finally the positive outcome and how I will react both in the meeting and after in privacy. This generally serves to not only keep me calm but also to ensure I am well prepared for what I need to do.” Find out more about Mags Inspires by following her on Facebook and Instagram.
Dr Brooklyn Storme | Cerebellum Consulting
"Constantly agreeing to things when our plate is already full, is just one of the little ways you're stressing yourself out. We don't want to let others down by saying 'no' so we let ourselves down by saying 'yes'. When we engage in these actions, we can often end up feeling resentment, exhaustion and overwhelmed. Be kind to yourself and to them, by being okay with setting boundaries. Spend time thinking about your limits, your line-in-the-sand, and implement it. Yes, people will be surprised when you let them know that you're truly sorry, but you don't have capacity to take on their task. However, they'll also begin to see that you value your time and therefore, so should they. Setting boundaries and being okay with saying 'no' is one little way that you can begin to free yourself from stress." Find out more about Cerebellum Consulting by following them on Facebook.
