Learn How to Reduce Stress and Be Happy

Anything taken too the extreme is bad for your health. A little stress is actually good, as it could serve to help you function at your best. It gets your blood pumping and heart racing!

However, stress that seems a little too much can take a physical, as well as mental, toll on your body. Stress can be and should be managed in order to keep depression or anxiety at bay!

So what can you do about it then? The following are tips and advice can get you started in managing your stress.

Write it down and schedule it to get it out of the way.

It is best to write down everything that seems to be overwhelming. You will find a things-to-do-list much easier to manage than having all of your errands crumpled up in your head. Writing down the tasks, and putting a specific schedule and time to do them, helps anyone manage activities one chunk at a time. Crossing out an activity that has already been accomplished is very rewarding and could actually help you feel more relaxed when doing the other tasks at hand. (My wife gets a big kick out of marking things off her todo list with different colored highlighters! I have no earthly idea why, I just know it works for her!)

Focus, Focus!!

Focus and put all your attention specifically on one task at one time. While we all want to think that we are great multi-taskers, research is beginning to show that while we may be able to do more than one thing at a time, both the quality of work goes down and the time it takes to actually complete a task, takes longer, because we have to go back and clean so much up to finalize the project! It also does not help to feel panicky about the other undone tasks. Thinking about them only adds unnecessary stress and could even hamper in doing the task you are attempting to accomplish at present. Focus and complete one task before moving on to the next!

Relax and take it slow.

At least, try not to expend too much energy on activities that are currently not priorities. This is in order for your energy to not get burned up on the tasks that are not that important, at least for now. Lets face it, we only have 24 hours in a day, probably only 10 hrs of actually being productive if we are lucky. Don't waste your time and energy running around attacking non-important busy activities!

Delegate, delegate, delegate.

You need not do everything all at once, and you need not do everything on your own. Ask for help, get help, or pay for help. When there is a feeling of being overwhelmed cropping up, hire someone to mow the lawn or get a sitter for your children. The feeling of being pressed to finish something on time will somehow be eliminated if smaller tasks are delegated. It takes a load of unnecessary worry and anxiety off your shoulders. Moreover, it is easier checking up on how things are, than worrying yourself sick doing everything on your own, all at once.

Give yourself a reward.

You deserve it. Acknowledging your accomplishments, no matter how big or small, is an effort that is necessary before getting on to the next tasks and activities. It reduces stress and could even make you happier in doing the next task. It really reinforces you to continue on tackling your tasks one at a time when you give your self a little treat to celebrate! Its worth it in the long run, so don't cheat yourself.

Give yourself a break.

You need it to be more productive. A ten to fifteen minute break during your work is necessary. Go visit a café nearby, take a quick brisk walk, or do anything to put your mind off work, at least for a while. This is necessary to refresh and recharge. Believe it or not, you can also stay in your work and sit with your eyes closed as you visualize a peaceful landscape or a relaxing scene. This frees the stress from your muscles and your mind. (A brisk 5 minute walk 2 or 3 times a day will help manage your stress and improve your fitness while pumping blood through the brain to improve your productivity!

Relax and be cool. Doing so makes you healthier, happier, and a lot more productive.