Stress Awareness

The science – What is stress?

Stress is the reaction to something that threatens our physical and mental equilibrium. When the equilibrium tilts, our body responds with internal bodily reactions brought about by the ‘fight or flight’ response. Back to the stone-age days this response allowed our ancestors to survive being amongst carnivores and real-life threatening situations. Their bodies either prepared to fight the tiger trying to kill them or prepared to run away from it. Once away from the danger, their mind and bodies returned to their normal state.

The modern day stress

In today’s world, many of us experience the same bodily reaction continuously throughout our day. The millions of emails, the twenty-something sound notifications on our various tech devices, the never ending to do lists……. All these things can bring about repetitive instances of intense stress, ultimately making our body fight/flight at least 1 lion, 3 tigers and a herd of raging bulls only in the first two hours of our day at work.

Although a little stress is good for us as this makes us alert, determined and ready to go, however the constant stage of stress can be detrimental to our physical and mental health, sometimes resulting in insomnia, high blood pressure and it can lead to other illnesses.

Quick tips on managing stress

Here are three ways you can successfully manage stress in your working day:

1. You’re in control – When an unexpected situation arises with the potential to change everything you had planned, remember you are still in control and you have the ability to focus your attention on the task at hand. Organise, plan, delegate and act.
2. End the day – At a reasonable hour, close-up shop and take a walk, go out with a friend or talk to someone. Whichever you choose, allow your brain to leave your work at work and rest.
3. Follow the ‘two hour’ rule – Once your workday is over, limit your screen time to two hours a day or less. Fill that time with stress-relief activities like spending time with people, reading, exercising, creating art and whatever else you enjoy. 

Why not take part in the 30 days challenge led by the stress management society, it takes 30 days to turn actions into good habit that will keep that stress at bay!

Support for you

At times we all need some support and that is perfectly OK and understandable. Remember accessing the support you need is the bravest step you can take to protect yourself