Stress Management Tips

So, you’re in a routine and it’s great! You’re starting to build healthy habits and things feel stable and seem to be coming along. And then something happens… maybe your boss yelled at you at work or a friend let slip something that hurt your feelings. Whatever it is, you feel that impulse to relapse. It could be you want to drink some beer after work, or eat a bowl of ice cream, or maybe hide under the covers and pretend you don’t exist instead of go to the gym. It could be any variety of things. But you have to remember that you will never be able to control external stimuli or the outside forces that cause things to happen to you; you can only control how you respond to things. To that end, here are some tips that might help keep you on track.

Make sure you’re getting your rest

There’s a rule of thumb in psychology, don’t get too tired, too hungry, too angry, or too lonely (spoilers, these tips fit into that). Make sure you get the amount of sleep you need to be a functioning human every night. Otherwise you might find yourself tired, with fewer of your mental defenses up, and more vulnerable when things go wrong and also more prone to make mistakes or fall out of routines because you need sleep.

Stick to healthy eating habits

This is a tough one, but you’ve gotta resist the urge to eat something unhealthy when you’re stressed. We as a culture too often tie food to our emotional state rather than treating it as a way to fuel and maintain our bodies. This is also why it helps to do a cheat day if a healthy diet is something new to you; if you structure in the day where you eat something “fun” it can help lessen the temptation the rest of the time. Also, if there is a healthy thing you can eat as your comfort food when you feel stressed do it! Nobody ever delayed a diet by bingeing some kale chips! And in general you should make sure you eat healthy meals, at the right time so that you won’t get hungry and risk overeating or getting emotional.

Maintain the structure of your life as much as possible

Do you plan your healthy meals in advance at the start of the week? Then don’t get drive thru on the way home after a tough day. Are you trying to workout for half an hour each day after work? Then do it even if you’re feeling down. So much of maintaining healthy habits is sticking to a preset schedule and often that schedule is staying on track with exercise, eating the right food, and making sure you’re in bed at a certain hour so that you are the best and most healthy version of yourself possible.

Reach out to your supports

If you have a hard day, often the best thing you can do is to connect to a person rather than overindulging a food or substance of choice. And arguably one of the worst symptoms of this modern world with its boundless technological wonders is that we are lonely and disconnected from one another. If you can stay connected to your best friend(s) somehow someway, even just twice a week, that may be a world of difference. If you live with your partner, make it a point to make time with them as much as possible. If nothing else, try to use the technology we’re surrounded by to your advantage and have a group chat with your family. Or just have someone you can call to vent to. Whatever.

If you’re upset, try to use a coping skill

Sometimes you will be good and angry. Or upset in a way much more lasting than you like. You are presumably a human being with a working heart and brain, so this will be unavoidable. You might have to use a coping skill or trick to deal with this. It could be counting to ten when angry. It could be a mindfulness activity to put you in touch with your coffee corner with the French Vanilla Leaner Creamer and get you out of your head where you keep replaying that argument with that coworker. It could be writing an angry letter about how bog of a jerk your boss is and burning it to get your catharsis of those feelings. It could be making a list of the pros and cons of your relationship so that you stop going back and forth on the things about your partner that annoy you. Whatever it might be, it’s probably a better option than bingeing White Zinfandel and potato chips in the bathtub.