Stress. We all experience it from time to time. There are many great tips on how to reduce stress and cope with it. That’s what we are going to talk about today. Stress can be stressful. But we must make sure that our stress doesn’t cause burnout. What is burnout?
Burnout is a way of your body telling you that you are exhausted not just physically and mentally but emotionally as well.
How does stress cause burnout?
Well, I see stress like a pile of laundry. Each day you add a little more extra dirty clothes to the pile. If you keep adding more and more “clothes” to the pile, and don’t end up doing anything about it, that pile is going to become an inconvenience.
Similarly, if we let our stress pile up, it will and can become an inconvenience to us in our daily life, causing you to burnout.
So, how do we identify burnout? Here are a few signs that you may be experiencing burnout:
- Increase in procrastinating
- Insomnia
- Isolation
- Addiction (for comfort)
Okay so, now that we know how to identify burnout and how it relates to stress, what can we do to reduce our stress?
Well, like we know stress in unavoidable. We will experience stress in our lives. To reduce stress though, here are some tips.
BREATE
Remember to breathe. I know this sounds silly and almost obvious. Duh! When you’re feeling stressed usually anxiety follows. And one of the symptoms for anxiety is an increased heartrate. So, what do we need to do? We need to breathe. Do this exercise: Take 3-6 deep breaths but when you breathe out, breathe out like you would into a straw. Simple.
ADJUST YOUR FOCUS
Instead of focusing on what is stressing you, just for a moment think about what you’re grateful. I’m sure you’ve heard this before. Think about what you’re grateful for. The thing about this tip, is that people often think they have to think about the big things in life. But, it can be the small things too. For example, I am grateful to be alive. Although, it seems quite obvious that that is something to be grateful, for some, just being alive and being able to wake up in the morning is what makes them the most grateful.
STAY ACTIVE
Again, another obvious one. This is a common one, that is often associated with increasing better moods and reducing stress. When you stay active, it keeps you breathing, fresh, and can assist in clearing your mind. Look at the symptoms for burnout above. Imagine how your body feels physically when you’re feeling even 1 or 2 of these symptoms. I’ll tell you how I’d feel. I’d feel like I’ve been run over by a bus. My whole body physically is done. Imagine now feeling this way and wanting to force yourself to get active, it might be a little tough. But see, that’s why I said you got to stay active. Stay. Make it a consistent thing for you to do. Make it a goal.
There are obviously more ways to reduce stress. There may even be some ways of reducing stress that you do already, that I did not mention here today. All that matters is that we are not allowing our stress to run our life. And that’s what’s important. Remember stress can cause burnout. So, in order to avoid that start with these basic tips I left with you today. You’re not going to be able to remove your stress. But, you can definitely reduce it.
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