How can I quickly reduce my stress levels?

How can I quickly reduce my stress levels? I have been looking for a technique to help me manage my stress levels, so I don’t become overwhelmed by my emotions. I came across a brilliant idea the other day, called quick stress relief.

Quick stress relief

This is specifically designed for the times you can feel your stress levels rising, and need something quick and accessible, that you can use in the moment.

I have an over-excited stress response, meaning I tend to get overly emotional and agitated when stressed, so I need a technique to calm me down.

Some people react to stress in a different way, becoming withdrawn. If this is you, choose a technique that energises you, which may include physical movement.

Take a deep breath, and use one of your senses to calm you down. The sense that you respond to best will be very individual. Think back to what you did as a child to calm down. I personally respond best to touch, so quick stress relief ideas include massaging neck or hands, stroking a pet, hugging someone, having a comforting item to hold onto, using a stress ball, or having soft items of clothing you can hold against your skin to elicit a tactile response.

Other people may respond better to calming sights, sounds, smells or tastes. Try different things and see which work best for you in the moment.

Visualisation

Once you have found a technique that works well for you, you can take this one step further. Focus on the memory of the thing that you find most comforting (for example stroking your pet, if you are not at home when the stressful event happens). This will elicit exactly the same calming or energising response as if you were performing the action itself. In exactly the same way that simply thinking about a stressful situation will activate our fight or flight response, using our mind to visualise a calming or energising scene can actually calm our stress response.

The trick it to notice your stress levels rising, and use your technique to quickly turn things around before they get out of hand.

I hope you find it as useful as I have. Finding something you can use to quickly reduce stress levels is a real game-changer!

Project 365

I set up this website after deciding that I want to build a more creative life for myself, so I can give up my job and be in control of my own destiny.

I have set myself a goal of publishing an article on my website every day this year, to document my journey from employment to self-employment.

The name I chose was Project 365 because I see this as a year that I have dedicated to learning and self-development, as I countdown to freedom. It started on 1st January 2021, so I have 346 days to go!

Why not check in on a regular basis to see how I am progressing, and what I have discovered?