Dealing with Stress

This program is usually delivered as a 1 hour session.  It is suitable for anyone in a role where they may feel pressured and stressed at work and  / or home.stressed

This program will show you how to:

  • Better understand what stress is
  • Appreciate what are the 3 primary causes of stress
  • Spot the early warning signs that stress is impacting upon you
  • Learn strategies and techniques for coping with stress
  • Spot inappropriate coping strategies
  • Make decisions to work on what is changeable for you to minimise stress

12 tips for coping with stress:

1. Diet - Ensure you have a balanced, nutritional diet

2. Sleep - Try to keep to a regular sleeping pattern - and to ensure that you sleep enough hours to enable you to wake refreshed in the morning. Most people need 7-8 hours sleep a night -making this a priority will help give you the energy to cope with other aspects of life

3. Organise your time (use your time map) - ‘Brainstorm’ all you feel you have to do, whether it be in the short, medium or long term. Then prioritise. Determine what has to be done to day - what can be postponed till tomorrow- or next week. Most importantly, what actually does not need to be done - or can be delegated to someone else. Spend 10 minutes each day reviewing this list, and bringing it up to date. Be realistic! Only plan to do what is manageable in the time at your disposal.

4. Plan each day - Organise each day. Learn what time of day you are at your best. Ensure you eat breakfast whether or not you feel like it - this will energise your body, and help you to cope physically and mentally with the day ahead. Ensure you have regular rest periods - however pressurised take 10 minutes where you can completely cut off from your work. Go for a walk, sit somewhere on your own and RELAX.

5. Examine your lifestyle - Do you try too much? Imagine that you are a stranger who is looking at you from a distance. What advice would you give?

6. Practice mental detachment - Learn to ’switch off’ if you are feeling too pressurised by those around you, or if you find yourself in a boring situation which you cannot escape e.g. a traffic jam. Take yourself mentally to somewhere you would rather be. Concentrate on yourself. Consciously make efforts to relax all parts of your body and mind and think yourself into the most pleasant situation you can imagine.  Do not worry what others may think - your physical and mental health is the most important.

7. Take positive efforts to improve your self-image - You are as valuable and worthwhile a human being as anyone else! Challenge anyone who tries to put you down. Remember that those who put others down have a lot to learn themselves.

8. Learn to be assertive - That is, learn to say firmly “No I’m sorry, I have not the time, space, mental/physical energy to do this/take this on/ cope with this”. Do not be ashamed to admit that you cannot do all that is demanded of you.

9. Relax! - Take positives moves to find means of relaxing that suits you. Sporting activities, hobbies, night classes, suit some. Explore methods you have not tried before - yoga, deep relaxation tapes, meditation.  Do not use ‘lack of time’ as a reason for not choosing a specific method of relaxation – the time spent on this will more than pay dividends for other aspects of your life.

10. Seek support from others - Do not be afraid to ask for help, either from someone you know personally or with a professional counsellor. Sharing what you feel can in itself ease feelings of stress.

11. Alternative medicines - Read about alternative medicines which may help deal with symptoms of stress. If you feel they may suit you, then give them a try. For example, homeopathy, Bach flower remedies, hypnotherapy.

12. Put yourself first - If you are not OK then you are not going to be much use to others, however responsible you may feel for them. So your first responsibility is to your own welfare, and to ensuring that you are physically/mentally able to cope with your own day to day life. Only then will you be able effectively to help others to cope with theirs.  Making real attempts to implement some or all of the above techniques will help stress to be coped with more effectively.

For more information on this program please contact Michaela on 1300 804 228 or michaela@nrgsolutions.com.au