Overwhelmed By Life? 5 Ways to Lessen The Stress
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by life, and it can seem exhausting and endless if you aren’t taking the necessary steps to improve your situation to allow some flexibility.
While it may feel like all that stress is “out there,” what you experience as “stress” is actually based upon how your body and mind react to it. Even though you may not be able to stop a stressful event, you can definitely control how your body and mind respond or prepare for it. It takes some practice. But simply learning that you have this power can change your life.
Are you feeling any of these right now?
- Your list of daily tasks is the size of Mount Everest
- You feel burned out and have no motivation to keep going
- You never actually accomplish your daily goals
- You have lost your direction and what you should be focusing on
This most likely means that you feel like your daily life is run on someone else’s schedule, and there are areas of your life that are being neglected due to your daily workload.
Here are 5 ways to balance your life:
1. Schedule Time for Yourself
You are living your life, not someone else’s, so it is crucial to make time for you and only you. If you’re constantly engaged in stuff out there like, social media, phone games, work, family obligations, etc., then you’re not making any room for your emotions or considering what you really want out of life. If you do not take care of yourself, who will?
These desires will come out one way or another.
When you have some alone time, you can develop a positive relationship with yourself and your emotions. When you don’t, emotions often come as outbursts over which you feel no control.
Stressful events are also more likely to “sneak up” on you because you haven’t taken some time to prepare and evaluate events coming your way before they arrive. If the family is essential to you, make time with them and be in the company of people who genuinely care about you. But you need some “Me Time” too.
This doesn’t have to be a huge commitment. Just 10-15 minutes a day, walking, eating, and resting alone are great ways to rejuvenate and improve how you respond to stress.
2. Live with a Purpose
If you don’t have a purpose, you’ll find one day just melts into the next, and your life will not feel like it’s your own. Time escapes you because you don’t generate many memorable moments that enhance life, and it feels like you stay stuck in the same place.
Living with purpose means you’re living every day with a passion for what you are doing. This makes it easier to balance. Find something every day that you prioritize more than anything and go for it. Set some goals for yourself daily, weekly, and five years from now.
You don’t control everything, but you’ll feel much more confident about your direction when you are living a purpose-filled life.
3. Say “No” More Often
We usually say yes out of the feeling that we are pressured into answering, but in reality, we can say “no”! Some of us think we’re supposed to be selfless and give, give, give all the time. But you have limits and your own personal needs.
It’s not someone else’s responsibility to read your mind and know when you already have enough on your plate. You can communicate this with family, friends, and even your boss.
You’re not doing anyone any favors when you overextend yourself. You aren’t available physically or mentally, so they’re not getting the best of you. When you set some clear boundaries for your giving, you find you actually have more to give. You can give because you want to, not out of the obligation that leads to resentment.
Plus, saying no more will bring more power towards your “Yes.” People know that when you say “yes,” you’re going to give them your all.
4. Know that You Cannot Do Everything at Once
Rome wasn’t built in a day. It’s the same for your workload. People often feel stressed because they have so many things they want to do and do now.
You cannot always do everything on your list in one day. And trying to do so keeps you from getting any of it done. So it’s important to stop, take a breath, and remember that all you can do is what you can do, which is okay!
You know your limits, and that is the very best that you can give sometimes. It is easy to be a superhero when you have the time, energy, and motivation. But we don’t have that every day and not enough to apply it to everything.
5. Prioritize
This is the most crucial tip for balancing your workload and your life in general.
Prioritizing your tasks and goals will help you become more passionate and also help with getting overwhelmed. If you set a priority every day, then you will at least get that one thing done. This can have a cascade effect on your day. You feel you’ve accomplished something and are motivated to accomplish something else and another. But if you just do that one thing, know that that’s enough.
Divide your workload, friends, family members, or anything else into categories of importance to determine what is on your radar and what truly interests you.
The energy, time, and motivation should be spent on your top priorities every day, which will allow you to complete those tasks with ease, rather than a feeling of overwhelming doom and gloom.
Overwhelmed by Life?
Lessen your stress by remembering you have the power to manage your life and how you deal with stress. These tips will help you do that, but if you’d like to speak with someone, know we’re here to listen. You are heard here.
Jonas Hill Hospital & Clinic, a division of Caldwell Memorial Hospital provides our community with safe, dignified and integrated care for adult patients experiencing an acute mental health need. We provide hope, treatment, and healing through a holistic program of evidence-based psychiatric treatment, team-based medical care, and education provided by engaging and dedicated professionals in a safe and healing environment. Contact us today for more information. A safe space to heal.