8 Effective Coping Mechanisms for Stress

The imaginative thinkers of past years thought our 21^st Century lives would be free from stress, replete with leisure pursuits and time for self-actualization. They couldn’t have been more mistaken.

Yes, our lives are filled to bursting with technology and other marvels, and we’ve never had greater access to entertainment or travel. The machines that were supposed to make our lives easier, like microwaves, washing machines, mechanized farming implements, telephones, and computers have all certainly made our lives more efficient and comfortable.

However, Americans are busier than ever before, and our lives are packed with frantic activity. This has increased our stress levels further and higher.

Sources and causes of stress.

All of that busyness and frantic activity is a recipe for stress. Stress isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But your peace of mind depends on the levels of stress you encounter, and whether you have ways of relieving that stress.

Our bodies experience stress when they are faced with challenging or threatening circumstances. The stress response is designed to give you the energy to deal with the immediate crisis as you receive a surge of hormones such as cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine.

Stress in the short term is helpful, and it can even feel good. This good kind of stress, sometimes called eustress, is the rush you can sometimes feel when you’re pushing toward a deadline or wrapping a project up. It helps you focus and stay energized until you complete your task.

The problem is when you experience chronic stress, which is when you’re always under pressure without ways of releasing that pressure. This kind of stress comes with significant health complications such as anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, clogged arteries, obesity, and addictive behaviors.

A little stress in your life can be good for you, but too much stress or feeling stressed for a long time simply isn’t. Some of the sources of our stress include the following:

Work pressures and deadlines. Sometimes the nature of your work is high pressure, but at other times the issue is a toxic work environment that induces stress. Stress also results from job loss or the threat of losing your job.

Financial problems. Too many bills to pay with not enough resources to meet basic needs can lead to stress.

Relationship conflict. Arguments or unresolved conflicts with loved ones can be quite stressful. It can also be stressful to deal with not being accepted or welcomed in a particular community.

Health concerns. Whether it’s just a current health issue or a chronic one, being sick or having a loved one that’s sick is stressful, including the financial implications of it.

How to cope.

1. Carve out time for good sleep.

Practice good sleep hygiene, which includes sleeping and waking at a set bedtime, having downtime before bed where you ditch your electronics, and so on. Stress affects your sleep, as you don’t sleep well when you’re stressed. But when you don’t sleep enough, that can also make you feel more stressed.

Getting good quality rest can decrease levels of the stress hormone cortisol in your system. Make small changes in your sleep routine that can allow you to get a greater quantity and quality of sleep every night.

2. Take care of your physical health.

Part of good physical health includes your sleep, but it also encompasses what you eat and drink as well as the type and regularity of exercise your body gets.

Exercise can help to reduce stress in several ways, including elevating your mood and relieving muscle tension. A balanced diet provides your body with the nutrients it needs to repair itself and the energy to deal with stressful events.

Additionally, some research indicates that certain foods like polyunsaturated fats including omega-3 fats and vegetables may help to regulate levels of cortisol in your system.

3. Take a break.

When you’re feeling stressed, the last thing you feel like doing is to take a break. You might reason that resting will be a waste of time, or that it takes away from precious time that could be spent being more productive and accomplishing your goals.

Our bodies need rest and time to repair themselves. Rest can help you better deal with stress and equip you to deal with emotionally and mentally challenging situations.

Taking a break could also mean pausing and evaluating if what you’re doing is still working for you. Some say that thinking too much is dangerous, but not thinking and being reflective enough can bring stress into your life.

You may have stayed on the same career trajectory for a while, but upon reflection, you might no longer be a good fit for what you’re doing. The pandemic created a scenario where people were forced to pause and consider what they were doing with their lives, and if their work was fulfilling.

In what has been termed the “great resignation,” people stepped back from work that wasn’t aligning with their values to pursue what they felt was more meaningful and rewarding work.

4. Invest in a hobby.

It’s important that your life has multiple dimensions, and that you cultivate a variety of interests. Some people garden, others crochet, and others go hiking or collect stamps. Looking forward to a hobby you love helps you decompress and remind yourself that your life is bigger than whatever might be stressing you out.

5. Get better organized.

When it comes to work or other important deadlines, sometimes we get stressed because we don’t plan our days, weeks, or months well. If you are disorganized, you can plan meetings to happen in quick succession without giving yourself breathing room.

If you don’t procrastinate and work consistently, that can prevent deadlines from creeping up on you. Better organization and structure can help you become more effective and less stressed. Use an electronic calendar or task list, if that works for you, or use a planner that allows you to see your day, week, month, or year at a glance so you can pace yourself.

Additionally, getting better organized may also involve honing your skill to do your job more effectively.

If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed, but skill will bring success. – Ecclesiastes 10:10, NIV

You can reduce your stress levels by sharpening your edge, so you become more skilled at your job. Sometimes, frustration at work is because your skills don’t match your tasks. If you enjoy what you do but it feels like lots of hard work, upskilling might be a solution. That could mean talking with an effective member of your team to gain some tips or taking a training course to obtain the necessary skills.

6. Do less.

You don’t have to get your fingers stuck in a lot of pies. In today’s hustle culture, it can seem downright unambitious to just have one main thing you do. Of course, there are often strong financial incentives for having more than one income stream, but you don’t have to constantly be on the go.

Take a good look at your calendar or diary and consider where there are areas of bloat and things you could do less, even if it’s just for a season.

7. Learn to say no.

There is often a huge amount of pressure to say yes. You’re perceived as more fun if you say yes, or you’re seen as more of a team player. Some people feel like saying yes might also be a way for people to like them, so they take on more than they really should.

However, the unwanted but expected result is that you become overcommitted. Instead of being driven by the desire to be liked, you need to create healthy boundaries so that you have time to rest and are not overburdened.

8. Build a good social network.

We are social creatures. While people can be a source of stress, an effective social network can also be the antidote to chronic stress and crisis. Trusted friends and family can be helpful sounding boards and people with whom you can relax and unwind. This can help greatly reduce stress.

Professional counseling can play a role in developing effective coping mechanisms for stress. Sometimes, the source of stress in your life is the very people that form your social network, and it can be difficult to talk about what’s bothering you.

A counselor curates a non-judgmental, objective space in which you can share your struggles, and they can help you develop effective coping skills to deal with stress. A counselor can help you cultivate conflict resolution and communication skills to deal with those sources of stress.

In some cases, life coaching is needed to help you transition to another profession or to develop organizational skills that will make you more effective in your social and professional life. Contact us today to learn how counseling can help you cope with stress in healthier ways.