I am stressed this week. I also admit to being frequently stressed.
My major culprit is ‘lack of time.’ It’s absurd to say I don’t have enough time because we all have the same 24 hours in a day. However, I always feel I’m behind and playing ‘catch up.’ Some days are better than others. I can live with where I am that day and don’t feel much stress. I accept what I haven’t completed. Other days I’m very anxious about not being where I want to be.
That’s what bothers me. The chronic state (or somewhat chronic) of being anxious and not relaxing because with my 25 years of experience in health writing I know that an overload of stress leads to nothing good.
Let me share with you what I know about stress.
First, what stresses me may not stress you. Stress isn’t the event but rather how we respond to that event. It’s the old ‘flight or fight’ reaction when our cavemen ancestors confronted a wild tiger and the stress response kicked in to give them added agility, speed and strength. Back then, the stress response stopped when the tiger ran away.
Today, we still have the same physical responses but if we’re constantly feeling pressure our physical responses don’t go away and our bodies are always in a state of alert. Our bodies are off balance: the overload of adrenaline keeps coming, our hearts beat just a bit faster, and our blood pressure is probably rising.
It is tough to lead a balanced life when our bodies are physically not well balanced. I am sure it leads to brain imbalance also because I’m always forgetting small details when I’m stressed (like where did I put the car keys or my cell phone) and I have to remind myself to drive carefully.
On the other hand, some stress can be positive and I know that too. Sometimes when I’m knee deep into a writing project for a client and it’s going well, I know my adrenaline is up and I can feel lots of positive energy focusing on that project. It’s a great motivator!
Back to the bad stress. I’m looking for ways to cope.
I’ve taken the first step by Identifying what’s causing the stress: my perception that I run out of time. Now I need to figure out how I can change that.
I have a few ideas about how I can cope better with my stress and have started to implement a couple (sort of). I’d like to know if you have some suggestions for coping with stress and any specific suggestions for focusing on ‘time management’. I’m not even sure that’s a good label for my stress issue.
Scroll down to ‘Comments’ and type your suggestions in the blank window. I’ll share them with others.
Warm regards, Ruthan
PS More next post on techniques for coping with stress, traditional and non-traditional approaches.
Sources: Mayo Clinic Health Letter, Oct. 2007
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