Stress Management
Although we can't always control what happens in our day-to-day lives, we can learn how we react to and cope with stressful events. The better we become at adapting and coping with situations, the better we are able to manage the stress in our lives.
Coping Tips
The following are some tips you can use to help you cope with and manage your stress more effectively:
- Seek guidance from peers and colleagues (i.e. study group)
- Take care of your health (i.e. get enough rest, exercise and nutritious foods)
- Seek support from faculty
- Maintain positive relationships with family and friends
- Learn how to improve your time management skills. (The Counselling Department offers Time Management workshops, call 828-5023 for more info.)
- Review activities you participate in to see what is bringing you up and what is bringing you down
- Set boundaries and learn to be assertive. This may mean learning how to communicate your feelings in a more clear and productive way.
- Set limits - learn to say no without feeling guilty
- Take frequent time-outs to rejuvenate yourself (i.e. power naps, exercise breaks, breathing, meditation, music, snacks, social time)
- Choose to make room for leisure activity
Stress Insulators
According to Life Strategies (2004), we all have lifestyle, personal and interpersonal insulators that help protect us from the negative impact of stress. Check out the following lists and see if any apply to you:
Checklist of Stress Insulators*
Lifestyle insulators:
__ I get seven to eight hours of sleep per night
__ I exercise to the point of perspiration at least twice a week
__ I consume no caffeine (or a moderate amount)
__ I do something just for fun at least once a week
__ I do not smoke
__ I am physically healthy
__ I have an adequate income
Personal and interpersonal insulators:
__ I speak openly about my feelings when angry or worried__ I have at least one friend or family member in whom I
can and do confide
__ I have at least one friend or family member upon whom
I can rely for help
__ I have a network of friends and acquaintances with whom
to socialize
__ I have at least one relationship in my life in which I freely
give and receive affection
__ I have time, at least once a week, to spend by myself
"doing nothing" or doing something just for me
__ I manage my time well
__ I do not procrastinate and leave everything until the last
minute pressure forces me to get to work
__ The key relationship in my life is basically happy and satisfying
__ My partner (or other key support person) is supportive of my
goals and aspirations
__ I set reasonable goals for myself
__ I know people who are "in the same boat" as me and I talk
with them about how things are going
__ I deal with interpersonal conflicts directly
(e.g., by talking to the person involved)
Each statement identifies a strategy for coping with stress or an insulator against the potentially negative physical and emotional impact of stress. Those that do not apply to you (e.g., if you are not getting enough sleep or are using alcohol to cope with stress) may be good places to begin in your efforts to manage stress.
*Source unknown