It’s a stressful world out there. We asked two experts to weigh in on how to reduce stress in daily life.
- Check email only when you’ve got time to respond or archive.
- Prioritize sleep over other evening activities.
- Thinking that everything in your life has to be picture-perfect will only lead to exhaustion and unnecessary stress.
We all know that life’s big issues — finances, health problems, a lost job — can cause stress. But it’s harder to spot the everyday habits and attitudes that impact our overall stress level. Case in point: “one of the biggest problems I see is people feeling powerless about their stress,” says Kathleen Hall, a stress expert and author of Mindful Living Everyday, “when really you have more control than you think.”
What’s more, if you’re a headache or migraine sufferer, you know that stress can contribute to headaches.
So, we talked to two stress experts to uncover the five mistakes you may be making, unintentionally increasing your stress level — and what you can do about it.
Overscheduling
It’s easy to do. “Everyone thinks they have more time than they do,” Hall says. “You end up being late for everything or even having repercussions in your relationships.”
How to control it
Hall suggests spending a few days doing this exercise: Every two to three hours, carefully take note of what you’ve actually been doing (not just what was on your schedule!) You’ll realize, for example, that the quick catch-up phone call with your boss took a full hour, so you were 30 minutes late to your doctor’s appointment. After a while, you’ll learn to schedule the right amount of time for the right task.
Drowning in email
Don’t worry: we’re not going to tell you that you can only spend 20 minutes a day managing your inbox. The thing about email (and social media and other technology, generally) is that everyone is different — one person may feel more zen if they stay away from devices after 9 p.m., while another may feel more anxious because they’re worried they’re missing out.
