Stress Overflow

Most of the time we manage the stress in our lives perfectly well.

We hit stressful moments, everything warps into super drive.  Then the crisis is over and we find time or an activity to relieve our stress.

As long as the pattern continues like that our lives run fairly smoothly.

The challenge comes when we have a period in our life of prolonged stress.  Maybe one part of our lives causes continual stress.  Or it maybe many areas all hit a tricky spot at the same time.  That's when you can feel overwhelm.

For me, I can recall two periods of time when I experienced that feeling of overwhelm and they were both connected with work - but then I used to work in a particularly stressful job, heading schools for youngsters with challenging behaviour.

The problem is that you sometimes don't recognize the build up.  Particularly if you are a high achiever there is a temptation to con yourself into thinking that you can manage.  In my case I just put in longer and longer hours.

The most useful way I have found to manage stress in your life is to understand how stress works and then to  learn to recognize the first sign that things are getting on top of you.

I like to think of stress in terms of a stress bucket.  An invisible bucket that we carry with us and that holds our stress.  Each day we start out with a certain amount of stress and we add to the bucket all day.  Any strategies we have to relieve stress punches a hole in the bucket and releases some of the stress we are holding.  Keep the level below the rim and we survive the day.

I learned to recognize that my bucket is about to overflow.  Try scanning your body every hour or two during the day.  Look for signs of tension or anxiety.  For me it was neck tension and a knot of anxiety in my stomach.  There are many other signs

• shaking
• tapping foot
• clenching fist
• clenching jaw
• grinding teeth
• headache
• shallow breathing
• thumping heart

and that's by no means a comprehensive list.

Step 2 is to develop strategies to relieve your stress.  Learn to delegate and trust others.  Take time out - even a 15 minute walk away from the office can be a good stress buster.  I found yoga gave me a major stress relief.  You can also do really simple things like consciously slowing your breathing.

http://youtu.be/7VtfSkeqbz0
 Ultimately I made the decision to leave a career that I was really successful in.  My health was far more important than my career.  I now spend my time working with individuals and helping tehm to change aspects of their life and also I spend much of my time writing.  You can read more of my thoughts on managing stress and annxiety in my book Confidence Secrets