Taking Time For You

Did you know that April is Stress Awareness Month? Stress Awareness Month has been held every April, since 1992 to increase public awareness about both the causes and cures for our modern stress epidemic. Millions of us around the UK are experiencing high levels of stress, particularly since the start of the pandemic, and now more than ever it is important to make sure we are prioritising our mental health and taking care of ourselves. If you’re struggling to find ways to manage your stress, we have listed below some tips that you may find helpful.

1. Be active – whilst exercise might not eliminate all stress, it is a great way to reduce the intensity of what you’re feeling, by helping you clear your thoughts and allowing you to tackle your problems with a calmer approach. Exercise has also proven to boost your mood and is great for your general well-being. If you need some inspiration to find what exercise would be right for you, check this useful link here which details various free exercises you can try out
2. Connect with people – whether that be picking up the phone and calling a family member or friend, or going for a walk, it is important to stay in touch with our friends and family and talk about our worries. Talking to someone and sharing your problems can be a great stress reliever, and may also provide some great solutions to your problems.
3. Make some time for you – for a lot of us this may seem like a tall ask, especially when we are looking after a family. However it is important to find time in your day to have some you time, whether that be taking a 10 minute bath at the end of the day, sitting down with a cup of coffee or finding a moment to read a good book, it’s important to fit these self-care routines into your day and have a moment to yourself
4. Avoid unhealthy habits – of course we all treat ourselves to a glass of wine or some chocolate after a stressful day, however it is important to make sure we are not relying on unhealthy habits to cure our stress. In the long term, a consistent unhealthy diet and drinking alcohol can actually make your stress and anxiety levels worse, so it’s important we have a balanced diet to help manage those levels.
5. Work smarter, not harder -often when we have a long to do list at work, life admin or even just house chores, it can feel very overwhelming and hard to know where to start. However, it is important to remember to prioritise what is important for that day, concentrating on the tasks that make a real difference and pushing back others to tomorrow. Make sure to leave the least important tasks to last, and accept that your day will always be full of things to do!