Stress Management Practices, Part 2: Tasks

So last week I talked about dealing with stress. The example I used last week was your commute to work. Even though this can be very stressful it is not complex. There are much more complex issues that cause stress on the physical and mental level. Why are you doing this? To increase your resilience. This is the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. You build your ability to handle stress by starting with the less complex issues. It is like practicing something until it becomes easier so you can build on the skills you developed. You will have more options to try in different situations. Resilience and the ability to adapt is associated with aging well.

So let’s see what skills you can use to deal with a task or an assignment that you may not enjoy. Not many people really like to prepare a budget, pay bills, or do many of the regular “housekeeping” activities of life. So how do you decrease your stress level here?

This is a little less predictable. Here you can run into unexpected complications, choices, and decisions you need to make. The best decisions are made with a clear head and a calm mind. This is when you use and build on what you learned from a more straightforward stress. You know your strengths and your sticking points with tasks like these. How can you make this a little easier to tackle?

Some simple things are to:

Break the project into parts and take a break if you can between parts.
If it is a recurring task see if you can set up a system that can bundle task and streamline the process for next time.
Reward yourself with a break and release practice after you are done.

It all comes down to keeping your focus on your goal. Resist letting the task or project overwhelm you or your nervous system. If you approach a project already stressed you are starting at a disadvantage.

Each person has their own stress tolerance. If you know your tolerance is low take small steps to strengthen your ability to handle stress. The biggest benefit of this practice is that it makes you more resilient. Your nervous system works more effectively when dealing with the impacts of stress. This in turn decreases the strain on your heart. Changing your mind changes your body and calms all the systems of the body.

What do you know about your own ability to handle stress? Are there ways you might improve your management of stress?