Managing stress: Stop. Start. Keep

Stress is something that we all experience and an inevitable part of life. The trick is to keep stress to a level that is manageable and does not impact our health, wellbeing and enjoyment of life.

Signs that stress might be starting to get the better of you include:

-          Feeling rushed and like there is never enough time

-          Being irritable and impatient

-          Feeling exhausted

-          Not sleeping well

-          Not getting around to your self care practices and the things that bring you joy.

Whenever you feel like your stress levels are becoming dangerously high, take a little pause from all the rushing and doing and reflect on the things that have been filling up your days.

We all know what we need to do in order to take care of ourselves and support our wellbeing. We also tend to have a good idea of what the things are that we need to avoid or do less of if we want to be at our best.

The Stop-start-keep method is a helpful exercise for regaining perspective and balance in your life.

Ask yourself:

1.       What are the things I’m going to stop doing?

e.g. I’m going to stop spending so much time mindlessly scrolling through social media.

2.       What are the things that I’m going to start doing?

e.g. I am going to start going to bed at 10am every night

3.       What are the things that I’m going to keep on doing?

e.g. I’m going to keep on doing my daily meditation

Write this down on a piece of paper and place it somewhere where you will see it every day.

Doing this exercise is a wonderful way to reset and shift your focus back to those things that really serve you, but which we so often neglect when we become overly stressed.

x Linee