Stress symptoms: How to manage them

Stay active

As if you needed any extra reason to break a sweat, along come two scientifically shown ways in which exercise combats stress symptoms:

• Brigham Young University researchers found runningcancels out the negative impact of chronic stress on the part of the brain responsible for learning and memory. It can also reduce the likelihood of you making memory-related errors.
• According to a study published in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, group exercisereduces the three types of stress symptoms far more than individual workouts

Keep a routine

‘The basics of managing stress are keeping a sleep routine, and a general, day-to-day routine, which includes pleasurable and soothing activities,’ says Dr Windgassen. Aim for seven to nine hours kip a night, including a wind-down, screen-free routine, and factor in time for the things you enjoy.

Set mini goals

‘Sometimes your work can seem insurmountable, so break larger tasks down into smaller targets or stages. This will help you to focus on the task in hand step-by-step. Each step you complete will feel like a small victory, turning a negative into a positive and helping your brain to process the overall project more easily,’ says Marcus Herbert, health assessment business lead at Nuffield Health’s expert advice.

Although it may not fit every scenario, you can also look at making your objectives SMART (specific, measureable, achievable, realistic and with a set timeframe) to help break your workload down into a manageable format.

‘Being realistic about what you can do in the time that you have may help to lighten the perceived burden,’ says Herbert.

Source: WomensHealthMag