STRESSED out? Maybe this can help.

It happened on a Saturday morning. My email had been phished (spammer used my email as the forwarder). So I stopped everything and tried to educate myself on this new foreign subject and fix what was broke.

But I really didn't have time. Phone calls started reminding me what I was suppose to be doing.

Son was being ignored so he got jumpy for attention. And ended up making shell noodles with cheddar cheese for breakfast. Thank goodness someone cooks around here! :)

Then my mind ran to all things blog, and all the pending duties glaring at me.

On my way to the coffee pot maker, I tripped over household messes long ignored, I got jittery and finally realized something. I needed to shut down.

So know what I did? I cleaned my house.

I needed to mentally wipe out everything under the sun and focused on the floors. I vacuumed every crack and crevice and enjoyed the outcome.

Then I cleaned up 'nests' strewn every which way.

It was only then, did I feel a sense of calm and control in an otherwise haywire environment.

Rather than running to bed under covers to recoup,  attacking something overdue that didn't require alot of heavy mental debate actually helped to lessen the load. And helped make me feel better.

Being productive helped me this round. But it isn't always the answer. Here are some other stress busters that help me.

Beating stress

Learn to say no more

I have an issue with saying no. However if you say yes to everything, you know what happens. You end up disappointing those you made promises to. Saying NO from the get go when needed is honest and most will understand and appreciate it.

Loosen up your day. 

I like to schedule ONE main event per day and the rest may or may not follow on that given day. This allows mandatory breathing room which alleviates lots of stress.

Not yet.

Do you think you have to attend to things as soon as you're asked? Me too.  Maybe I CAN do it, but maybe not right now.  Reschedule so it does work for you so you can do it willingly with a happy heart.

Take a REAL day off

I often get calls to look at this or work on that on a weekend. Know what? I've reclaimed my weekends back. Meaning, I will do it if I want to do it on a weekend. We all need time off from schedules and demands.

And if that means doing nothing, good for me! I've also deemed Sunday as our official family day so you won't see me much online if at all on Sundays. Yay for me!

Just give yourself permission to do nothing for a short while. You'll be amazed what you end up doing. :)

 Go for a walk

Most everyone can walk. And if you can exit out the front door when you've had enough, I highly encourage you to do so. Better yet? Put exercise on your daily agenda and you may not even REACH shut down mode. Walking really helps me but I can't always get out on my own when needed. Lucky you if you can!

 Hold off when rattled

I have a rule. If I'm rattled about something, I give my decision 24 hours. Whether it's dealing with an email I'm not sure on, or whatever. Give yourself abit of chill time and your decisions on things will be more sound. 90% of the time I come up with a better plan of action if I give myself this critical time.

High emotion triggers immediate response. And it may be the wrong kind. Be strong and hang on!

Temporarily shut down

Cry. Or maybe you just need a short nap. Stop the world and just take a short mental vacation. Do whatcha gotta do. You'll be glad you did.

Talk to those you trust

Not having a spouse often puts me in a weird place. I have no one to rattle things by. So I use Facebook or friends or pray when I'm attempting to work through something. Even my cats hear more than they ought to. :)

Find someone to talk to when you need it. Even if to just be heard.

But use common sense. Just make sure you don't share anything too terribly personal nor emotional online. And please... don't diss someone online. It really makes you sound uncool. AND could come back to haunt you!

 Listen to yourself

Do others think you're mad? Or yelling? Maybe you are but don't mean to. Stop and listen to yourself. Then adjust accordingly.

Feel abit crazy? Go see your doctor.

You never know if what you're feeling could be more than what you can handle on your own.

I'm not endorsing taking meds for just anything, but please check in with your doctor if you feel you simply can't cope. There could be more going on than you realize.

Avoid troublemakers

Ever lose your cool with someone you weren't even angry with? Others do this too.

Upset people generally have way bigger issues than you.  Don't take it personally. Cope, stay ON TOPIC even if they don't, then let it go. More cases than not, it's not about you.

Then again, some relationships just flat out cause stress.  Remind yourself you can pick and choose whom you deal with for the most part. Can't pick and choose this one? See above. But if you can, pick good people that fill you with hope and encouragement, not those that drive you repeatedly over the brink!

Choose your acquaintances wisely.

Delegate

I know, I know. Only you do it best. But look at what you're doing to yourself!

Let go of that perfectionism and delegate what needs to be done. You really do need the help.

(I'm pointing at myself on this one BIG time)

 Do what's on the list

You're overwhelmed and you even made a list of all your to do's, yes? Well, revert back to the list and just do it. It never lies. Don't have a list? MAKE ONE. xo

 Identify your cause of stress

Ever feel awful but don't really know why? You could be repressing what your issues are. This only creates more issues down the line.

Identify what's causing you stress and work at it one by one. Many swing to bad habits to run away from the real issues. Don't let that happen to you.

Got that messy house? 

Hack at it while you can. You will feel better once it's clean. But in the meantime, I grant you permission to wear this shirt. :) Hee...

 Write a post on how you're feeling

So what's really going on? It's officially spring break with the kidlets out of school and my work has been at an all time high pace.  I feel like I'm going a little crazy.

So with that in mind, I need to follow my own advice and read this 100 times until I chill myself. And loosen things up abit while trying to belt out the work. And see if I can't fit in some time to play somewhere. I miss my hammer and my walks. :)

Ahhh... much better!

What are your worst causes of stress?

Got any favorite stress busters you can share?