Stress management requires that we identify lifestyle changes that help reduce stress in our lives. We've reviewed how chronic stress can wreak havoc on both our bodies and our minds. That is not how we want to live on a daily basis.
Create a Journal
Beth and I have advocated the value of keeping journals to assist with memory and cognitive therapy for a long, long time. Journals hold the same value for dealing with stress.
A journal can be helpful in several ways. It provides a place for you to write down your thoughts as well as things you did during the day. After a period of time you might even notice patterns develop in your writing. You may see several different things that are causing stress as you write to relieve stress.
Knowing what is causing stress is similar to developing a Know Your Enemy strategy. When you identify a problem only then can you begin to develop things to do to overcome it. Sometimes, you just need to communicate with yourself before you can communicate with others.
You could also write simply for the pleasure of writing. You could write articles about things you know. You could write short stories. Fiction? Non-fiction? It’s up to you. Earlier I mentioned that you could learn something new; write about what you are learning.
Writing also helps you track progress you are making in your life. You develop a goal to do something and you write a little bit each day about your goal. By having it in writing you can identify different directions you may need to pursue…or not pursue.
Develop a Schedule
Yes, this is another strategy we use for living successfully with brain injury. It is a strategy that is explained in detail in our book, Brain Injury Survivor's Guide, but it is a strategy that works equally well for long term stress management.
Develop a schedule? In today’s world? Okay, I’m not talking about a rigid schedule like the world will end if you haven’t finished cleaning the kitchen by 8:13. This is more of a time management schedule. There are things we must do each day or week or month or year. Beth and I must pay sales tax to the State of Arkansas by January 20, income tax to both the federal and state government by April 15 and property tax to the county government by October 10. We put that information on a schedule to insure that it gets done on time.
On a monthly basis, we know there are bills to pay. On the schedule they go. This also makes it easy for you to determine if you’ll have extra money during the month to do something special. The trash collector comes by every Thursday so time must be allowed on Thursday mornings to prepare his gift.
Of course there are things to be done on a daily basis. This is the difficult one for me since I work at home. I sometimes get so involved in writing and web design that time flies right by and I find myself rushing to shave, shower and get cleaned up before Beth gets home from work. Yes, I admit that happens on occasion. How do I overcome it? I can schedule time when she’s getting ready for work and get ready for work, too.
Include a time for exercise. Exercise, itself, reduces stress so add it to your stress reduction schedule. I’ll say more about this later. Do you remember us talking about how increased levels of cortisol during times of chronic stress actually causes increased abdominal fat? That’s even more reason to schedule an exercise routine.
Exercise
Since you put it on your schedule, you need to do it to prevent the world from ending at 8:13 p.m. Actually, you need to find ways to add a little bit of exercise throughout the day. When you walk to the mailbox, take ten minutes and walk around the block.
Get a small dumbbell and exercise your arms while watching tv. You don't even have to use dumbbells. Use a bottle of water. Beth and I use Wii Fit and Wii Sports for both stress relief and exercise. The people who developed the Wii put plenty of humor into the program to keep you smiling. For more information about the Wii, you can read our Squidoo lens titled Wii Fit 4 All.
The key to long term stress reduction is to make slight changes to your lifestyle that you continue to develop more fully.
Articles in This Series
Related Articles
