Stressed Out? 5 Things You Can Do to Relieve Stress & Feel Better Right Now

We all have moments of feeling overwhelmed, anxious, worried and stressed. Whether it feels like you have too much going, you'll never get caught up or are stuck in a situation you have no control over, it's not a positive feeling. Unfortunately a lot of the common stress relieving go-to's (ie. eating sugar and carbs or drinking wine) are only going to make you feel worse. Now, not only are you stressed, you're also tired, hungover and craving sugar and carbs. If you are reading to embrace healthier methods, keep reading. I'm sharing 5 things you can do to relieve stress and feel better right now.

DEFINE  

As soon as you realize you are feeling stressed out, it's time to take inventory of what's going on and define the root cause. It's not always easy, but if you take a few minutes to break it down, you'll already be on your way to feeling better. To start, simply ask yourself what is stressing you out. If the first thing that comes to mind is "work", ask yourself why it's stressing you out? Is it a particular project, a particular person, the hours, the workload...what is making you feel stressed? Keep asking yourself clarifying questions until you pinpoint exactly what it is that is stressing you out. Once you have the source "defined", you know what you're dealing with and sometimes even just "knowing" why you're feeling stress can be a relief.

DISCONNECT  

When something is stressing us out, it's really common to seek out distractions to try and avoid dealing with the situation. Our phones and social media have become such an easy way to distract ourselves. If you're feeling stressed, it's time to shut it off babes. Airplane mode is an amazing way to get more done and tuning out the constant "noise" social media creates is definitely going to relieve some of those stressful feelings. Disconnecting from social media, your phone, the TV and anything else you're using as a "diversion" might be a little uncomfortable at first, but it's going to give you the space and time to focus on what you need to do to deal with what's stressing you out.

DECLUTTER  

The situation in your house, car and office is usually pretty indicative of how stressed out you are. If you have papers piling up everywhere, clothes covering your floor and your car is a complete disaster, chances are you're feeling stressed. Being surrounded by a bunch of clutter is not only super distracting, it also makes us feel anxious, overwhelmed and unable to relax. Throw away the junk mail, hang up your clothes and clean your car. I like to refer to it as "zen-ing out" our house, because being in an organized and clean space really does feel relaxing and peaceful. Not only is decluttering something you can do to immediately relieve stress, it's a way to create an ongoing situation to help alleviate future stress.

DETOX

Right along those same lines is the detox; figuring out what's toxic in your life and letting it go. Whether it is habits, people, places, thoughts or beliefs. If you're feeling stressed out, it's time to detox. How do you know if something is toxic? All you have to do is pay close attention to how it makes you feel. Does drinking too much coffee make you feel jittery and dehydrated? Do you dread meeting a girlfriend for brunch because after hanging out with her you feel drained? Do all the negative things you say to yourself only make you feel more inadequate? When you answer yes to not feeling good after drinking, eating, spending time with or thinking something...it's got to go! All these things are just adding to your stress levels and detoxing them from your life is absolutely going to help you feel better right now and going forward.

DIVIDE and CONQUER

You've disconnected, cleaned up the clutter and gotten rid of the toxic things in your life. Now it's time to look back at what's stressing you out and deal with it head on. Depending on what it is, trying to tackle it as a whole might be too much. This is where the beauty of divide and conquer comes in. Breaking the source of your stress down into manageable pieces, makes for a more doable and less overwhelming strategy. There are tons of ways to "divide". You can prioritize by time (ie. what needs to be done today, this week, this month, this year), chronological steps (ie. step 1, step 2, step 3) or gradual growth (ie. start by implementing small changes then gradually increase). Whatever makes sense for the situation and however you want to take it on, just don't feel like you have to do it all at once. Break it down (divide), then take it on (conquer). Rather than being bogged down with something that feels bigger than you, you're going to feel stronger, successful and like you're making progress with every step you take and piece you conquer.

Those are my 5 Things You Can Do To Relieve Stress and Feel Better Right Now. I hope you can use these tips to start tackling the stress in your life. Being stressed out is never fun and taking steps to get to a better place is one of the best things you can do to create a healthier lifestyle! Don't resign yourself to thinking being stressed out is just the way life is. It's not. Make positive changes, take charge and empower yourself to deal with stress differently! 

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