The Best Things to do to Reduce Stress
This post concerns the best things to do to Reduce Stress. Therefore this post concerns dealing with distress and the coping skills and the best things we can do to reduce our distress. We are headed towards a very stressful time due to many factors we can not control in our lives. First, a thing or two about stress theory.
Stress Theory and Hans Selye – The History
The word ‘stress’ comes from physics and engineering. Stress refer to the interaction between a force and the resistance to counter that force. Hans Selye who first incorporated this term into the medical lexicon to describe the “nonspecific response of the body to any demand “. Thus Hans Selye, earned the title of the father of stress research. Hans disavowed the study of specific disease signs and symptoms, unlike others before him, and instead focused on universal patient reactions to illness. His concept of stress impacted scientific and lay communities alike, in fields as diverse as endocrinology, complementary medicine, animal breeding and social psychology. I was lucky to hear him lecture two years before he died.
Hans redefined stress
First, Hans noted most disease had negative life stress associated with the disease. Thus he named this dis-stress. However, to counter stress he named Eustress. It is defined as follows:
Eustress is associated with positive outcomes. To understand this type of beneficial stress, it can be helpful to consider a few different examples of when it may occur. Unlike distress, eustress is typically associated with feelings of excitement and challenge rather than anxiety or fear. Positive Life changes: Major life transitions can create eustress.
Coping Skills Going Forward Best Things to do to Reduce Stress
Dear readers you want to focus on creating Eustress also known as enjoyment. So here is how I plan to do it myself. These are things you can find recommendations for from good medical and psychological research.
Things to do to get Eustress
- Find an exercise routine you can do daily – examples – walks, run, ride a bike, lift weights, yoga.
- Find an activity that brings you joy like doing art – does not have to be something you are great – just fun to do
- Have a daily plan of things to do every day. Garden, water your indoor plants, clean house, declutter
- Read good books – fiction, science fiction, fantasy, history, how to do books (clue – keep them fun and light).
- Keep up with your friends, talk and share interests
- Take time off between daily tasks and look at nature, art, play with your dog, cat or pets for ten-15 minutes.
- Find music you like listening to while your do your daily tasks
- Find a new hobby or revive and old one
Things to do to avoid distress in today’s world
- Avoid doom scrolling on your computer, phone and iPad
- Avoid news sources that use fear and anger
- Limit news – maybe only see the daily weather
- Limit social media – avoid articles by troll types and minions
- Avoid format radio and television/videos
I am still working on my plans
Just a quick update. I am using a timer and simple lists now. Gone are my Big project list 12 week plan and bullet journal. I break down each project now with a couple daily tasks. Keep it simple for me. This appears to be working better for me than formal type plans organization stuff. Maybe this fits my ADHD better.
About my Blog/Articles
Note – My post use the Gunning Fog Index. I attempt to keep my articles easy to read, but I do use 3+ syllable words which does up my Gunning Fog Index rating. My posts use Lexend font, one of the easiest fonts to read. Please feel free to share these posts with friends.