Stress-Free Stress Management (Daily Practice)

Our habits and life patterns develop according to how we interact with the rest of the world. Taking stock of the way we respond to other people, events and locations is critically important to creating a positive, healthy relationship with everything in our lives.

Slowing down reactions, while examining our thoughts in everyday situations, gives us the information we need to achieve stress-free stress management for better health and productivity.

At the start of every day, review what you’ve planned and expect to accomplish. If you plan your day the night before, that’s great, but still take a moment and go over them again just before you get started. Know your goals and keep track of your progress as you go through everything that happens each day.

Keeping a list and checking what’s finished makes the day more positive and helps you focus on your success. Anxiety and stress will never cloud your attitude when you’re active and making progress toward your goals. That means your outlook becomes effortlessly cheerful and distractions, however negative, won’t influence you so much or interfere with your plans.

Remember to enjoy your accomplishments, too! Our brains don’t always respond to a finished task with positive feedback, so notice what you feel and consciously shift to a positive mindset when you cross an item off your list.

Even if it didn’t go exactly the way you hoped, appreciate the fact that it’s done and let it go. Use an affirmative phrase like, “I controlled everything in my power to take care of this and now it’s complete. I made it happen.”

The idea of “Staying in the Moment” is pleasant, but might not be practical for many people today. Getting through a day’s chores and responsibilities while navigating endless inconveniences and interruptions can make us lose sight of our ideal selves.

We become reactive, unthinking shells of people who may not even remember why they’re going through the motions of such a demanding life.

If you find you’ve lost track of the moments to stay in, take a breath, as soon as you safely can, and look around where you are, in this moment. Try to do this between the post office, grocery store, or whatever errand you’ve finished, before starting the next. Also, try to do it before you’ve gotten into a stressed mindset – take stock of your attitude and outlook each time you finish a project or task. Or, just whenever you can!

At first, this may feel strange or even inappropriate, but frequently stopping to examine your thoughts and environment is extremely valuable. Moments you notice and appreciate, for good or bad, deepen your emotional reserves while strengthening your mind and memory. Maintaining your guard against negativity makes you naturally more successful.

When you’re stuck at a light, waiting for a ride or just have a chance to look around for a moment, do that! Forget about the latest headlines, emails or negative thoughts and don’t volunteer to have distractions knock you off track.

See what’s around you and enjoy the great, weird, funny human show that happens to be on your part of the stage. Notice a pretty flower, a beautiful child, a tree or lamp post you missed until now. Look at the sky! The most mundane location can reveal true beauty if you look for it.

Make sure to do this when you eat. Really enjoying food with all our senses is nearly a lost practice with many busy people. When you focus on the flavors and smells of your meal, how the energy returns as you nourish yourself and satisfy hunger, “grabbing a bite” turns into an important and memorable part of your day.

Managing stress and anxiety becomes easier and less urgent when you develop habits that make you appreciate and enjoy whatever you have, whenever you have it.

Irritations lose much of their power when you take a breath and look at them from a distance. Wherever you are, keep in mind that this is your day, and it’s too important to be thwarted by an unexpected rudeness or inconvenience. You have an agenda with specific goals and larger purposes.

Even if someone intentionally cuts you off or slows you down in some way, being angry or losing your temper will only make what they did worse and potentially cause much larger problems.

It’s too easy – and attractive – to start thinking of what you should have said to the rude person at the time, and lose valuable time along with your positive energy. When something unpleasant comes along, acknowledge it happened, acknowledge and own how it made you feel (bad experiences can make good memories!) and then return to your day.

Holding a grudge against a stranger you’ll never see again is like building an enemy that lives in your head. Let it go.

When you’re almost at the end of the day, take a moment to think of how much you were able to cross off the list. Think about what prevented you from doing everything you wanted, if that’s the day you had, and whether or not you could have done things differently.

However much you did finish, make sure to understand it’s good enough for today. Learning to accept results we can’t change is necessary to reduce stressors and learn from mistakes.

Then, make the last thing you do for the day a positive, enjoyable experience. Pick up a favorite snack, bouquet of flowers, gift for the family, or, just stop somewhere to enjoy a nice view, listen to music or read an inspirational poem you love. If you took a picture of something you wanted to remember, take a look and end your day with a smile.

As with everything else you’ve done, breathe and take the time to fully experience what you’re doing. Focus on a detail you hadn’t noticed before and enjoy the new discovery. Imagine you’re a kid with nothing to do except learn and have fun.

When it’s time to get out the journal, write down what you did, how you felt and what you learned. It’s a personal choice how to journal, but the point is to experience the day from a safe space, consider what happened, celebrate your success, renew your commitment to the life you want and get guidance for the future.

When you can define progress every day, documenting your journey toward your clearly-stated dreams, stress and anxiety will stop having power over you. Life skills, coping with depression and understanding fear will come naturally and not require extra time or energy. Keeping on track to what you truly want will fill your time so the bad, negative and pessimistic can’t get a grip.

None of this happens overnight and you’ll come to it faster and more slowly than others. But if you can appreciate your life’s potential and follow the success of others, the reasons for your own success will put to rest any excuse to not achieve them.

You are a unique and valuable part of a vast, unknowable universe and your purpose is yours alone.