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The last year and a half have been rough. A pandemic, businesses shutting down, schools closing, families having to struggle with managing virtual school while also working from home, masks, product shortages, difficulty paying bills, restrictions being lifted only to be tightened a few weeks later, the drama over vaccines. It really has been a rough year and a half. Even as we tentatively start to emerge, stress levels are high. There’s a very real chance things will shut down again with the delta variant increasing hospitalizations. With all the uncertainty, we really need to find ways to reduce stress.
EXERCISE
One of my husband and my favorite stress reduction activities is exercise. If you’ve ever seen Legally Blonde, you’re familiar with the phrase “Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don’t shoot their husbands, they just don’t.” That line always cracks me up, but it’s so true. Endorphins help you feel better and the expenditure of energy helps your body relax.
For us, exercise is going to the gym and lifting weights. Sometimes I throw in the treadmill or I walk the mile and a half to the gym. But you don’t have to go to the gym to exercise. Take walks, go for a hike, ride your bike, do yoga in your house, go for a run, watch fitness videos. Body Project has some really great workout videos for all skill levels. No matter which way you choose, exercise is a great way to reduce stress.
SELF CARE
Self-care is one of the most talked about ways to reduce stress. And it looks different for everyone. For some people, self-care is exercising, for some it’s taking baths, some prefer getting massages, and some prefer doing projects. Self-care is such a versatile and unique method. Sometimes when I get stressed, one of the only ways to reduce stress is to clean and organize stuff. I don’t know what it is, but organizing really is the best self-care for me. If you’re not sure what kind of self-care would work best for you, this article has some good ideas for different types of self-care you can try.
PLAYING GAMES
My husband’s favorite way to reduce stress is playing games. I was anti-gaming before I met him, but we’ve started playing xbox games together and it’s been pretty fun. While those types of games are my husband’s preferred way to reduce stress, I prefer other types of games. Board games and card games are my top picks. But with the pandemic, it’s been hard to get groups together for game nights. So, I’ve been finding myself searching online for games I can play in the evening while my husband is working.
If you’re like me and not really into online role-playing games or playing console games by yourself, you might enjoy Play.org. The website has a wide variety of games to play. I’m such a nerd and really enjoyed the math and typing games. Pinball was also fun. There are a lot of retro arcade games along with card games, strategy games, and comic-based games. There are a lot of games on the site for every skill level, making it a great way to reduce stress.
CREATE BOUNDARIES
One of the ways to reduce stress that people don’t talk about a lot is creating boundaries. A big source of stress is a loss of self, which can happen when we don’t have clear boundaries. Maybe you don’t know how to say no when people ask you to do stuff or people don’t listen when you say no. Perhaps you don’t like the way someone is treating you or how someone reacts when you share your thoughts. Or someone does something that is hurtful to you. Maybe coworkers or your boss are giving you tasks that aren’t part of your job. Figuring out what your boundaries are and communicating them can help increase personal happiness and reduce stress. This is a pretty good article about boundaries and stress reduction.
PRIORITIZE
With everyone having such busy lives and so many draws on our time, it can be stressful to feel like there isn’t enough time to get everything done. For me, I’ve found that making lists and then figuring out what order to do everything in is a great way to reduce stress. Doing the things that can be done the quickest helps me feel a sense of accomplishment because I’m getting stuff crossed off the list. Also making sure things with time constraints get done earlier helps, too.
Conclusion
Stress is something we all deal with and can make life less enjoyable. By utilizing these simple strategies, you can help reduce the stress in your life. Whether you make small changes or big changes, it can make a world of difference.
What are some of the ways you reduce stress in your life?
