Lately, I have been feeling overly stressed. A number of good things have been happening to me, but along with those good things comes stress. Recently, my company offered me a promotion, which brings with it a host of new responsibilities. I am in the transition process now, which essentially means I am working both my old job and my new job as I migrate existing work to other employees and take on new work while learning the job. Harder still – it is a management role with a new team who is still learning the ropes, and it is a highly technical leadership role. As a result, I have continually put off work on my business even though I have a very short list of things to do before launch (I am already working too many hours and finding time for my loved ones is hard enough. I might not be forgiven for working on a startup which they see as “optional” given my strong corporate career).
Since I am feeling so many stressors at once, I thought I would put together a bingo list of stress reduction tactics I have used over the years along with my perceived cost of practice and short and long term benefits.
Meditation
Topping my list is meditation . The practice of sitting still and trying to think of nothing. I personally find Zen meditation to be the best, but each person is different, so use whatever school works for you. If you have never meditated before, it is easy to start. Simply find a place where you will not be interrupted for a few minutes, and there is as little distraction as possible. Sit on the floor or a chair with your back straight, close your eyes, and try to have no thoughts come into your head. If a thought comes, notice the thought and then return to not thinking.
If you are just starting out, you can count each time you breathe in to help train your mind in the practice of avoiding thought. Count to 10 breaths, then restart at 1. Set a timer for 5 minutes and continue this for the entire time without breaking. As you get better, allow yourself to stop counting and increase the amount of time you sit for.
Benefits: Extremely relaxing. Reduces stress, improves overall life quality, improves thought function and clarity.
Cost: It will probably add to stress the first few times you try it. Meditation takes practice and time. Completely worth it.
Tips: If you find it hard, use meetup to find local meditation groups which can help spur your growth. This may involve additional time and possibly money.
Physical Exercise
Working out 5 days a week will do wonders for stress. I always feel happier and more energetic while on a regular workout schedule… unfortunately, I also haven’t been on a regular workout schedule for a year now, and need to get back to it.
I personally found the best routine to be about 30 minutes of weight lifting, followed by 30 minutes of hard cardio to be the best overall combination. Each day I would focus on a different part of the body for weight training.
Benefits: Long term health, less stress, morale booster, you are more aesthetically pleasing 
Costs: A lot of time, generally 1.5 hours a day for me when including travel/stretching/showering. You may also have to pay for gym membership and workout clothing.
Tips: 30 minutes of cardio is almost unbeatable as a motivational tool.
Project Planning
I was once told that if you feel overwhelmed, make a list of things to do. This actually works. Make a detailed list outlining how to get from point A to point B. Once you are done, start executing, but by then a lot of stress will have gone away already. I also like to add in task dependencies, completion dates, required resources, and a host of other stuff and make it into a full fledged project plan, but that’s a personal choice. The down side of this is that sometimes it shows you how much you have to do and can be de-motivating.
Benefits: remove the unknown from the stress, increase productivity
Cost: May add to stress, takes up significant time and effort
Tips: Use excel, or learn how to use project management software
Being Present
This is an incredible tactic I picked up during some of my most stressful times. When I am feeling overwhelmed, my immediate instinct is to start multi-tasking in an effort to complete as much as possible. Instead, focus only on what you are doing right now and on nothing else. If you are writing a blog, then focus only on the blog. If you are driving, then be present while driving – notice other people in their cars, the sounds of the road, the signs and sights you pass. Don’t let anything but what you are doing in this moment distract you.
Benefits: meditation-like clarity. Improved efficiency, sense of well being. I usually sigh in relief after about 30 seconds of being present in a non-working environment (walking, driving, waiting, etc)
Cost: This is very hard to maintain.
Tips: remind yourself how beautiful the world is if you just look around, and how ineffective multi-tasking truly is. I also find it helps to remind myself that in the scheme of things, all my worries are petty things and I probably won’t remember them in a years time.
Eating Healthy
Another common thing I try to do when stressed is to grab quick and unhealthy food like a burger or a pizza. In the long run, this only slows you down and makes you feel terrible. Instead of grabbing a pizza, make a quick salad. Eating healthy will energize you more over the long run and improve your thinking, allowing you to get more done. Additionally, the release of positive chemicals such as B12 from a healthy diet will improve your mood and reduce stress and physical causes of stress.
Benefits: long term health, increased energy, improved thinking
Cost: doesn’t taste as good, and takes willpower
Tips: find a good juice bar and learn to love protein shakes
More Techniques
Even with all of this, I am still feeling stressed. Does anyone have some tips they can share with me I can try out and see if I can’t reduce some of my stress load?
Here is what I do against stress:
- Gardening, especially weeding,
- Walking the cats. The 2 Siamese I have aren’t allowed outside without a leash. The are much slower than dogs.
- Prioritisation: What really needs to be done, and what does not.
- Eating healthy needs to become a habit and not a question of willpower. There are still different theories about what is really healthy. For instance, fruit is just sugar.
HTH
Trixi
Great tips! I forgot about doing a hobby. I have a couple of dogs, and going for a walk in the park is a great way to get away from it all. I also tend to agree that eating healthy is should be a matter of habit, but even though I have been a healthy eater for many years, I still find the urge to go the quick and easy route from time to time.
I’m still planning on getting into meditation… that’s one avenue I’ve not fully explored.
But I swear by a nice relaxation massage. I’ll go for a 90-min or two hour massage every couple of weeks (or at least once a month). I’ve a friend who had her own business doing Reiki and Massage therapy and she’s amazing. It’s more meditative than therapeutic, but the last half hour is normally deep tissue on my back – and normally I’ll fall asleep at some point.
Also, I try and take a few months off every year. Mostly I avoid winter (spend Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere). And I think constant year-round doses of sunshine is a good thing too.
I love the idea of a nice deep tissue massage. I also used to go about every other week, but it got expensive!
I wish I could take a couple of months off… when I can finally take the leap into working for myself, I plan to do just that! One of the many benefits of being self employed is setting your own work level and expectations…
Nice post. And I like the vacation idea from the comments above – for me a week or even a few days of doing nothing at all and getting away from everything can work wonders. Splitting time between a “real” job and your own startup can be difficult. I’m trying now to work at shorter-term contracting positions for income and work on my own projects in between those, until those projects can bring in something resembling an income. I’m just starting, so we’ll see how that goes.
Anyway, best of luck combatting that stress, and on your startup!
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I like the gardening idea and while doing this thing I think it is also best to sing your favorite song while weeding.