Stress is an ever-present human challenge, but you can take better control your responses and learn how to cope with stress every day.

At the Health n’ Wellness Blog, our preliminary tip to manage stress is to keep a journal. Here you can record what induces your stress and how you react to certain “stressors.” Once you have a clear and honest perspective on what is causing your sense of unease, you can take the necessary steps to avoid these situations or better cope with them when they do arise.

Below we outline 3 tips to manage stress. Each tip can help you get one step closer to better stress management

Time Management

Feeling pressured for time is very stressful. The key to time management is prioritization and planning. Determine the things you have to do and those that you want to do, then plan them out accordingly so you can better manage your time. This helps you decide which matters are urgent and which can wait. Good time management often leaves you ample time to enjoy doing what you love and lessens stress relative to time pressure.

Lifestyle Modification

Lifestyle-related behaviors and diseases are often caused by stress. The way you choose to live your life may not directly be the cause of stress, but it can affect how your body copes with it.

Balance

Work and life balance is not easy to achieve, but you can try to see how you're spending your time. You may discover that there are some things you don't have to do, which gives you time to allot for other more important things in your life.

Purpose

Work is an important aspect of your life but you have to put it in the right perspective. You work to live, not live to work. Find more meaning in your life by connecting with other people in your community, family and friends.

Rest, Healthy Habits and Exercise

The physical stresses encountered by your body on a daily basis take a toll on your health. The body recovers from stress with enough sleep and rest. Counter stress by adopting a healthy diet and exercising. Limit alcohol and cut back or totally eliminate smoking. You may not feel it right away but these two negative habits add stress to the body.

Support

Finding support from family, friends and your community makes a difference in how you cope with stress. It means gaining the love and trust of other people which opens up a well of benefits that can reduce the impact of stressful situations. You can gain support from:

• Family, friends and co-workers
• Professional counselors
• A spiritual adviser
• Stress management classes
• Organized support groups

Stress can be caused by many factors and people react to it in varied ways. There are times when stress cannot be avoided but you can learn how to cope with stress and lessen it enough to regain your sense of control. To learn more about how to cope with stress specifically at work, check out this good article from Mayo Clinic.