I’ve been thinking hard about ways to reduce the stress in my life lately and have come up with 10 ways to reduce stress that I think are pretty do-able.
Everybody’s got stress, right? It seems like in a world of fast-paced, always “on” society, there’s never a chance to de-stress and not feel guilty about it.
We’re all wired differently though, and the more ideas the better in my book. So if after reading through my list of 10 ways to reduce stress and you see something missing, please chime in and tell us what helps YOU to reduce the stress in your life.
The more suggestions the better!
Meditate.
No, I haven’t gone all “Yogi” on you, but taking 10-15 minutes of quiet to allow yourself to reflect on your day can significantly help you deal with whatever is causing you stress in the first place.
I swear, sometimes, when I finally give myself a minute to think about my stress, I can come up with a plan of attack much faster than letting it eat at the back of my mind while I busily cross things off of my to-do list.
Be realistic about timing.
Allow yourself extra time to get wherever you are going. The stress of being late doesn’t usually disappear once you have arrived, people tend to carry the stress into the rest of their day.
Get enough sleep.
I know, how are you supposed to fit more sleep into your already crazy schedule? I get it, but sleep is an absolute necessity for your brain. It helps you manage everything that the day brings way easier than when you’re sleep deprived {I am sure any new mom’s reading this can totally attest to this one.}
Prioritize.
Someone gave me this tip a long time ago, and I have carried it with me for years. Create a list of priorities: family, friend, exercise, work, etc. Anything outside of that list, simply doesn’t get attention if there is not extra time.
Your time is a pie, there is only so much to go around, so when you say “yes” to something, make sure it doesn’t take a slice out of one of your priorities–because if it does, you can almost guarantee will lead to guilt, resentment, etc. which all cause stress.
Garden.
You know I had to include this one. Seriously, though, getting out in the garden puts things in perspective. It’s slow, methodical and satisfying–and rarely has pressing deadlines. It’s simplicity at its finest.
Exercise.
Gotta release those endorphins. Get moving and get away from the demands of life long enough to put yourself and your health first. Even a 30 minute walk can be a powerful de-stresser.
Eat healthy well balanced meals.
I know this is reading like a recipe for healthy living, but crappy food causes you to feel crappy–which in turn increases your stress. So, do yourself a favor and practice a little prevention.
Laugh.
Rent a funny movie, call a funny friend, etc. Laughter has been shown to improve overall mood, which…you guessed it: reduces stress.
Turn off electronics.
Seriously, sometimes I think the constant distraction of phones, computers, television, etc. is driving us mad. Don’t be afraid to turn them off {I do it all the time!} Turn them off and feel the stress melt away.
When all else fails, give yourself some credit.
Being human means some days just don’t go your way. Don’t beat yourself up, just chalk it up to a bad day and move on. How does that saying go? Change what you can and accept what you can’t? Something like that, anyway.
What do YOU do to reduce stress? We’d love to know.
~Mavis
Ashley Bananas says
Out of curiosity, do you find yourself very stressed out as a retired or semi-retired person? I imagine, as someone who is working, that if I were able to retire I would not be stressed. But maybe that is a dream right?
I guess the other side of this post, thinking out loud here, is to identify what your stresses are and then try and lower them or eliminate them. If someone is just overall stressed all the time, it may be part of their personality.
Suzanne Shaw says
I was thinking exactly the same thing. Mavis is living the life I WANT to live! But as she said, there is stress everywhere in life. Since it will always be there – best to learn how to manage it. I stop and read or listen to any ‘tips’ – always – on how to manage stress. My mantra – ‘peace and serenity’.
Christy Rose says
HUbby (80) and I (77) are both long retired and although we have more TIME we have far les money so there is that stress. Inflation is eating us alive.
Hawaii Planner says
I do most things on your list. Also, highly recommend the free Coursera course, the Science of Well Being, which touches on much of this. It’s taught by a Yale professor, and is really fabulous.
Lynn says
Intermittent fasting has helped me with stress. I get much better sleep by closing my eating window at 3:30 p.m. and not eating in the morning until 9 a.m. … and boy, do I feel great the next morning. Second, I also have been trying to do ‘box’ breathing (it supposedly helps with blood pressure, too) by breathing in slow for 8 seconds, holding for 8 seconds, and releasing for 8 seconds, with a pause for 8 seconds. Third, I prefer praying versus meditation. I find that when I get deep into prayer (so not quick prayers) it is better than meditation for me, and the prayers help others. I would love it if I were a prayer warrior, but shamefully I am not (goal to work on).
Sheila says
Let go of perfectionism…. Done is better than perfect, and don’t play the comparison
Game. We accomplished both of those by moving from our HOA neighborhood to the country lol! So freeing
Julie says
Nature! Sitting or just sauntering around in a park or in the forest or in the trees just being there, listening to the birds whatever…. Guaranteed it relieves stress!!!
And on another note, how is Mrs. Hillbilly doing? Either I’ve missed it or we haven’t heard about her for a long time?
Patti Vanderbloemen says
All good methods to reduce stress, Mavis!
I officially “retired” from my full time job at age 50. At the time, my father passed and we made the decision to have my mom move in with us so I wanted to be “here” for her. She lived in Florida, we are in Virginia – but she had a heart attack while living in Florida, and that was the defining factor in our decision. Fast forward almost 14 years now. Mom is almost 89 and going strong. I can honestly say – for me in my particular situation- that the stress level from working vs. retired is simply DIFFERENT, but it is still there.
Sleep, exercise, and eating right have taken a priority, and all of that helps my stress level tremendously. I think as a retired person (or not!), it is super important to take time for oneself with — I hate this word, but Hobby. Having that “purpose” and, in my case, making/creating something, contributes to my self worth, thus reducing stress. What I do is much more than a hobby (I am a silversmith), but it fits the description.
Also, as Mavis very politically pointed out, there are only so many hours in a day. Our time is a pie and it has to be divided up so that you do not sell yourself short and say “yes” to everyone. This was the hardest thing for me, as I was always the first to volunteer for anything and everything. As a caretaker for my mother, I need to ensure my health (stress level) is as tip top as possible for both me and her. Although I do not have children, I equate the responsibility of taking care of my mom as similar in the stress department!
I am always open to reading about more methods to reduce stress!
Joely says
Thank you for sharing this topic Mavis. I like that people are sharing their experiences at different life stages and the various ways of dealing with stress over the lifespan. This is very helpful and useful information.
HollyG says
I’m a retired high school teacher that survived, for 33 years, by having lesson plans, back up plans and even plans for others in case I wasn’t there to carry on the plans, I still tend to hyper-plan my life and have found that trying to let the lists go from time to time and let the day just unfold before me is wonderful for my mental health and stress levels. The best days seem to be when the land, the weather and my pups are in charge of “my plans”.
KC says
This is a very short-term thing, but: background music or cat purrs! Music can change moods and slow us down or pep us up, and we can use the pep towards making it easier [less stressful!] to force ourselves to clean or exercise, and can use the calm to help us chill out.
But also, when you need to be working on your computer and a web form or something is just maddening, turn on a cat purr: https://purrli.com/ Zero words to distract you, zero tune, just calming purr. (it has sliders so you can customize the purring; the most important one is the bottom meow slider – slide it alllll the way to the left to get zero interrupting meows during your calming purring!)
And then also: are there stressors you’re opting into? A talk show that leaves your blood pressure high all day, but whose informative content could be 2 minutes of calmer, less extreme-reaction newspaper reading instead? Commercials and media programs and social media behemoths that are trying to grab your eyeballs are often specifically trying to keep you in a fear/insecurity/anger state to keep you 1. coming back and 2. in an emotional and mental state that is more susceptible to advertising. So! Kick those things out of your life [temporarily replace with music or with calm audiobooks; it’s hard to not reflexively turn back to the high-energy stimuli], and where it *is* important to keep up to some degree with a topic, replace with a calmer, more-facts-less-opinions presentation, ideally written instead of video/vocal, and ideally written in a non-clickbait-y, non-inflammatory fashion. (some video/vocal isn’t designed for emotion churning to keep up engagement and ad revenue, but at this point, the Walter Cronkite-ish entities/programs are in the decided minority)
I’ve also put some of my more-frustrating relatives into a sort of email waiting room; I set up a gmail rule to put emails from them into a folder, which is then highlighted as having a new message but without any of the text visible, and then I look at their email subject lines and contents at a time when I can cope with them better, when I am likely to be able to reply right then, and when I’m not going to be thinking about their latest auuuugh all night. Maybe nobody else has those relatives, but I do, and this has worked well for reducing frustration and stress.
(but also yes: breathing. Plants. Nature. God. Encouraging reading. Calming spaces. Sleep. Gentle exercise when that’s what’s useful, and vigorous exercise when you need to burn off some frustration. All good things!)
Mavis Butterfield says
The cat purring is pretty genius. Thanks for sharing that KC.
JulieP says
Box breathing and meditation help although I do yoga too and the time spent (when I make time) is always well spent, I come away recharged. Gardening is my hobby and in response to the retirement question I ‘retired’ just as we were going into the Covid pandemic 18 months later, bored and stressed at the same time, I got a completely different to my original employment part time job. I was more stressed when I didn’t mix with other adults and I garden because I believe anything outside in the fresh air is good for stress. Thanks for this and it’s always good to have it confirmed that in every life these days there are stresses.
Holley says
I definitely limit the news I read/listen to. I also pray when I feel myself getting hyped up. And, I learned a long time ago to say NO! I think that is the best advice I was ever given and I’m glad I adopted it in my life. Our time is only valuable to ourselves. So we must protect it.
Staci W says
I have found that sitting on the floor and just loving on my dogs for several minutes greatly reduces any stress I may be feeling. Physical contact with these sweet creatures, that ask so little of me (other than meal time when the food obsessed puggle, decides it is absolutely time to to eat), is just such a joy-filled time.