TalentSmart,
world’s premier in providing Emotional Intelligence (EQ), have found that 90%
if skilled performers are best at managing their emotions mainly at times of
stress to remain within. Stress, an absolute necessary emotion when explored
can create serious damage to ones physical and mental health. It’s harmless
when stress isn’t prolonged.
A study done by
Elibeth kerby, a post doctorate shows that stress induces growth of new cells
in brain, however this is achieved only if the stress is irregular or broken.
However if stress prolongs, it suppresses the growth of new cells. Increasing
the level of risk of heart disease, depression, obesity it also decreases ones
performance.
In order to
overcome stressful situations one should have well coped strategies. Some of
the best strategies followed by top and successful performers are as follows.
Appreciate what you have
Work daily to cultivate
an attitude of gratefulness to increase energy, improve mood and physical
well-being. This helps in reducing the stress hormone cortisol by 23%.
“What if”- They avoid asking it
What if fuels on
more fire of stress and worry. Spending more time on worrying the possibilities
will lessen the time need to focus on the action to be taken, automatically resulting
in more stress. Calm people know that asking “what if?” will only take them to
a place they don’t want or need to go.
Stay positive
One’s positive
thought will always help to break stress and make the brain to focus on
something that is stress free. Give your wandering brain a positive thought to
refocus attention. When things are moving in a wrong direction your mind will
flood with negative thought which is a great challenge to bring focus again.
The best thing to overcome is to identify one positive thing that happened in a
day be it however small. If not from the same day, think of a better day coming
ahead. The point here is that you must have something positive that you're
ready to shift your attention to when your thoughts turn negative.
They disconnect
Take a regular
time off can reduce stress. Studies have shown that something as simple
as a break from an email can lower stress levels. Technology enables constant communication and the expectation that
you should be available 24/7. A stress-free moment outside of work is extremely
difficult to enjoy when an email changes your path of thought and get you
thinking about work can beap onto your phone at anytime. Choose your ways of time where you
cut the cord and go offline during weekdays, if that is more difficult choose
weekends. If you’re worried about the drawbacks of taking this step, first do
it when you are unlikely to be contacted, maybe a Sunday morning. Grow more
comfortable with it, and as your colleagues start to accept your offline time, gradually
expand the amount of time you spend away from technology.
Limit caffeine intake
Intake of
caffeine increase release of adrenalin. The fight or flight mechanism sidesteps
rational thinking in favor of a faster response. Your emotions overrun your
behavior, when caffeine puts your brain and body into this hyperaroused state
of stress. The stress that
caffeine creates is far from intermittent, as its long half-life ensures that
it takes its sweet time working its way out of your body.
Sleep
Sleep, your
brain recharges, shuffling through the day’s work and storing or discarding
them, so that you wake up alert and clear-headed. One’s self-control, attention, and memory tend to reduce when you
don’t get enough and the right kind of sleep. Deprived sleep raises stress
hormone levels on its own, even without a stressor present. Take time to get a decent night’s
sleep is often the one thing keeping you from getting things under control.
Squash
Negative Self-Talk
Stopping
negative self-talk, that will help in managing stress. Most of our negative thoughts are just thoughts, not facts. You
will be more rational and clear-headed in evaluating their veracity once you've
taken a moment to slow down the negative momentum of your thoughts. It is just
your brain’s natural threat tendency, when it feels like something always or
never happens, inflating the perceived frequency or severity of an event. To
escape from the cycle of negativity and move toward a positive new outlook, identify
and label your thoughts as thoughts by separating them from the facts.
Perspective - reframed
Stress and worry
are fueled by our own skewed perception of events. We can’t control your
circumstances, but can always control the way how you respond to them. Take a minute to put the situation
in perspective. If you’re thinking
statements such as “Everything is going wrong” or “Nothing will work out,” then
reframe the situation. A great way to correct this thought pattern is to list
the specific things that actually are going wrong or not working out. Most
likely you will come up with just some things and the scope of these stressors
will look much more limited than it initially appeared.
Breathe
The easiest way
to break stress is in something that you have to do everyday anyway: breathing. When you’re feeling stressed, take a
couple of minutes to focus on your breathing. Close the door, put away all
other distractions, and just sits in a chair and breathe. Spend the entire time
focused only on your breathing, which will prevent your mind from wandering. Sounding simple, but it’s hard to do
for more than a minute or two. Try counting each breath in and out until you
get to 20, and then start again from 1, if staying focused on your breathing proves
to be a real struggle. Don’t worry if you lose count; you can always just start
over.
Use your support system
It feels good, to
attempt tackling everything by yourself, but still ineffective. You need to
recognize your weaknesses and ask for help when you need it so that you could
stay calm and focus. Everyone has someone at work or outside work, who is in
their team, rooting for them, and ready to help them get the best from a
difficult situation. Identify these individuals in your life and make an effort
to seek their help when you need it. Sometimes as simple as talking about your
worries will provide a great relief for your anxiety and stress and give you
with a new perspective on the situation.
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