Recently I was presenting to a group of college students and was asked what I do to manage stress, and given the follow–up comments other students shared on the topic I thought I would make this week’s blog about How I Manage Stress.
First you need to know that everyone feels stressed at one time or another. Some people are very good at concealing their stress while others display it openly for the world (often they have no idea how visible it is!) I have certainly had my share as well. Over the years I think I have heard how to manage it better than I used to. I think the way to manage stress is to be proactive and manage yourself so that you keep stress to a minimum in the first place. Here are the tactics that work for me:
1) No Caffeine
Yep, you read that correctly. I don’t drink caffeine. I gave it up ‘cold-turkey’ about 16 years ago. Prior to that I was downing Diet Cokes like I was in a contest, and when I stopped drinking anything with caffeine I had a headache for three weeks. I do realize I am not selling this idea very well in the short term… but long term? It has been a big payoff for me. I have more energy and it is more even throughout the day. I sleep better and wake up and am ready to go.
2) Early to bed Early to Rise
So it turns out that some of those ‘old wives tales’ have some truth to them. I get up by 4:30 a.m. on days I work and by 6:30 a.m. most every other day. And when I get up I start working right away whether it is working out, working at my job or working on my projects (like supporting my first novel, Lindsey: Love & Intrigue or super fun stuff like the laundry!) – I start early.
3) Get 6.5 hours of sleep a night
I think most of us adults think we need a lot more sleep than we actually do. I do just fine on about 6 and 1/2 hours of sleep a night. I know, I know, tons of people say everyone needs 8 hours of sleep. The truth is that at different ages we need different amount of sleep, so I am only referring to adults here (kids and teens definitely need more sleep!) But let’s look at the research (not the advertisements). This is from sleep expert Donald L. Bliwise, PhD, director of the program in sleep, aging, and chronobiology at Atlanta’s Emory University. He was the lead researcher on, “A six-year study of more than a million Americans shows that a good night’s sleep lasts seven hours. More sleep isn’t better. People who sleep for eight hours or more tend to die a bit sooner. Six hours’ sleep, on the other hand, isn’t that bad.” 1 Did you read that? If you sleep longer than 8 hours a night, you die sooner. Seriously!
In fact, according to researchers from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine and the American Cancer Society, “individuals who now average 6.5 hours of sleep a night, can be reassured that this is a safe amount of sleep. From a health standpoint, there is no reason to sleep longer.”2 I couldn’t agree more. But as I have already said, I think it needs to be fairly consistent in terms of when you go to bed and when you wake up.
4) Don’t drink alcohol
Ok, many of my Facebook friends are young teens. So let me be clear here. If you are under age, don’t drink. It really is that simple. (And NEVER, ever get into a car with someone who has. Ever.) For all the adults – I do drink alcohol on occasion (e.g. holidays, the occasional birthday celebration, etc.), but most of the time months and months go by and I don’t drink any alcohol. I think this helps me sleep better and wake up ready to go on a consistent basis. Let’s face it 4:30 a.m. roles around pretty quick…
5) Exercise
I think doing some kind of physical exercise on a regular bases also relieves stress. Whether you play sports, run or walk – adding exercise to your routine also helps to keep your stress in check.
And let’s all remember that a little stress often brings the best results, after all necessity is the mother of invention!
Add a comment here in my blog or on my Facebook page and let me know how you manage stress. I’d love to hear from you!
“To achieve great things, two things are needed:
a plan and not quite enough time.”
Leonard Bernstein
former American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist.
1 http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/news/20020214/are-you-sleeping-enough—-too-much
2 http://health.ucsd.edu/news/2002/02_08_Kripke.html
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