Cheryl woke up from a nightmare for the fifth consecutive day. Yet, there was no time to catch her breath. She hurried to freshen up and started working.
If this sounds familiar to you, you might be experiencing immense stress. While an optimal level of stress motivates us to perform, too much of it can harm us. It is imperative to keep stress at bay while leveraging it for productivity.
One very effective way in living a stress-free life is to practice mindfulness. Mindfulness is when you bring awareness to your emotions or what you are experiencing through your senses. It is a quality that everyone already possesses, but mindfulness needs to be practised often to make it work. Mindfulness can be practised by meditating, paying more attention to the daily things you do, celebrating small successes, accepting yourself and focusing on your breathing. This will enable you to bring more positivity and become more efficient. It's worth noting that meditation is quite possibly the most consistently shared practice among high achievers such as Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, and Jay Shetty.
Starting the day with a daily to-do list would be a good start to a routine as it would ensure a well-organised day. A daily to-do list allows a clear mind throughout the day, which can boost focus and productivity. Apps such as Todoist and TickTick can aid in keeping track of your to-do list. It is important to record the task as soon as it pops into your mind and assign a due date to ensure the completion of the given task. However, it is important to prioritise and not overload the to-do list by taking on more than you can chew as this may trigger unwanted stress.
Besides that, including some “me-time” into the schedule is another practical way to destress. This habit can be done daily by setting aside 15 to 30 minutes by doing something enjoyable as an individual. During the time allocated, we may pick up hobbies such as reading, listening to music, or solving puzzles since these activities do not consume much time. This habit may seem like a simple task, but it certainly goes a long way towards making you feel relaxed and enhancing a stress-free mind.
Lastly, surrounding ourselves with a group of positive and encouraging people play a crucial role in adopting a stress-free life. This group of positive individuals would help bolster happiness and induce positive thoughts. Furthermore, this would allow us to improve our self-confidence and self-worth.
The journey to becoming stress-free may not be an easy one. Yet, it is possible. It’s simply a matter of whether we are willing to make changes in our lifestyle and mindset.
Author(s)
Amelyn Yee, Fatehah Sulaiman, Kishani Shanmugalingam, Ruben Gnanasegaran
