12 Steps for Managing Stress

We all experience it at one time or another; this condition is called stress.  

It is perhaps the number one cause of most health problems today including ulcers, coronary heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, lung problems, accidental injuries, cirrhosis of the liver, and suicide. 

Anti-anxiety drugs and ulcer medications are among the best selling prescription drugs in the United States. 

Nevertheless, stress is the process of living. The process of living is the process of having stress imposed on you and reacting to it without allowing it to cause any of the above health problems. 

Now let’s explore the 12 steps for managing stress in your life in a healthy and effective manner.

1. Talk about the problems you are experiencing with friends, loved ones, or a professional. Keeping everything bottled up will only create more problems later on.

2. Exercise. Exercise relieves tension and produces a calming effect.

3. Take a bath. A warm bath can be very relaxing and soothing.

4. Music can be calming. Listen to some soft jazz or instrumental music. Ocean or nature sounds also are a good way to release stress.

5. Healthy meals can become an important factor in limiting your stress.  Try to eat three meals a day (no heavy meals), and make an effort to avoid too much caffeine and sugar.

6. Sleep deprivation can cause stress. Six to seven hours sleep can often make all the difference.

7. Coping with stress can be challenging.  Every day you seem to be pulled in every direction, trying to accommodate others.  

The first priority is to take care of yourself. You are the thread which holds your family together. If you are stressed, you won’t be much good to anyone

8. Give yourself a break every now and then.  Buy a new outfit; go to a movie; do something you’ve always wanted to do.  Your family can take care of themselves for one day.  

Alone time is just as important to you as it is for everyone else.  Think of yourself as a gas tank; eventually you will run out of fuel.

9. Laughter is a wonderful release. Releasing tension through laughter is one the best cure-all method for dealing with stress-related issues.

10. Avoid stressful situations whenever possible.  If you are a working parent, it’s probably not the job but the people who are causing you the most stress.  Take everything in stride.

11. If you can’t finish a task, don’t worry about it.  If dinner doesn’t turn out as you expected, improvise or pick up something.

12. Life is too short; and stress can reduce it further.  Nothing is more important than your health or state of mind.


How well are you handling stress? Do you think these steps can be helpful?

Leave your comments below. 

Learn How to Enjoy Your Retirement.

Retirement should never be boring.

It should be just the opposite. It should be enjoyed. An eight hour job where the tasks are repetitive and demanding are boring, not a life of retirement where you can get up each day and make it interesting, challenging, or just plain fun.

Not only that, but in retirement, you can also decide to work for pay, such as working from home or doing independent consulting work, or do volunteer work.

Either way, the key to it is that you are not doing it out of necessity, but because you want to and its rewarding.

Also, it is a time when you can plan a trip to some exotic place, learn a new skill, write a book, explore your city, go to a new restaurant, or just hang out with your friends more often. Begin on Sunday afternoon when you are relaxing and plan out your week, but always be open to the pleasantly unexpected.


If you live in the part of the country, as I do, where you have four distinct seasons, the seasons themselves help shape some of the things you can do for enjoyment. In the summer, the outside activities such as going to fairs, festivals, and parades beckons.

In the winter, the indoor activities such as going to concerts, movies, and plays beckons. The spring and autumn allows for even greater choices. Just use your imagination and enjoy life.


What are your thoughts. Leave your comments below.