Remember, making sure to prioritise sufficient, restful sleep is vital to promote physical health and overall well-being as part of a self-care routine
Here's a well-known quote about sleep by Benjamin Franklin: "Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise."
The quote suggests that maintaining a consistent sleep schedule and waking up early can lead to better physical health, financial prosperity, and increased wisdom or intelligence. The quote emphasizes the importance of discipline and routine in achieving success.
4. Stress management
Stress management is the process of adopting strategies to help cope with and reduce the impact of stress on one's life. It can involve both proactive and reactive strategies. Proactive strategies aim to prevent stress from occurring in the first place, while reactive strategies focus on coping with stress when it does occur.
Stress management techniques can include both physical and psychological approaches. Physical techniques can include exercise, deep breathing, and progressive muscle relaxation, while psychological techniques can include cognitive-behavioral therapy, mindfulness, and relaxation techniques.
Different strategies may work better for different people, and it may take some trial and error to find the most effective approach for you. In addition to reducing the impact of stress on physical health, effective stress management can also improve mental health and overall well-being.
It's important to remember that stress is a normal part of life and not all stress is bad. However, chronic and unmanaged stress can have negative effects on physical and mental health, so it's important to have strategies in place to manage stress when it becomes overwhelming.
Below are some tips on how to manage stress:
Identify sources of stress: To manage stress effectively, it is important to identify the sources of stress. This can include work, relationships, financial concerns, health issues, and other factors that may be contributing to stress.
The steps you can take to identify sources of stress:
✓ Keep a stress journal: Write down the events, thoughts, or situations that trigger stress in your life. Note the time of day, the people you are with, and how you are feeling.
✓ Analyze your stress journal: After a few days, review your stress journal and look for patterns or common triggers. Are there certain times of the day when you feel more stressed? Are there specific people or situations that always seem to cause stress?
✓ Identify your physical responses to stress: Pay attention to how your body responds to stress. Do you experience headaches, muscle tension, or stomach problems? Knowing your physical responses to stress can help you identify when you are feeling stressed and need to take action.
✓ Ask for feedback: Sometimes, we are not aware of the stressors in our lives. Ask friends, family, or coworkers if they notice any patterns or triggers that cause you stress.
✓ Take a stress assessment: There are many online stress assessments that can help you identify sources of stress in your life. These assessments can provide you with a better understanding of your stress level and help you develop a plan to manage it.
Or a funny way of stress identifying – think about the things that make you feel like you're being chased by a pack of angry squirrels, or make you want to scream into a pillow until your neighbors file a noise complaint :) Those are probably your sources of stress. Alternatively, think about the things that make you feel like a cupcake in a warm oven, or a penguin snuggled up in a cozy igloo. Those are probably not your sources of stress.