Management of Stress and Anxiety

Stress Management Techniques

Few days back one of my colleague visited my blog and requested me to share something through which we can manage our stressful lives.

It is indeed one of the most common problems of today’s world that we are leading a very hectic and tiring life. Even a small child has got his own stresses in his life; a housewife has to cope with so many frenetic things to complete the household chores. A student’s life also has multiple reasons through which they undergo stress throughout their lives. Other then all: overall economic pressure or economic down turn leads to increased level of stress for society.

Stressful life is result of one cycle; just like a snowball effect, but here must be a starting point; for simplifying that, provided are most common incidences that trigger’s cycle of stress:

Stress Inducing Factors

• Death of a loved one
• Marital problems
• Major personal injury or prolonged illness
• Academic failure
• Unable to cope with educational burden
• Pregnancy
• Increased work load
• Change in living conditions
• Sleeplessness
• Divorce/ Broken Relationship
• Serious arguments with girlfriend or boyfriend
• Change in eating habits
• Financial issues
• People’s undue expectations from you
• Unstable political or economic condition of the country

Now a days when people find themselves into a stressful situation they start using some of the very unhealthy ways of coping with it. Some of the most common negative ways of coping with stress are as follows:


Unhealthy ways of Coping with Stress

• Smoking
• Using anti anxiety pills frequently
• Sleeping for very long durations
• Showing aggression; physical or verbal to those people who are junior to you in age and rank
• Simply quitting from the situation that is causing anxiety and stress
• Using alcohol
• Withdrawing from the friends and start avoiding any public gathering


These techniques may help you overcome your stress, but it is absolutely not a permanent and healthy solution of your problem. We can always solve our anxieties, fears, apprehensions and stresses by adapting some healthy life style.

• Share Your Feelings: First of all it is always good to share your feeling with any of your close friend, sibling or spouse (Whom so ever you think is the most reliable person in your life). It will help you out in knowing that you are not the only one going through all this situation, rather it is a matter of fact that majority of the people now a days are going through major or minor kind of anxieties and stresses in their lives. Moreover your friend might suggest you any good way to overcome the situation. Plus another benefit of sharing your problem with a reliable person is that it will always makes you feel relaxed, instead of cooking everything in your mind alone.

• Effective Time Management: Management of your time effectively can also make you avoid a lot of problems that can lead to stress and anxiety. Try to finish your work at least one day before the deadline. It can avoid a lot of unseen hazards that might originate at the eleventh hour. If you have to reach at an urgent meeting or catch a flight, try to calculate the driving time in such a manner that you can reach at least 30 minutes before time. However you can always utilize you time positively if you reach early by preparation for the meeting or any other work.

• Be Smart to Say NO: In our professional lives sometimes we are bombarded with loads and loads of work, and in certain situations some of our “smart” colleagues have got a quality of distributing their work to others by pleading, requesting, appealing, demanding or simply praising others. So it is your duty to be even more “smarter” then them. You must know the intelligent way of saying “NO” to any added responsibility that is thrown to you. One can always say NO in a polite manner without hurting the feeling of other people. This technique will really help you in avoiding stress that could cause if you do not have the guts to refuse another. For example; if you are being told to make a presentation for your colleague; you may excuse by elaborating your existing tasks, and let them have information required from you. It is better to provide them half; or even less time instead of making full presentation.

• Avoid Anxiety Provoking Situations: Try to avoid those situations and those people who can aggravate your stress. For example if traffic jams or watching “breaking news” on the television can trigger your anxiety, try to avoid these situations by adapting even a longer route that is less rushy, so your stress could not be triggered. But in certain situations you cannot avoid the people very easily who can provoke your stress i.e. your boss or may be your spouse :) but you can always avoid discussing such issues with them that can lead to an argument resulting in high level of stress.

• Don’t Trigger Stress Provoking Topics: If there are certain “Hot Topics” that trigger your stress, like some people are too sensitive about religion, politics, health issues or family politics, try to avoid jumping into such conversations, because usually such conversations does not end up with any conclusion but a headache leading to anger and frustration.

• Make a List of Things-To-Do: Try to make up a “Things to do list” it will help you out in prioritizing your work and will lead to better management of your work.

• Be Optimistic: “Be Positive” most of our anxieties are self originated, because we always look at the darker side of the picture. So instead of looking your problems in a pessimistic manner try to be optimistic in your thoughts. Try to look at those angles of the problem that are beneficial for you. For example if you are loaded with work by your boss, look at it from this perspective that this opportunity will make you learn new things because whatever we do in our lives we always learn something new, even from the routine things, that we have been doing from ages.

• Have Faith on God: There are certain situations in our lives that cannot be controlled by us, so instead of taking tension or stress for those issues that are uncontrollable, try to be cool and calm and leave rest to God and your destiny. Have faith on God that whatever will be done by Him it will be the best alternative for you.

• Be forgiving: We all are not living in a perfect world extinct from all the negativities and imperfections. So be generous in forgiving people. It will help you out in perceiving the world in a brighter manner; moreover it will not only enhance your self image and self esteem,but public image as well.

• Get yourself involved in healthy physical as well as mental activities: It is very important to get yourself involved in healthy physical exercises i.e. going for a walk, do some sort of workout, write your feelings in a diary to have self catharsis, play with children, get a massage, listen to your favorite music do exercise and the best of all is to watch some good comedy movie.

• Take out time for “Relaxation”: The best relaxation technique is to do some breathing exercises. Sit down in a relaxed posture at a comfortable place. Try to take deep breaths. Inhale oxygen, keep it in for some time and then exhale it. It will definitely make you relaxed if you follow it as a routine.

In the end I would like to mention one of my favorite quotations by Dr. Robert Schuler, that “Tough Times Never Lasts But Tough People Do” so start believing in yourself and your capabilities, be strong during any of the stressful situations and “give a tough time, to the tough time”

I am sure if you follow some of the above mentioned techniques, it will definitely help you out in over coming your anxieties and stresses and will help you in leading a healthy and happy life.

By now I believe you must already be feeling some what relaxed :)

Although here is no end of learning; if you have few more suggestions to be added in the article; please write down so we can add good to humanity.



Have a Stress Free Life

Ayesha Kashif……………….