7 stress factors and how to deal with them

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

If you are not doing anything, are dissatisfied with yourself, and your life is more like a race, it's time to stop and figure out what went wrong and how to fix it.

A hundred years ago, people only read 50 books in their entire lives. Now we are faced with an informational overdose. If in 2007 we consumed 100,500 words per day, today this figure has grown to 178,570 words per day.

Industrialization and automation were supposed to reduce workload and free up time. But it turned out the opposite: we become hostages of technology, worries, notifications and social networks. During work we think about rest, while rest - about work.

We are often unhappy with ourselves. It seems that life is passing by, while the conventional Masha from social networks lives happily and richly.

Stress is on the rise. We gain weight or compensate for the experience with other bad habits.

Let's take a look at seven of today's stressors and how to deal with them.

Factor 1: Notifications and distracting calls

When you are productive, you are in a certain stream of information. If the immersion is deep, then there is a feeling of flow. Mihai Csikszentmihalyi, author of The Stream. The Psychology of Optimal Experience”defines flow as a state of complete absorption in activity, when everything else recedes into the background, and the pleasure from the process is so great that people will be willing to pay only to do it.

Every distracting call, notification or annoying colleague is taken out of this state. As soon as you are in the mood for work again, there is immediately a distraction. And you simply cannot return to the same flow as before. Or you spend time and energy diving. They say that it takes 15 minutes to concentrate again. Irritability and dissatisfaction grows.

Solution: put notifications on a diet

Turn off all or almost all notifications on your phone. You can only leave those that are really important. I have this SMS from the bank and calls.

Turn on silent mode on your phone. You can leave the vibration. Sometimes you can warn loved ones and even turn off vibration and put the phone face down.

It's okay if you answer the call after half an hour or go to social networks to see who liked your photo during a break without notifications.

Useful links:

• How to customize mobile notifications completely for yourself.
• How to disable pop-up notifications from sites in Chrome, Opera and Firefox.

Factor 2. Switching between tasks

Every day you have a certain amount of thought fuel - a resource that allows you to make decisions and think. The reserves of thought-fuel are limited. There is a difference between when you complete a task with a fresh mind in 15 minutes, and when, in a tired state, you try to figure out what to do.

When the thought-fuel ends, a period of "dullness" begins, it becomes difficult to work with elementary things. Or you can do routine tasks, but you no longer have enough energy for decision-making and creative work.

Where does the thought-fuel go? One of the thieves is incorrect task switching. When you haven't finished the previous task yet and started doing a new one. And as soon as you start making a new one, another and another one appears. And how can you not panic and lament the lack of time? As a result, productivity drops and you cannot fully fulfill your plan.

Solution: Pomodoro Technique

The technique is so called because its author used a tomato-shaped kitchen timer.

How does Pomodoro work? In advance, you make yourself a written list of tasks that need to be completed. You do this in order not to keep everything in your head and to know the order.

With a list of tasks, you set yourself a timer for 25 minutes of concentrated work (without being distracted by social networks, people, calls). You can directly tell everyone this: "Later, I have a" tomato "."

After each "tomato" - 5 minutes of rest. Even if you want to work for another minute, stop and change the environment (warm up, make tea). After four such "tomatoes" you rest for half an hour.

When I started using this technique, I discovered that in 5-6 "tomatoes" (3, 5 hours), you can do everything that stretched for the whole day. Thus, a time structure appears: there is a period of rest, and there is a time for a concentrated load. As a result, you get more time and don't spend a lot of time to get back to the task.

Useful links:

• Everything you need to know about the Pomodoro technique.
• Jedi techniques: how to save thought-fuel at work and in everyday life.

Factor 3. The area of concern is larger than the area of influence

Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People have concepts such as area of concern and area of influence.

The area of concern is those things that we cannot control and which we cannot influence (exchange rates, political situation, news about wars and cataclysms).

The area of influence is everything that we can influence (work, self-development, apartment improvement).

Solution: expand the area of influence, reduce the area of concern

Why worry about things you can't influence? I don’t read the news, I’m not interested in politics, I don’t follow the exchange rate. Other people will tell me important news.

Focus on the circle of influence. Expand it by gradually solving more complex problems. First you put things in order at home, then on the landing, then move on to the house, the district, and so on. The result is less excitement, more self-confidence.

Factor 4. Fear of not meeting or missing

The social media feed creates the perfect picture of other people's lives. And you think: "Everyone is so cool and successful, but I …" There are thoughts that your life is incomplete. The fact is that many are trying to seem, not to be.

Solution: healthy skepticism

The best way is to communicate live and ask questions like it really is. Many of my acquaintances, who broadcast their ideal vacation on social networks, can only privately tell about the difficulties and problems.

Thus, you destroy your own illusions about other people, compare yourself less with others and move in your own direction.

Useful links:

• How to stop worrying about what others think of you.
• How not to get depressed because other people have accomplished more than you.

Factor 5. Haste

You try to be in time everywhere: to a meeting with friends, to work, home. In a hurry to live - you need to get faster and faster. As a result, there is internal tension and a load of unresolved problems. You cannot get out of the cycle and fully enjoy life in the here and now.

Solution: meditation

Ten days of silence and complete disconnection from the outside world. So I went to Vipassana twice. The first time it was difficult, over time I began to remember my past, which until then was hidden deep inside. I let go of the subconscious anxieties that recurred in real life. It was time to rethink everything and calm your mind.

How did the meditation take place? All day you rest and meditate in a group with a teacher who tells you how to do it. You are constantly silent and receive a minimum of information. Half of the meditation is breathing anapana. The second is Vipassana itself. You understand that everything is changing in the world, enlightenments occur.

In the city, you can calmly meditate in ordinary life situations, for example, in transport or at home. Letting go of your thoughts and relaxing. With the help of meditation, the quality of sleep improves, a rethinking of the past, uncovered problems and experiences comes.

Useful links:

• PRODUCTIVE NOVEL # 14. Special issue. How does meditation affect productivity?
• A meditation technique that has actually proven to be helpful.
• New research has clarified how meditation improves our health.

Factor 6. Little time alone with yourself

You are constantly surrounded by people: at work, at home, on public transport. Remember when was the last time you were alone with your thoughts? It is important to disconnect from the outside world and take time to get to know yourself. You spend energy talking with people, and being alone with yourself is a way to recharge. When you listen to yourself, you better understand your capabilities and desires.

Solution: cyclic sports, martial arts

While running, I can rethink something and be alone. I leave problems and just run.

I recommend choosing this type of activity where you practice individually or are distracted by other people to a minimum. These can be cyclic sports: running, swimming, cycling. Martial arts help a lot. Entering the hall, you leave all your worries outside the door and practice blows, somersaults.

Useful links:

• Why running helps us think.
• How running, swimming and cycling can help you become more confident.
• 18 unexpected things that happen to runners

Factor 7. Abandoned unresolved problems

The most common are health problems. For example, your back hurts and you suffer for weeks. Or he could immediately solve the problem: go for a massage or change the mattress.

So it is with mental problems. In our mentality, it is not customary to go to psychoanalysts and admit it. We come up with many excuses: it's expensive, it won't help, it will pass by itself. Many look to friends and family for advice. But, in my experience, this does not give a long-term and high-quality effect.

Solution: diagnose and eliminate in time

When I have problems, I turn to a specialist. A good doctor will tell you how to improve your physical health. A good psychoanalyst will help you understand the problem, change your attitude and finally deal with it.

It is better to take the time to solve the problem now than to be constantly stressed later.

Useful links:

• 7 common misconceptions about psychotherapy
• Medical procedures that you should not forget about passing.
• How to understand when it's time to see a psychotherapist.

How to Reduce Stress in Your Life: A Checklist

1. Disable notifications or reduce their number on the phone, computer.
2. Work with concentration: use the Pomodoro technique.
3. Think less about what you cannot change, work on the zone of influence.
4. Destroy illusions about the ideal life of others.
5. Meditate.
6. Take time to be alone with yourself.
7. Solve health problems with the help of specialists and do not postpone it.