Stressed engineers: Here’s your guide to manage stress like a boss.
There are two kinds of stress: The good stress, the stress that suddenly kicks in when you need to really focus on something like a presentation, an examination. This kind of stress serves as a motivator for you to do your best, especially in emergencies.
Then there’s the second kind of stress: you guessed it—bad stress. This stress is the harmful kind, it can cause physical, mental, and emotional pains. It can cause you to act rashly and can lead to different kinds of sicknesses like weight fluctuations, heart disease and depression.
Now, you can learn these simple ways on how to manage the different stresses in your life. Check out these 10 tips on how to handle stress:
1. Identify What Stresses you out
In every problem solving, the best way to solve the problem is always find the root cause. So, try to think about everything that stresses you.
Once you’ve listed everything down, think about how you react to those stress triggers.
Understanding your stress triggers is the first step to help you find balance.
2. Go get some Exercise
Even if you aren’t a gym junkie, it’s important to move your body every day.
Go on a short walk, or go have some light jogging. Moving your body is important stressful reaction.
When you are healthy, you will feel lighter and more energized therefore helping you manage life’s unexpected stresses.
3: Eat Well
When I say ‘eat well’, I mean eat ‘healthy’. Nourishing your body with the right food will supply you with the right amount of energy to handle all the day’s stresses.
Treat yourself to your favorite food once in a while, but don’t forget: too much of a good thing is bad. This can lead to stress eating.
Take everything in moderation, and don’t forget to fill up with water.
4. Catch some ZZzzz’s
Yes… the hardest thing that engineers can’t get enough of… Sleep!
Sometimes, when you don’t want to handle any more stress for the day, or are too tired to solve the day’s problem, the best solution is to just hit the sack and sleep.
Sleep can create wonders by, helping you relax and restore all the brain cells to health.
5. Go on a Road Trip
Engineers must schedule an annual vacation… or better yet, if you’re the adventurer type, just go on a whim.
Vacations help reset the mind from boring, stressful, routine 9-5 work schedules.
Go to a city you haven’t seen before, visit the beach, go to a different country, and take millions of selfies and videos.
Whatever makes you happy.
6. Smile
Research says that by smiling, you can somehow trick the brain into thinking you actually are happy.
Sometimes even a phony smile can help you handle stress.
So bring out those sparkling whites and smile!
7. Meditate
This may sound difficult to do, but meditation can be a great way to relax your stress-filled mind.
Meditation is known to help lower heart rate and blood pressure, and even improves cognitive performance.
Engineers, just find a comfortable place, close your eyes, relax your muscles and focus on your breathing.
10 minutes a day will suffice. The effects are like magic, you’ll feel relaxed and refreshed!
8. Drink green Tea
The bitter green team is very soothing.
It contains theanine, an amino acid that gives the green tea its flavor, and promotes relaxation.
Theanine is a caffeine antagonist, this means it counters the stimulating effects of caffeine.
So, avoid caffeinated beverages especially when stressed and just drink some relaxing green tea.
9. Listen to music
Plug on your earphones, choose your favorite playlist and let the music’s euphoria kick in.
Listening to music can calm you whenever you’re stressed.
Similar to meditation, it helps you forget about the stress and just concentrate on the beats and melody that is in the music.
10. Take a hot bath
Heat relaxes the muscles, and taking long hot baths can be soothing to the mind.
Submergence in water can reduce pain and inflammation and also calm the nervous system, reducing the levels of stress and anxiety in the body and improving your mood.
So engineers… fill that tub with some hot water and soak in!
