Implement Your Stress Management Plan of Action
You've analyzed your sources of stress, discovered what is working and what isn't in your life, and thought about all the things you'd like to try to help alleviate your stress. What's left? Jumping in and alleviating that stress!
At first, figuring out exactly where to start may seem difficult. You may feel at a loss or even frustrated by all the information and the ideas that you have. You might think that you could never possibly manage all that stress.
But remember, if you don't recognize all your sources of stress, you'll never be able to deal with them. You've accomplished that important first step, and you've even begun to think about what to do about it. You'll continue to discover new stress management techniques and should continue to add them to your lists. But for now, you need an orderly doable list so that you know where to start.
To implement your stress management plan of action, prepare a numbered list. Decide where you want to start by picking a stressor you think will be fairly easy to deal with. For example, maybe you know you need to get more sleep. That's an excellent place to start because you'll have a hard time handling, let alone managing, any stress at all if you aren't getting enough sleep.
Have you heard that certain stressors, such as early childhood trauma or self-esteem issues, show up as pain or tension in certain body parts? While there might be something to these theories, chances are the way stress affects a body is highly individual. Your intuition is probably the most reliable source for information about where in your body your stress is “settling.” Or, perhaps some individual counseling may be in order.
Keep your stress management plan goals daily for a while so that you'll feel like you can manage the tasks you set out for yourself. It will also be easier to decide, for example, to go to bed at 10:00 P.M.
As you get into healthier habits, you'll be able to set out your goals for a week, then a month at a time. As you try different approaches, you'll be able to adjust your goals in ways that work for you.
Perhaps your stress management plan of action will look something like this:
Reasons for stressor |
Action today |
Sleep deprivation: |
1. No TV tonight |
Watching television late |
2. Tape my shows |
3. Bedtime at 10:00 |
Begin with the stressors you have ideas about handling. The more you learn, the more ideas you'll get on how to handle the areas of stress in your life that seem more challenging.
