The seed

How to Succeed in High-Stress Situations

What is a high-stress situation

• Being unhappy in your job
  
• Having a heavy workload or too much responsibility
  
• Working long hours
  
• Having poor management, unclear expectations of your work, or no say in the decision-making process
  
• Working under dangerous conditions
  
• Being insecure about your chance for advancement or risk of termination
  
• Having to give speeches in front of colleagues
  
• Facing discrimination or harassment at work, especially if your company isn't supportive
  
• The death of a loved one
  
• Divorce
  
• Loss of a job
  
• Increase in financial obligations
  
• Getting married
  
• Moving to a new home
  
• Chronic illness or injury
  
• Taking care of an elderly or sick family member
  
• A traumatic event, such as a natural disaster, theft, rape, or violence against you or a loved one
  

How to deal,

1. Eat healthily

• Eating healthily can reduce the risks of diet-related diseases
  
• You can protect your feelings of wellbeing by ensuring that your diet provides adequate amounts of brain nutrients such as essential vitamins and minerals, as well as water
  

2. Be aware of smoking and drinking alcohol

• Try not to, or reduce the amount you smoke and drink alcohol
  
• Even though they may seem to reduce tension initially, this is misleading as they often make problems worse
  

3. Exercise

• Try and integrate physical exercise into your lifestyle as it can be very effective in relieving stress
  
• Even just going out and getting some fresh air, and taking some light physical exercise, like going for a walk to the shops can help
  

4. Take time out

• Take time to relax
  
• Strike the balance between responsibility to others and responsibility to yourself, this can reduce stress levels
  
• Tell yourself that it is okay to prioritize self-care · Are you needing a time out but saying 'I just can't take the time off', if so read more about how taking a break is important for good mental health
  

5. Be mindful

• Mindfulness is a mind-body approach to life that helps us to relate differently to experiences. It involves paying attention to our thoughts and feelings in a way that increases our ability to manage difficult situations and make wise choices
  
• Try to practice mindfulness regularly
  
• Mindfulness meditation can be practiced anywhere at any time
  

6. Get some restful sleep

7. Don’t be too hard on yourself

• Try to keep things in perspective.
  
• Remember that having a bad day is a universal human experience
  
• When your inner critic or an outer critic finds faults, try and find truth and exception to what is being said
  
• If you stumble or feel you have failed, don’t beat yourself up
  
• Act as if you were your own best friend: be kind and supportive
  
• Take a few minutes each day to appreciate yourself