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Stress Management Strategies

With school starting up again, it is important to be proactive in managing our stress. A bit of stress is beneficial for motivating us to new levels of performance, but when stressors get the better of us, they can decrease performance and harm our health. Rather than being a victim to our circumstances, we can be intentional in using effective stress management strategies. These strategies usually fall into one of the following three categories: changing our situation, changing our perception of the situation, or changing our capacity to deal with the situation. Each of these categories will be touched on below.

Changing Our Situation Changing our situation is one of the best ways to resolve or minimize stress. Since each situation and each person is different, this method often requires creativity and thinking outside the box. Brainstorming and getting ideas from others is a great way to start the process. Solutions could include setting boundaries, re-arranging schedules, involving professionals, using outside resources, delegating, forgiving, learning to say "no" when appropriate, and so on.

Changing Our Perception We can change the impact of stressful situations by changing the way we see them.  Rather than feeling victimized, we could focus on the control we do have.  We could see our situation as a challenge to conquer or an experience to learn from.  We could try looking at things from another person’s point of view. We could also look at our situation from an eternal perspective. There is great hope knowing that the struggles in this life are temporary. Life was meant to be a test and we can find meaning, purpose, and growth in every situation. Finding meaning or changing our perspective in stressful situations can actually be protective against the negative effects of the stress response.

Changing Our Capacity We can develop personal skills and practices that increase our capacity for dealing with stressful situations. For example, is if stress comes from poorly managed finances, we could become proficient in money management skills to change that situation. Here are a few more ideas:  

  1. We could improve life management skills such as assertiveness, organization and planning, negotiation, communication, etc. 
  2. We could improve resiliency, strength, and energy by incorporating good health practices like sleep, exercise, healthy eating, deep breathing, and relaxation practices, etc.
  3. We could improve spiritual strength by incorporating practices such as daily prayer, scripture study, Sunday worship, etc. These practices will help us feel God’s love and power more abundantly. As we prioritize the gospel and do our part to overcome challenges, God will bless and strengthen us (Philippians 4:13)

When dealing with long-term situations that are stressful, a great method is to incorporate strategies from all three of the above categories and have a multifaceted approach. We can simultaneously implement strategies to change our situation, our perspective, and our capacity.

For help in creating an overall stress management plan we could download the Managing Stress Worksheet on the BYU CAPS website. We could also read the article on the church website called How to Beat Stress During the Busy Seasons for a few additional ideas.