The level of stress endured by us often
shows up on our face. Living in constant stress leads to poorer quality of
sleep, poorer quality of our skin tone and formation of wrinkles. However, we
cannot run away from stress. We just need to learn how to deal with it. These
are my five tips on how to deal with stress:
Be realistic – Often times, we want to do everything under the sun. We want to
excel in our work, our relationship, our family while needing to find time for
ourselves, our hobbies, friends, society and the environment. It is not
possible to do everything. Just be realistic and prioritise. What is most
important now? Concentrate on one thing at a time.
Learn to say no – Being Asian, we try to please people around us. We will say yes
to everything thrown onto us. Learn how to say no! If we cannot handle it, just
decline it. Declining is not a sign of failure. Rather, it is a sign that we
can prioritise and stay focus.
Have some “me time” – People use their
“me time” to get away from their stressful life. Meditate, exercise or even
going out with your friends. It takes you away from the very thing that
stresses you.
Allocate time to rest – Rest is something that we don’t get enough of. We don’t sleep
early enough as we have not finished out work. Even when we sleep early, our
quality of sleep is poor. We have difficulty falling asleep or we wake up too
early. Learning to take afternoon naps is important especially your sleep at
night is poor.
Holidays – Try having holidays for a couple of days where the phones are
switched off; mails are not checked and there is no one else except your
friends and loved ones. You will find that you will feel more relaxed and can
sleep better. The holiday need not be a getaway to a faraway place. It can be
somewhere local, as long as private time is observed.
