Reduce Stress! The 5 R's

Has anyone noticed how stressed people seem to be today? It doesn’t take very long during the course of a week to hear someone utter the words, ‘I feel stressed!’ but the reality of it for people can be serious. In 2009/10 9.8 million working days were lost due to stress and it is estimated that as much as 75% (or more) of visits to Doctors are either directly or indirectly linked to stress. So what can we do about it? Here are five R’s to consider in reducing stress, today!

1. Re-evaluate. When did you last stop and take stock of what you are doing and why you feel out of control? Take time out and write down everything that is causing stress and those areas where things are going well. Seeing it written down allows you to begin thinking about how you can move forward. Be specific about how you would like things to be and spend time imagining this happening in reality.
2. Reward. Be kind to yourself and reward the things you do that work for you and are positive. Take just one action every day that contributes to your goal of reducing stress and note this down. Some people find it helpful to keep a journal so you can see how far you’ve come over time. 
3. Relaxation. Take time for relaxation and release. Changing our physical state impacts our emotions. You can utilise deep breathing techniques, visualisations, or just get up and move around. Doing something physical will release the tension and leave you re-energised.
4. Reduce. Sometimes we just take on too much and need to remove things that are unnecessary so we can begin to prioritise. If you can’t do everything you want to do, what is the most important thing today? What really matters to you? What would make the biggest difference?
5. Rethink.  Negative mind chatter can be very powerful in keeping us locked into stress. We can’t see the wood for the trees or a way out. Challenge the negative thoughts and begin to ask yourself, what can I do? What strengths do I have that can get me through this? Make a list of all your strengths and add to it everyday for 30 days. This in itself is a powerful way of getting your mind to focus on positives and minimise stress!