Personal Stress Manangement Plan

 

In our society today many people live such a fast-paced life that is full of hassles, demands, and frustrations that can be overwhelming at times which can lead to stress. Stress can make you feel like your life is out of balance. Every person has different stressors that can affect them in many diverse ways. Here are my five top stressors:

v College

v Work

v Finances

v Social/personal relationships

v Change

There are certain things that contribute to each of the stressors that can trigger my stress.

v College is something that is very time consuming, and very rewarding at the same time. However, I am currently taking a full course load that includes 18 hours. Taking this many classes at once is difficult and takes a lot of organizing when it comes to managing the course load. The triggers that cause my stress related to college is the deadlines that it creates. I have an average of 12 assignments due a week, which can be overwhelming to a person that works a full-time job. Most of the time I have multiple assignments due on the same day, which can trigger my stress because it gives me the sense of being on a time crunch.

v There are many things that trigger stress related to my work. I am a full-time nanny that cares for a two year old, and a nine month old baby. The biggest trigger of stress is the fact that I am responsible of caring for someone else’s children, and during my work hours I am constantly worried that something bad might happen to one of the children and I would forever hold myself guilty for that. Another trigger of stress is one of their children has speech difficulties, and at times he gets frustrated when we are not able to understand what he is wanting. It adds stress to me because I am there to meet his needs as a child and it is heartbreaking when there is a barrier of speech.

v Financial issues is another factor in the stress involved in my life. The biggest triggers to my financial issues are student loan payments for school, rent and a car payment. All these are big financial responsibilities for a young adult that is still trying to finish a college education.

v Being single in a big city means a person needs to be social to interact with others. A stress trigger in my social life is going on dates. I am constantly worried about making a good impression, and what their opinions are on me.

v The stress triggers on my change stressors are the idea of having to get a new job after graduating college with the possibility of having to move towns. The idea of the unexpected triggers stress in my life.

When a person is stressed out the body reacts just as if were facing a life-or-death situations and the fight-or-flight response kicks in. Exposure to stress over a long period of time can lead to serious health problems. The physical strains the stress puts on my body is a decrease in my immune systems which leads to frequent colds. Also, I experience issues with my digestive system along with body aches. Not only can stress have an impact on the physical part of the body it plays a major role in the psychological response.  When I am stressed over work, school, money, personal relationships, and a fear of change it takes over my mind and feelings. I start to feel over-whelmed as if everything is start to get out of my control, which leads to a slight feeling of anxiety. At times I find myself being moody that often makes me short-tempered. One of the biggest issue I face is self-esteem. I feel as if I am not confident with my appearance so it takes over my entire demeanor.

Personal Stress Management Plan:

 

Having stress in my life often makes me feel like my life is out of control, but I can control it by the way I respond to stress. Managing stress is about taking control of the situation and making changes. Here are the techniques I plan to incorporate in my life to reduce the amount of stress. The change I expect from this plan is a decrease in my stress levels with a sense of being the controller.

v Good time management. Improving how I spend my time will give me greater control of my life.

v Stop procrastinating. Putting things off until the last minute just increases my stress level.

v Perfection doesn’t exist. There is always room for improvements, but everyone has imperfections.

v Well rested. Getting a good night sleep will rest the mind and body which will help decrease the stress levels.

v Create to-do list. Being more organized with a busy schedule will help with the feeling of being overwhelmed.

v Debt-reduction plan. Creating a monthly spreadsheet of when bills that need to be paid.

v Have confidence. Presenting myself with more confidence will allow me to be more calm and relaxed.

v Stay positive. When challenges arise look at them for a chance of personal growth.

v Set aside time. Have time in everyday to rest and relax. Do something that I personally enjoy.

Rational: After adding this stress reduction techniques in my everyday life I am hoping to be more organized, relaxed, with a positive outlook on life. Overall, these techniques should lower my level of stress.

After putting my personal stress management plan into effect for one week I was able to see a big improvement in my overall stress levels, and organization skills. Adding these specific techniques in my life allowed me to have more control of how I spent my time, which abled me to have some time at the end of the day to relax and enjoy myself. Each day I felt well rested and less stressed. I am going to attempt to make this a permanent change in my life.