Table of contents
ALL ABOUT THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF STRESS
Stress, oxidative stress, positive stress, chronic stress – all of these terms share a related name, but actually, they refer to something completely different. We'll explain the different types of stress, what lies behind the different phenomena, and what can be done about them.
Oxidative stress - what is it?
Many people associate the term "stress" with a state of high tension, for example, before an important exam. While oxidative stress also refers to a condition in your body that is detrimental to your mental performance and your health, the reason for this isn't an exam or a deadline that needs to be met. Oxidative stress means that your body is exposed to high levels of harmful substances from the environment, namely so-called free radicals. These free radicals essentially destroy your body from within, causing you to age faster and leading to memory lapses. How does this work exactly? When your body produces energy, for example, it produces waste products. These waste products include free radicals, which are very aggressive and react with the cells in your body. This is extremely bad because they attack the cells. If you have an extremely high number of radicals in your body, they even attack your DNA. In this way, the radicals accelerate the aging of your body and weaken your immune system. The damage caused by the radicals reaches the brain, which can lead to memory lapses and difficulty concentrating. However, you can influence the number of damaging radicals in your body and, consequently, the level of oxidative stress. Want to learn more about oxidative stress? Click here .
Take-Home Message #1: Oxidative stress describes a condition in your body that negatively impacts your performance and health. This condition is caused by free radicals.
What you can do against oxidative stress
A meta-study from Liverpool John Moores University examined countermeasures and how to reduce oxidative stress.¹ They discovered that there is only one effective antidote! The oxidative stress in your body is regulated by an antagonist, namely antioxidants. These reduce the destructive power of radicals and keep your body and mind healthy and productive. However, various environmental factors often cause the proportion of radicals to become too high, for example, UV radiation, stress, and an overly unbalanced diet. Those who consume too few antioxidants then have to contend with the consequences in the form of exhaustion and memory lapses. Those who want to reduce oxidative stress in the body should primarily consume more antioxidants through their diet, especially those found in fruits and vegetables, or take supplements that already contain them. BRAINEFFECT STRESS LESS contains various natural substances in a unique combination of active ingredients that support your well-being.
Want to learn more about antioxidants? In this article on " Buying Antioxidants, " we've listed the most important ones for you.
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Take-Home Message #2: The most effective counteracting agents against oxidative stress are antioxidants. They are found in numerous foods, but can also be taken in highly concentrated form as a supplement if your diet is unbalanced.
Stress - state of emergency in body and brain
In addition to oxidative stress, other factors can affect your performance. Who has ever felt stressed in their life? I think (almost) everyone can confidently answer this question with a "yes". We encounter stress in various life situations and basically describes the feeling of being challenged or even overwhelmed by a situation. Particularly in situations that demand a high level of performance from you, this triggers the stress response in your body. This initially just means that a cascade of reactions takes place. The starting signal for this comes from the brain, which decides whether a situation is stressful or not. If this is the case, noradrenaline is produced, which in turn activates the sympathetic nervous system. This is followed by the release of hormones such as adrenaline , which increases your breathing and heart rate, and cortisol , the human stress hormone. Among other things, this ensures that your brain has more oxygen available and that you are focused on the moment. So basically your body is just preparing you for the demanding situation, activating you and thus increasing your performance! If the stress is not chronic but only occasional, another hormone is released in high concentrations: oxytocin. This hormone has numerous important functions. Among other things, it supports the cardiovascular system by contributing to the regeneration of heart cells. So setting yourself challenges every now and then is extremely important and can even improve your health. Once the stressful situation is over, the brain sends a signal and the hormone release stops again. The body returns to normal. However, if you are under chronic stress, a certain amount of noradrenaline and cortisol is constantly released, so that your body is constantly in a state of emergency.
Take-Home Message #3: The word stress describes the state your body is in to prepare you for challenging situations. This happens through the release of hormones, an increase in heart rate, etc. That's actually great, but this condition mustn't become chronic.
Positive stress vs. negative stress
If you find yourself in a stressful situation, your body switches to the emergency state described above. Whether this has long-term consequences for you and your performance depends on whether the stressful situation is positive or negative. Have you never heard of positive stress? Then you're like many people who inevitably associate stress with something negative. On the contrary, the positive emergency state, also called "eustress," is perceived as motivating and even performance-enhancing in the corresponding situation. A study from the University of Wisconsin examined this phenomenon.² They found that even your attitude towards stressful situations is crucial. The test subjects who perceived the stress as more positive had a 50% lower risk of actually becoming ill as a result. So, your attitude determines whether stress is bad or not. After all, the body's reactions to stress are always the same; the only question is how you deal with it! Don't you think so? Then take a look at what the study from the University of Rochester discovered.³ The test subjects who had their body's reactions explained to them beforehand and who perceived the rapid heartbeat as stimulating and positive were more confident and relaxed in an exam situation than their competitors. So it's all a question of attitude. Of course, there are also stressful situations that have negative consequences for your performance. This condition is called "distress" and becomes particularly problematic when it becomes chronic, i.e., persists over a longer period of time. Distress describes the state when stress is perceived as a burden, and this can have undesirable consequences! If you are chronically under this tension, one hormone in particular becomes a problem: cortisol. If the cortisol level is elevated due to chronic stress, this leads to a permanently elevated heart rate and weakens the immune system. However, the brain is affected the most. Above all, the hippocampus, the center where all information and memories are stored. Stanford University has documented this problem in more detail in a study, and the results are alarming.⁴ Cortisol has been proven to cause accelerated aging of nerve cells and also inhibit the formation of new ones. This causes difficulty concentrating and memory lapses. Want to learn more important facts about the stress hormone and what you can do to combat its negative effects? Then read the article about cortisol .
Take-Home Message #4: Eustress describes stress that is perceived as motivating and performance-enhancing. Distress occurs when you are chronically overwhelmed.
What you can do to combat the effects of negative stress
The consequences of negative stress are always caused by the stress hormone cortisol. Basically, you should always try to reduce the negative stress first. This is the healthiest and best option. However, in some situations or phases of life, this is not possible. What helps then is reducing cortisol. If you are unable to eliminate stress from your life, other methods can help you lower your cortisol levels.
1. Ketogenic diet
First and foremost, proper nutrition is key. Ironically, many people reach for sugary foods when stressed. Combining these with white flour, as is the case with many baked goods, can cause your cortisol levels to spike even further. Cortisol regulates blood sugar levels. The best way to counteract this: a ketogenic diet , where you completely avoid carbohydrates!
2. Make sure you get a good night's sleep
The second tip for dealing with excess cortisol in the body is getting enough sleep. At night, it's not the stress hormone cortisol that's at work, but the sleep hormone melatonin. People under a lot of stress often find it hard to sleep at night – and lack of sleep, in turn, causes more stress. It's a vicious cycle. To fall asleep faster in the evening, useSLEEP SPRAY. This contains the natural sleep hormone melatonin, which helps reduce the time it takes to fall asleep.
3. Sports
Exercise is a very active way to combat cortisol. However, you shouldn't run a marathon, as such extreme sports also cause stress. Moderate endurance sports, such as cycling or jogging, or relaxation techniques like yoga, are ideal. This not only reduces the perceived stress level, but also reduces the stress hormone in your body!
4. Adaptogens - The anti-stress remedy from nature
Never heard of adaptogens? Adaptogens are plants that help you adapt to stress and thrive in challenging situations. One of the best-known adaptogens is Rhodiola rosea, which is found in high-quality products.
Studies
1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2684512/
2. http://www.med.wisc.edu/news-events/feeling-stressed-how-you-think-about-it-could-harm-your-health/35537
3. http://rochester.edu/news/printable.php?id=5952
4. http://www.jneurosci.org/content/10/9/2897.short
STRESS IS BAD, RELAXATION IS GOOD - RIGHT?
Does the word "stress" set off alarm bells? That doesn't have to be the case, because it can actually be a positive thing. Those who know how to recover optimally and develop the right mindset don't have to fear challenges. Here, you'll learn why recovery and stress are so closely linked, and we'll introduce you to four ways you can rediscover relaxation for yourself.
Reassess stress
It has many faces, a very bad reputation, and should be avoided as much as possible: stress! As soon as you feel overwhelmed by a situation and unable to handle it, you're stressed. This puts you in a bad mood, weakens your body, and in the worst case, even makes you sick. Or does it? That doesn't have to be true. Challenging situations can strengthen your mind and body, and your attitude plays a key role in this.
The positive powers of stress
Positive stress? It sounds strange, but simply having the right attitude toward difficult situations can improve your health and performance. A large-scale, eight-year study¹ conducted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison with 28,753 test subjects examined their attitudes toward stress and confirmed its positive power. The researchers examined the level of stress the test subjects were exposed to and their attitude toward it. The test subjects who believed that stress was harmful to their health had an almost 50% higher risk of developing the consequences. The test group with the lowest risk was the most surprising. These were the ones who experienced extreme stress but didn't evaluate it negatively. So can just having the right attitude toward stress improve your health?
To do this, you first have to take a step back and look at what happens on a physiological level. In response to overwhelming situations, your body releases a cocktail of hormones. Adrenaline, for example, increases your heart rate and your breathing becomes faster. Most people find these reactions unpleasant. But these are actually supportive functions of your body that activate you. Faster breathing, for example, provides your brain with more oxygen. A study from the University of Rochester² shows how helpful it can be to evaluate the body's stress reactions as positive. Test subjects who did exactly that were more relaxed and confident during exams. At the same time, this attitude also changed your body's reactions. The constriction of the veins that often causes illnesses like heart attacks did not occur.
Another positive effect is triggered by oxytocin , a hormone and neurotransmitter. Among many other functions, it protects the cardiovascular system. Studies show that oxytocin acts as a natural anti-inflammatory and supports the regeneration of heart cells. A positive attitude toward stress therefore reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, strengthens your heart, and makes you more confident and relaxed in challenging situations.³ However, if stress becomes chronic, the effects turn negative. For example, the regeneration-promoting substance oxytocin is released in lower concentrations.
In the following exciting TED TALK, psychologist Kelly McGonigal explains how you too can see stress as something positive.
How to recover properly
If you have the right attitude towards stress, you don't need to be afraid of it and can even harness its positive power. Nevertheless, you should know in the long run when it's time for a break and what proper relaxation looks like. Proper recovery is a skill that is far too undervalued. We often think we're doing ourselves good when we're lazing around on the sofa or preparing for our next vacation. But recovery is extremely individual; everyone recovers differently. It's not what you do to recover that matters, but how you subjectively experience the activity. Recovery means much more than just lazing around and can be experienced in many different ways.
The four forms of recovery
Recovery acts as the counterpart to counteract the negative effects and thus return to a rested state. On a physical level, the hormonal state of emergency caused by the previous stress is regulated back to a normal level. The increased release of adrenaline and other hormones is stopped, and we slowly begin to recover. Therefore, recovery phases are extremely important for optimal performance. But this doesn't necessarily mean the classic beach vacation. Although it's obvious: On vacation, you gain the greatest possible distance from your job, which is the number one stress factor for Germans. By flying on vacation, you separate yourself from work not only mentally but also physically. However, the feeling of recovery often disappears after a short time. A few hectic days at work are enough to destroy any relaxation. That's why it's important to incorporate various forms of relaxation into your daily routine. Sure, you don't have time to plan major leisure activities during the week. Nevertheless, a fulfilling evening after work and a good night's sleep can also contribute to recovery. However, you should definitely use the weekend to catch up on things you missed during the week. A study conducted at the University of Konstanz on the topic of "Recovery from Work Stress"⁴ identified four different types of recovery.
1) Relaxation
Most people understand relaxation to mean what is generally associated with recreation: simply doing nothing. The state of relaxation is characterized by a lack of physical and mental strain, a lack of challenges, and minimal social demands. You are in a pleasant mood, have a sense of calm, and are simply relaxed.
Relaxation tips: Take a bath, go for a walk, listen to music, or try a relaxation exercise. Click here for relaxation exercises.
2) Switch off
Switching off means mentally freeing yourself from all stressors. Not having to think about anything and clearing your head. That would be wonderful! Many people find this difficult, especially when their job is challenging. How can you possibly enjoy the end of the day? Often, distracting yourself can help. Ideally, a creative activity like sports, gardening, painting, or reading.
Tips for switching off: Try to consciously notice activities that signal the end of work and the beginning of your evening. For example, washing your coffee cup at work and changing into comfortable clothes at home to relax.
3) Mastery experience
The term "mastery" comes from the English word "mastering." Leisure activities that offer learning opportunities and challenges are strenuous but also relaxing in a way. Afterward, you feel energized and build new resources and self-confidence in the long term. Mastery activities make you feel challenged and competent. Who would have thought that was relaxation?
Tips for mastery experiences: What have you always wanted to learn or achieve? Set new goals, learn a new language or sport. Volunteering can also be a satisfying activity.
4) Self-determination
It's great to share your free time with others, and sometimes even unpleasant tasks have to be completed. But it's also important to be able to set your own schedule and pursue your own interests. You should decide what, when, and how you spend your free time in order to be able to truly relax.
Tip for self-determination: Make appointments with yourself regarding your free time and regularly take stock. Did I really go swimming, did I really go to the park, and was I able to stick to my self-imposed goals?
The Yin & Yang of Regeneration
The perfect balance between stress and recovery can significantly influence your performance. On the one hand, if you never get stressed, you don't need to recover. Too much recovery actually reduces your resilience. Mind and body deteriorate if they aren't challenged. Mental challenges, for example, accelerate working memory. Mental stimuli such as demanding tasks at work increase performance, even if this may be tiring and stressful. On the other hand, if you've made an effort, you still need to recover afterwards. After all, although the capacity of the brain can be trained, it is still limited. That's why it's extremely important to take the necessary mental recovery phases. The line between stress and recovery is fine, but finding the right balance is extremely important because it's the only way to remain productive in the long term and at 100 percent.
Sources:
1. http://www.med.wisc.edu/news-events/feeling-stressed-how-you-think-about-it-could-harm-your-health/35537
2. http://rochester.edu/news/printable.php?id=5952)
3. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306453013002369
4. http://www.gesundheitsfoerderung.uni-mainz.de/Dateien/Broschuere_Stress_und_Erholung.pdf
RECOGNIZE STRESS SYMPTOMS
You can avoid the consequences of stress by paying attention to stress symptoms early and eliminating them in a timely manner. We'll show you how.
Stress is the immediate reaction of a living being to an extraordinary challenge in life. In animals, it serves to sharpen the senses and enable an appropriate response in the event of danger, such as flight. However, stress in humans occurs in everyday life, often on a daily basis. Because it only lasts for a short period of time, it naturally burdens the individual and, over time, can cause you to struggle with the consequences of constant stress for longer than you'd like. However, this can be avoided by paying attention to stress symptoms early and eliminating them in a timely manner.
What are the symptoms of stress?
- Feelings such as sadness, tiredness, hopelessness, anger, flattening of the emotional level
- forgetfulness
- diffuse pain throughout the body, such as muscle tension and weakness, headaches, digestive problems
- Difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep
- social withdrawal, no longer interested in hobbies, family, friends or relationships
Where do stress symptoms come from?
When we are stressed, our body's biochemistry is on alert. It assumes that we are facing a potentially life-threatening situation, so we must either fight or flee. Hormones like adrenaline are released in increased amounts to translate this alertness into a physical reaction, but many other neurotransmitters and their breakdown products are also at play. In the high quantities produced by modern humans through constant stress, these substances cause long-term damage to the body because it is not designed to deal with them. Each stress substance has a different effect; some affect the brain, for example, and cause emotional changes, while others affect the organs or factors that influence them.
Eliminate stress symptoms
When the first symptoms of stress appear, they should be understood as warning signs. The best course of action is, of course, to immediately eliminate the source of stress; if that's not possible, ways to deal with it must be found. Everyone has their own coping strategies: some meditate, others take up a hobby that allows them to switch off and relax, and still others read a good book in the evening. The important thing is to be able to block out everyday life and relax—and, of course, to avoid being stressed again the next morning shortly after waking up.
When do stress symptoms require professional help?
Most people still underestimate the harmful effects of stress. While it is well known that it can significantly impair quality of life in the long run, very few people who are stressed see themselves as being in the danger zone. Anyone who is constantly stressed, even if only slightly, should seek professional help for stress symptoms if they can no longer relax sufficiently on their own. First of all, they are doing themselves a favor and immediately improving their quality of life – but above all, this measure effectively helps prevent stress-related illnesses. In principle, however, you can always consult your family doctor for mild or severe stress symptoms, who will help effectively eliminate the underlying stress. Depending on the severity, they will either suggest relaxation methods or refer you to other specialists; they can also prescribe medication if necessary and appropriate.
STRESS BLOCKS THE BRAIN
Our brain reacts highly sensitively to stress, goal-oriented thinking becomes impossible, and mental blocks set in. Why does this happen, and what can we do about it?
Temporary blocking of important brain centers
Suddenly Anja had a mental block . A total blackout during the oral exam. We're all familiar with situations like this. When you're stressed, you often struggle to remember even the simplest things. The two stress hormones cortisol and noradrenaline are responsible for this unpleasant effect. In situations of physical and mental stress, cortisol is released from the adrenal cortex, while noradrenaline is released from the adrenal medulla and certain cells in the amygdala, the fear center of the brain. Both have diverse and important functions in the body, for example by increasing heart rate and blood pressure and preparing the body for fight-or-flight behavior. Together, however, these stress hormones can paralyze areas of the brain that are necessary for goal-oriented thinking.
This primarily affects the prefrontal cortex, the cerebral cortex located at the front of the brain, which is responsible for planning, analysis, and decision-making, as well as judgment and access to memory. If this area is blocked by a flood of stress hormones, deep, "archaic" brain structures take over. Our rational thinking is temporarily shut down, and the retrieval and recall of memory content is hindered. However, this effect is only temporary.
Permanent damage due to chronic stress
Persistent stress—and thus a prolonged exposure to cortisol and noradrenaline—can impair the cells of the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, leading to premature aging in these brain areas. The hippocampus is the part of the brain central to learning and memory. Various studies have shown that the hippocampus reacts extremely sensitively to elevated cortisol levels. If this area is affected, a feedback mechanism fatally leads to a further increase in cortisol concentration—a vicious cycle for memory and cognitive functions. This could also explain the memory problems associated with cortisol overproduction.
What helps with exam stress?
But how do you overcome a blackout ? How do you get your brain to reveal the desired information when you urgently need it? First of all, the more familiar a situation is, the less stress it triggers. It's helpful to practice the situation beforehand under as realistic conditions as possible. If you still get a mental block during the oral exam, of all times: breathe in slowly and deeply – all the way down to your stomach and hold your breath for a moment. Then breathe out just as slowly – until you have the stress under control.
Sources:
Amy Arnsten, Rajita Sinha, and Carolyn Mazure: Biology of the Blackout. Spektrum der Wissenschaften Dec. 2012, pp. 44–49. Jezova D, Duncko R, Lassanova M, Kriska M, Moncek F.: Reduction of rise in blood pressure and cortisol release during stress by Ginkgo biloba extract in healthy volunteers. J Physiol Pharmacol 2002 Sep;53(3):337–48.
McGaugh, JL: Memory: a century of consolidation. Science(2000) 287, 248-51.
STRESS MANAGEMENT & STRESS COPING
How to reduce, manage, and avoid stress. Learn more about stress reduction and relaxation techniques here.
Stress is essentially a normal physical and psychological reaction that prepares the body for an external threat—the so-called fight-or-flight response. In our modern lives, however, stressful conditions occur so frequently and for such long periods of time that the stress response is constantly triggered. We therefore need to learn how to better cope with stress, reduce it, or avoid it altogether. All of this falls under the term stress management, also known as coping, something that is becoming increasingly important in today's world.
Stress reduction
The first step in successfully reducing stress is to decide to monitor your level of stress—that is, to record when and for how long you feel stressed. The next step is to identify the triggers of stress. When and in what situations do you feel the most stressed? Some causes of stress are easy to identify, such as work pressure, relationship problems, or financial difficulties. But even everyday annoyances and demands can contribute to your stress level, such as the daily traffic jam on the way to work, the daily chore of having to take the children to daycare or school, or constant work overload.
Once you've identified your stress triggers, you can think about strategies for dealing with them. A good starting point would be to analyze which aspects of the stressful situation you can control. Some situations can be easily resolved once you've identified what's causing the stress. Other stress-inducing factors aren't so easy to change. In these cases, you need to consider how to handle the situation differently to reduce stress.
But don't try to handle everything alone. Get help and support from your family and friends. They often see the problems and solutions much more easily, as they have an outside perspective.
Relaxation techniques
Relaxation techniques are an essential part of stress management. This can be particularly difficult for workaholics to grasp, as relaxation is their lowest priority. Nevertheless, everyone needs time to relax and recharge; it's essential for restoring health and well-being.
Relaxation techniques are easy to learn. Breathing techniques, for example, help you deepen your breathing and focus your attention on the here and now. Other common relaxation techniques include concentration training through meditation, Tai Chi, and yoga, but there are also more active methods of relaxation. Regular exercise in nature (sports, walks, hiking) can help you regain your inner balance and reduce stress.
It doesn't matter which relaxation technique you use, but you should use a method that works for you and it's important that you practice it regularly—preferably daily.
Hang in there and stay healthy
Stress won't disappear from your life, and stress management won't work overnight. But with consistent practice and lifestyle changes, you'll learn to control your stress levels and your ability to cope with everyday demands will increase.
Also remember to live a healthy lifestyle; this also helps a lot with stress management. Exercise regularly, get enough sleep, and eat healthily. If you also want to do something good for your brain, BRAINEFFECT FOCUS with vitamin B5 can help if your diet is unbalanced. It's specifically formulated for the needs of mentally active people.
5 simple steps in stress management
- Once you know the causes of your stress, try to reduce your obligations. Delegate both at home and at work.
- Prepare for the tasks ahead. Think about what exactly you want to achieve and leave room for possible mishaps. For example, if you have an 8:00 a.m. appointment, consider traffic and don't leave until the very last minute.
- Make time every day for the things you enjoy. If you enjoy reading a book in the evening, do that. Even a walk can be very calming. Find things that relax you and allow yourself to enjoy them every day.
- Remember to get enough sleep. Just because you're used to sleeping only six hours a day doesn't mean it's enough.
- If all stress management tips don't help, don't be afraid to seek professional help.
Stress management is extremely important. Stress doesn't just go away on its own. Therefore, don't ignore it under any circumstances; try to control it to avoid seriously endangering your health.
STRESS AT WORK - WHAT TO DO?
The world of work is not the only trigger for stress, but it is a very important one. According to a study by the Techniker Krankenkasse, 70 percent of employed people are sometimes or frequently stressed, while for those not employed the figure is only 44 percent.
Other international studies confirm that, especially under today’s high economic pressure, many factors in the working world can trigger stress:
- Increasing pressure to perform
- Too little information about your own work
- Lack of support
- no recognition from boss or colleagues
- incompetent managers
- Time and deadline pressure
- Increasing demands on mobility and flexibility
- Rivalry, competition or bullying
- Fear for one's job
Rich but burned out: The higher the income, the more stress
According to the 2013 "TK Study on the Nation's Stress Level," stress levels increase with education and income: People with a secondary school diploma have the lowest stress levels at 53 percent. Among those with an intermediate school diploma, 63 percent already show high stress levels, and among high school graduates and university graduates, the figure is as high as 66 percent. This trend is also reflected in income groups: Those earning more than €3,000 net per month are more stressed than those with less.
Likewise, other studies show that managers and top earners in the economy in particular are more likely than average to suffer from mental burnout.
WHAT TO DO ABOUT STRESS AT WORK?
There are four basic strategies for dealing with stress:
1. Avoid unnecessary stress
Of course, you can't avoid all stress, and it's not healthy to avoid a situation you have to face. Surprisingly, there are many stressors in your professional life that you can eliminate. Learn to say "no," know your limits, and take care of yourself. Taking on more than you can handle in your professional life is a sure recipe for stress. Therefore, avoid colleagues who stress you out. This is difficult with your boss, but if someone repeatedly stresses you out, avoid them whenever possible. Instead, take control of your life. If something at work is bothering you, don't passively accept it; take action and try to stop it. Finally, cross that item off your to-do list. Next, analyze your daily schedule, tasks, and daily responsibilities. If you have too much on your calendar, set priorities. Divide the tasks into "must-do" and "can-do" tasks—those you have to do and those that aren't absolutely necessary. Anything that isn't truly important goes to the bottom of the list or is removed entirely.
2. Change the situation
If you can't avoid a stressful situation, try to change it. Try to figure out what can be done differently so that the problem doesn't arise again in the future. Perhaps you can also help others who see the situation differently from the outside. Express your feelings instead of bottling them up. If something or someone is bothering you, communicate openly and respectfully. If we don't say what's bothering us, it only leads to resentment, and the situation never changes. Compromise is also important here. If you ask someone for something, be prepared to meet their demands halfway. Also, learn to assert yourself. Tackle problems proactively. If a chatty colleague is always wasting your time, tell them right at the beginning that you only have two minutes and then end the conversation. Poortime management can lead to a lot of stress. But if you plan ahead with good time management, you won't overwhelm yourself, and your stress level will decrease.
3. Adapt to the stressor
If you can't change the stress, then you can change your attitude towards it. You can adapt to stressful situations and regain control by changing your expectations and attitude. Try to view stressful situations more positively, or rather, try to recognize the positive aspects of a stressful situation. Look at the bigger picture: what's the worst that can happen? In a stressful situation, consider how important the matter is in the long run. Will anyone still care in a month or a year? Is it really worth getting so worked up about? If the answer is no, use your time and energy better elsewhere. Lower your expectations. Perfectionism is one of the biggest causes of avoidable stress. Set reasonable standards for yourself and others and learn that not everything has to be perfect. Focus on the positive. When stress is getting you down, take a moment and think about all the things that are truly important in life and that make you happy. This is a very simple strategy for putting things back into perspective.
4. Accept what you cannot change
Sometimes stress is unavoidable. In such cases, it's best to accept things as they are. This is sometimes difficult, but it's ultimately easier than fighting a situation you can't change. Don't try to control the uncontrollable. Many things are almost impossible to change, especially other people's behavior. Don't even try; instead, focus on what you can influence, such as your own behavior toward those people. Make the best of it. "What doesn't kill us makes us stronger," as the saying goes. So when you face major challenges, try to see them as an opportunity to grow. Get help. Talk to a good friend or make an appointment with a therapist. Simply sharing what's on your mind can be very healing, even if it doesn't change the situation at all. Practice forbearance. Accept the fact that we don't live in a perfect world and that people—including you—make mistakes. Put aside anger and resentment and free yourself from all negativity by forgiving yourself and others and looking forward.
Remember to live a healthy lifestyle, which also helps greatly with stress management. Exercise regularly, get enough sleep, and eat healthily. If you want to do something extra good for your brain, we recommend BRAINEFFECT nutritional supplements, which are specifically tailored to the needs of mentally active people.
10 EFFECTIVE TECHNIQUES AGAINST STRESS AND BURNOUT
Do you feel stressed, insecure, overwhelmed, or exhausted? Are you having trouble making decisions, struggling to fall asleep or stay asleep, or struggling to concentrate? Are you lacking energy, simply burned out? We often experience this more than once. But there's good news: We're presenting a series of simple practices that will help you rejuvenate your body and mind !
Stress in itself is not a bad thing
Stress can even be helpful if there's a good reason for it. When you need to be highly alert and ready to fight or flee, when you need a burst of energy, a shot of adrenaline to survive a brief moment of high tension. The oft-quoted cave bear attack, for example, which requires superhuman strength.
However, when stress becomes chronic, the exact opposite happens. Your body's physiological reactions to the stressful situation can have extremely damaging and destructive effects on the organism if they persist over a long period of time.
Rebooting the brain
The good news is: We can repair our brains if we're willing to step off the hamster wheel of multitasking and overwork. Here, we describe powerful techniques designed to help you return to a calm, focused, and relaxed state of mind and maintain or regain your health.
1. Start the day with something relaxing
Don't jump out of bed and start working as soon as you wake up. Spend the first 15 minutes of the day doing something relaxing: meditate, journal, do some stretching, listen to music, or read a bit.
2. Enjoy pleasant music
This may sound trivial, but several well-founded scientific studies actually show that pleasant, calming music can be a very effective stress reducer and can quickly get you back on track mentally. Even more effective is learning an instrument yourself and, for example, strumming the guitar during your lunch break. You'll notice that you feel better immediately!
3. Exercise actively for 30 minutes every day
Regular, light exercise is simply the key to almost everything. Now you might be asking, "Where am I supposed to find the time for that? I'm already at my limit?" A NASA study found that people who exercise can operate at nearly 100 percent efficiency during the last two hours of work, while non-exercisers are 50 percent less productive at the end of the workday. So, looking at it this way, a half-hour workout is a huge time and productivity gain. Not only will you get more done, but you'll also feel better. If you exercise three to six hours before bedtime, you'll sleep even better.
4. Take a breather
The way you breathe directly reflects your stress level. When we're very stressed, we tend to breathe faster and shallower. This can become so severe that we hyperventilate and faint. In contrast, when we're calm and relaxed, our breathing becomes slower, deeper, and less forced. Interestingly, we can also reverse this relationship to reduce momentary stress. If we consciously change our breathing and breathe deeper and slower for a few minutes, our body calms down on its own, and we become calmer and clearer. In fact, this works so well that breathing exercises are part of many anti-stress programs.
5. Set boundaries
Don't overextend yourself. Learn to say "no" and keep your time for yourself. If you struggle with this, realize that saying "no" also means you gain more time to say "yes" to things you really want to do.
6. Take a daily break from technology
Set aside a specific period of time each day (more than just a few minutes!) to completely "disconnect." Put your laptop aside, turn off your smartphone, and stop checking your emails and social media accounts. Your lunch break is a good time to do this, or have a face-to-face conversation with a family member, friend, or colleague.
7. Change your sleep pattern
Sleep is incredibly important when it comes to mental health and stress reduction. Lack of sleep leads to exhaustion and a foggy mind, which in turn makes you unable to get anything done and inefficient. This ultimately leads to longer working hours and even poorer sleep. It's a vicious cycle, and any stress reduction program will inevitably first examine your current sleep patterns to break it.
8. Take a power nap
A power nap, a short sleep lasting no more than 20 to 30 minutes, in the middle of the day can be incredibly restorative. It's important not to sleep longer than 20 to 30 minutes, because if you sink too deeply into sleep, it will be difficult to wake up, and you won't feel rested afterward, but rather even more tired than before. The positive effects of power napping on employee performance and stress reduction are so significant that some companies in the US have already set up power napping centers.
9. Nurture the creative side within you
Creativity is a very effective antidote to stress and burnout. Try something new, start a project just for fun, or pick up a hobby again. But choose a creative activity that has nothing to do with your work. So, if you're sitting at your computer all day, don't find a way to relax by playing computer games. Instead, paint, garden, go hiking... be creative!
Podcast on the topic: Episode 23 | How to deal with stress and emotions
Brain researcher and coach Dr. Matthias Wittfoth is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to the brain. He's a stress hacker, brain researcher, psychotherapist, podcast host of Inside Brains, and Wim Hof instructor, and Olli had a blast recording this episode. The two discussed emotions, stress, and overcoming the ego. You'll learn what stress is, how it arises, and which thought patterns predominate when people suffer from stress. It's about success and failure, and we ask ourselves whether, in some cases, we should view failures more positively in order to grow from them.
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