top 5 ways to manage stress when your stuck at home

Top 5 ways to manage stress when you’re stuck at home

“It’s so easy to go down the slippery slope of stress and overwhelm and feel like you can’t turn off your brain, but it’s vital that you find ways to stop that cycle so you can get back on track and back to work, especially while working from home.”

By Stacy Snow

Life as we know it has changed drastically in the past few months. Social distancing guidelines are keeping us stuck at home more than we’ve ever been before. We’re having to combine work with pets, spouses, kids, and changing routines in ways we’ve never had to in the past. Unless you’re a saint or a zen master, you’re likely experiencing high stress levels (and my guess is that even the saints and zen masters among us are dealing with them too!)

It’s so easy to go down the slippery slope of stress and overwhelm and feel like you can’t turn off your brain, but it’s vital that you find ways to stop that cycle so you can get back on track and back to work, especially while working from home. These five habits will help you break the stress cycle and take back control over your work and life.

Meditate: give your brain a break

Meditation is one of the best ways to help your brain to disconnect and your body to relax. If you’re new to meditation, just starting with 5 minutes in the morning will make a huge difference in your day. Just find a comfortable spot in a quiet place where you can sit and close your eyes and focus on your breathing. Set a timer for 5 minutes and just focus on deep breaths in and out. If you find that your brain won’t ‘shut off ’ and thoughts keep coming in to interrupt the quiet, no worries! That’s totally normal and will eventually improve the more you do it. Just stick with it, set your timer, relax, and give yourself 5 minutes of much-needed down-time. Your brain and your body (and your stress levels) will thank you for it!

Exercise: Get your body moving

Exercise is one of the most immediate and powerful de-stressors there is. Often when we’re feeling overwhelmed and stuck, we need to change our physical state and our environment. If you’re feeling frustrated and overwhelmed, rather than staying stuck in those emotions, put on your running shoes and go for a jog or a brisk walk. The fresh air, wind in your hair, and the sensation of your heart pumping blood through your body will completely change how you’re feeling. It will disrupt the stress cycle, change your focus, and force you to come back to the present moment without letting your mind spiral into worry and things that are out of your control. You’ll come back feeling refreshed, energized, and ready to take on the problem with a fresh perspective.

Connect: Don’t let ‘social distancing’ make you feel alone

Make a list of your most important people, especially the ones that make you laugh, and you can talk to for hours! Schedule time to chat with them on a regular basis.

Schedule a Zoom happy hour with your important peeps once a week and have a commitment to talk about something other than the coronavirus. Laughing is good for the soul, good for your health, and good for diminishing stress so try to plan moments in your day to do it as often as possible!

Brain Dump: Clear out the brain chatter

We don’t realize that our brain is working non-stop almost all the time. When you start to feel overwhelmed, take a moment to set a timer for 10 minutes and do a brain dump, which simply means writing out every single thing that’s on your mind. And I do mean Every. Single. Thing! You want to get it all out. Everything from your worries about how you’re going to pay your bills, stress about how your business will survive, and even seemingly inconsequential things like the annoying rip in your favorite sweater.

By doing a complete brain dump on a regular basis, and especially when you’re feeling stressed, it will give your brain a chance to rest from constantly trying to solve every little (and big) problem in your life. By getting it all out on paper, you’ll essentially be telling your brain, “I’ve got this.” It will be able to slow down and relax because you’ll be putting it on paper and your brain won’t have to struggle to remember and solve each little annoying detail.

Get to Sleep Already: Give your body (and your brain) a rest

Even though sleep is so vital to every aspect of our health, it’s also one of the first things to go out the window when we’re feeling stressed.

By creating a consistent sleep routine you’ll give yourself the chance to fall and stay asleep so you can wake up refreshed and ready to start the day. Schedule the same sleep and wake times every day and try to aim for 7-9 hours of sleep a night. Doing a brain dump before bed is especially helpful if you find it hard to fall or stay asleep because your mind is on hyperdrive. Hopefully we’ll be back to ‘normal’ before we know it, but in the meantime, using these 5 hacks will help you to maintain your health and sanity in these crazy times.

Dr. Stacy Snow is a Doctor of Physical Therapy, creator of The Purposeful Body Method, co-author of The Ultimate Guide to Self-Healing Techniques, and a Health and Performance Specialist in Falls Church, Virginia. For free resources to help you be as healthy, strong, and fit as possible so you can confidently step into a life you love without limitations, visit her at TranquilPlacePt.com.