Best Self-Care Strategies for Stressful Times

We all experience stressful moments in our lives. From tight work deadlines to moving home or relationship troubles, all these things and everything in between can take their toll on our minds.

If you are experiencing a particularly stressful time and you are struggling to cope, seeking professional support is paramount to ensure your stress does not lead to something more chronic such as burnout. If you are looking for ways to help yourself in the interim and manage stress in the long run, read on to discover how self-care can benefit you during stressful periods.

What is stress?

Stress is our body’s natural reaction to external stimuli that we perceive as a threat or pressure. It certainly has its uses, especially when it comes to meeting those all-important work deadlines or ensuring that you catch the bus to work on time.

However, when this stress is prolonged, it can lead to mental health concerns such as anxiety and burnout. It may even manifest physical symptoms such as stomach problems, sleep issues and headaches, neither of which are pleasant to experience. According to Safe Work Australia data, work-related stress has become a major driver of psychological injuries, with mental health conditions now accounting for 12% of all serious workers' compensation claims nationally.

Is it real stress?

It’s not uncommon for stressful situations to ruminate in our minds and lead to perceived stress. In short, perceived stress is when we "stress" about other things that haven’t even happened yet. It’s more about your feelings towards a stressful situation, which may involve feeling a lack of control and unpredictability, rather than feeling stressed about the triggering event itself.

For example, a trigger may have come about from missing a deadline at work, which has then snowballed into a perceived stressful thought of "I’m going to get fired".

How can self-care alleviate stress?

Self-care is a healthy way to deal with stress, as well as keep it at bay. It involves incorporating actions into our daily lives that positively impact our physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. Incorporating self-care into daily life can manage stress and improve overall resilience too. Here’s how self-care can alleviate stress:

It can reduce the impact of stress and anxiety:

It can help occupy our minds, especially if the self-care act promotes a calming sensation on the body and mind.

• It can boost our physical wellbeing:

Things like exercise, even gentle movements like stretching or walking, can get endorphins going that boost our happiness levels. In turn, this can negate and even reduce stress levels over time.

• It improves emotional resilience:

Self-care to reduce stress can increase our levels of self-compassion, help us healthily regulate our emotions and promote self-esteem. It can also help us centre our thoughts and guide us towards goals and moments that matter more than the stressful events that occur in our lives.

What are the barriers to self-care to relieve stress?

If self-care to relieve stress is that appealing, why aren’t we all doing it?

Self-care to reduce stress can increase our levels of self-compassion, help us healthily regulate our emotions and promote self-esteem. It can also help us centre our thoughts and guide us towards goals and moments that matter more than the stressful events that occur in our lives.

Here are the main barriers to self-care:

• Time constraints
• Guilt for providing oneself with the time and care they need
• Fear of being perceived negatively or "selfish" by others
• Lack of motivation or willingness to invest in self-care
• Having unrealistic expectations of self-care
• Assuming self-care involves spending money

Self-care strategies for stress management

Dealing with stress is one thing, but a true willingness and action plan are another. With the right plan in place, you can tackle stress with your own stress management routine as part of your self-care routine.

Here are some self-care strategies you can try to manage your stress levels:

1. Find small ways to get active

While going all out with a gym membership and visiting five times a week may work for some people, for others, this may be far too intense.

Instead, build up a habit in smaller ways to get movement into your self-care strategy. This could involve:

• Taking the stairs to your destination as opposed to escalators or lifts
• Doing squats or some other kind of lower-body movement with another activity, for example, brushing your teeth
• Walking to your local supermarket instead of using delivery apps
• Doing an extra lap around your local area when you get home from work or another outing.

Getting active can also form part of a self-care hobby to keep stress levels low and get your mental and physical wellbeing to thrive.

2. Practise mindfulness

Practising mindfulness is highly popular at the moment, and for good reason. Mindfulness is an invaluable and free method that helps you focus on the here and now. It doesn’t take years and years of meditation training either!

3. Prioritise sleep and sleep hygiene

Sleep plays an integral part in our cognitive functioning, tolerances, energy levels and resilience to stress. If you have too little sleep, it becomes easier to fall victim to high stress levels and feel underprepared or unable to return to rational thinking.

Aim for 8 to 9 hours of sleep a night, and ensure you don't use technology an hour or two before bedtime. We appreciate this is a difficult habit to change in our social media-heavy world, but even putting your phone on greyscale can drastically reduce your phone usage at night, leading to a better night’s sleep.

4. Re-assess your immediate support system

Sometimes, the people around us can cause stress without realising it. A friend may be constantly complaining, and it might be sapping your energy, or conversely, another friend is thriving, but it’s making you feel inadequate and compare yourself.

Have conversations and maintain social relationships with individuals who help you feel like you can thrive. It’s also worth asking yourself what it is that induces feelings of stress around another person, and setting personal boundaries to protect your inner peace.

5. Seek regular professional support

Sometimes stress can simply get on top of us, even if we utilise all of the self-care advice out there. With professional support, you can be guided by an impartial individual to work through the causes of your stress and learn healthy ways of coping with it in the long run. One session generally won't be enough to fit all of the incredible benefits of talking therapy, which is why having regular sessions, even for a short period, can work wonders in your stress management routine for self-care.

How an Employee Assistance Program can help

If your workplace has an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), it can be a valuable asset in helping you build your own self-care strategies. Under Australian Work Health and Safety (WHS) laws, employers have strict legal duties to proactively manage psychosocial hazards, including things like high job demands and poor workplace support that drive mental stress.

Because of this framework, many organisations provide access to an EAP, where you can speak to a counsellor for free to discuss your concerns. They will guide you in a confidential and professional manner to support you and your mental health goals. Safe Work Australia data highlights that work pressure alone accounts for 24.2% of serious mental stress claims, making immediate access to early intervention and free professional counselling a vital resource for employees navigating a difficult period.

Conclusion

We fully understand that dealing with stressful times takes a large amount of trial, error, setbacks, wins and commitment. By understanding what your barriers are, taking small steps and seeking support, you can prioritise self-care slowly and surely to a point where it becomes a priority for stress management.

While our suggested self-care strategies can be highly beneficial for managing stress, they are not a replacement for medical help. If you are struggling with overwhelming or chronic stress, please reach out to a healthcare professional, your GP, or Wisdom Wellbeing's EAP.