Control Your Stress Before it Controls You: 5 Effective Strategies for the Busy Person to Overcome Stress Long-term

Are you feeling extreme levels of stress and are sick and tired of how much control it seems to have over your life? 

Are you looking for a system to reduce your stress in the long term? 

If so, this article is for you. 

This article is NOT for someone looking to quickly relieve their stress by doing something for 30 minutes. Although necessary, it does not cover things like exercising, taking deep breaths, or other typically recommended actions. 

Instead, this article is about implementing systems to support you in building a long-term, stress-free life. 

Here is what I am not here to promise you: Lies. 

I will not lie to you and tell you that using these strategies will eliminate your stress once and for all and that you will never feel stressed again. 

Living a completely stress-free life is impossible, and I do not believe a complete lack of stress is healthy for anyone. 

So, why should you read this article if I don't have the magic prescription to make your stress disappear forever?

There are two reasons: first, although we can't get rid of stress forever, we can put systems in place to manage it better so we have control of our stress instead of our stress having control of us. 

Secondly, although these five steps could take days, weeks, or months to execute, you will significantly reduce your stress and have strategies you can implement repeatedly for a long-term stress-reduced life.  

You can incorporate any of these strategies that work for you into your lifestyle if they continue to work. 

Well, let's jump in, shall we? 

1. Know the reason behind your stress

We often return to the reason or root cause of things because true change comes from addressing the cause, not just the symptoms.

Deciding which of the following steps in this article to take will depend on the cause of your stress, whether it's about finances, relationships, mental health, etc.

2. Delegate 

Delegating is essential for both your personal and professional life.

Many people's stress is caused by having too much on their plate.

Often, this heavy load of tasks comes from people in our household. You may have a partner or family member who doesn't prioritize assisting you around the house so that you can rest and take care of yourself.

As a result, you work and take care of most of the responsibilities at home, and you can't escape them daily.

I have close family members and friends who constantly share frustrations about how many responsibilities they need to fulfill, especially within their households, because they are responsible for more than the majority of the daily tasks in their homes, such as groceries, cooking, taking care of children, cleaning, etc.

I have also experienced this: You work as hard as others in the household, if not more, yet the household responsibilities fall solely on you.

I know that those of us who are from certain parts of the world and live by specific religions and family traditions have unwavering expectations of the role of women and children.

That means many responsibilities fall on the woman, whether girlfriend, female sibling, wife, fiancé, or mother of the house.

This level of unwavering expectation is exhausting and has a substantial weight on women.

Men also carry their weight as they have been made to believe that they must be strong and can't afford to complain.

If you have people living in the house with you, delegate and share chores responsibilities regardless of who they are.

It could also be that you have a lot of expectations placed on you from your job, business, or school.

Having too many of these expectations in our personal and professional lives makes it seem like we can only catch a break if we escape and take vacation time.

But it doesn't have to be this way.

Please do not assume all the responsibilities at your job, home, or school because others can't do things as well as you can or because they don't want to; you must delegate anyway.

3. Outsource 

Outsourcing is typically used in business but can also apply to our personal lives. It is a form of delegating, except hiring someone to work on specific tasks for you.

Some things you may outsource are hiring a house cleaner, going to the salon to get your nails or hair done instead of doing them yourself, hiring someone to do groceries or pick up groceries for you, having someone pick up and do your laundry, etc.

When thinking about outsourcing, consider paying someone to do things that cause you stress or take a long time to do yourself.

Getting my hair done is one of the things I enjoy outsourcing.

Yes, I can wash and style my hair at home. However, it takes me a while to deep wash my hair, and I often stress about styling afterward because styling doesn't come naturally to me.

Additionally, it takes me 3-6 hours or more if I do my hair at home.

Yes, you read that right: 3-6 hours or more. Why would I continue to spend that much time and energy doing my own hair when someone else can do it?

I decided to outsource taking care of my hair because instead of spending so much time doing it myself while stressing out, I can pay someone to do it, even if it's once a month. At the same time, I sit there and relax, sometimes reading a book, doing some work, or finally pausing to relax.

It doesn't have to be expensive; find someone good within your budget, depending on what you're outsourcing.

You can also outsource by having someone do your laundry or get your groceries. Whatever you need to outsource, you can get it done.

Another significant area of my life that I'm absolutely grateful I outsourced is managing my business's social media pages.

Instead of doing it all alone, I hired a brand manager to take care of it and assist with so many other areas of the business. She's good at what she does, so I focus on my top strengths and what I need to focus on as a business owner.

There's no flex/boasting in doing it all.

Asking for help is NOT a sign of weakness; it's a sign of strength and indicates that you know your priorities.

Stop trying to do it all and ask for help.

4. Declutter 

Decluttering your home, car, office, and other spaces where you spend time will significantly impact the quality of your life. 

I recently did my spring cleaning and got rid of bags of clothes, documents, dishes, and more. 

After removing bags of clothes and shoes, I hung my clothes neatly on the hanger again. 

Hours later, I went to the bedroom to grab something. I remember walking in, and it felt like I could exhale deeply and properly for the first time in a long time. 

I didn't realize how much having clutter was stressing me out, even though I loved to believe that it didn't impact me that much. 

It reminded me of a podcast episode I listened to couple years ago. In it, Patrice Washington, a transformation coach, author, and podcaster, interviewed Egypt Sherrod, a television personality and HGTV star. 

In that episode, they spoke about your space's impact on you, and Egypt poured so much wisdom into it. 

"Simplicity drives success," Egypt stated. 

They talked about the importance of loving your space, specifically your home, and keeping intentional items and a space you genuinely love. 

I will testify that each time I've taken the time to clean my space and truly declutter, I feel a breath of fresh air. 

I can better focus on what I'm working on or lie down and read a book without stressing about clutter. 

If you're feeling stressed and would like to reduce your stress drastically, take some time to declutter, even if you do this little by little. 

I listened to that episode way too many times and will listen to it again after I finish writing this article—it's that good! 

Check out this link to watch or listen to that episode if, like me, you struggle with clutter in your spaces:  Patrice Washington on Youtube - Egypt Sherrod: Simplicity Drives Success >>

5. Decompress and Rest

Regardless of how busy and stressful life is, some time to decompress and rest will fill you with fresh energy and help you reset.

Stress is a universal experience, affecting people of all ages, genders, socioeconomic backgrounds, and family structures.

Unfortunately, none of us are exempt from stress.

Even those of us who do not have children or any form of dependents feel a lot of stress.

Your stress may be due to caring for your family or building your future.

Even if you can't take a full vacation, a simple moment of decompressing and getting some rest can make a significant difference in managing your stress levels.

Some ways I often decompress since I don't have much time to go somewhere because of my schedule are taking long hot showers after a long day, watching comedy while I have a meal, or taking a night to sit back and read or journal.

List little ways to help you decompress and incorporate them into your life's toolkit.

I would love to discuss any of these topics in depth if you would like; DM me on social media, or email me at mamancooperspeaksandwrites@gmail.com.

You can also comment below on this article as well. 

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Cheers!

Love,

Maman, Your Relationship Navigator