Stress Management

It seems that once in a while things are going along smoothly and then all of a sudden, everything stressful hits at once. I've actually experienced that this week. I've been moving forward on my new life coaching business, designing another project on contract, writing for a company in Boston, preparing for tax season, tying up loose ends from a promotional project last summer and things were going well. Then in one day I had three major events hit me straight in the face -- things I had no control over -- other people had made decisions and their decisions affected me. I reached overload and wanted to just quit everything and move to a desert island somewhere without any cell phone, email, or demands for my time. I was done!

When I get "stressed out" I try to go through all of the relaxation things I can remember. I took a hot bubble bath. I practiced deep breathing. I worked out. I tried to "just let it go" and keep working. I called a friend to "vent". But none of those things actually resolved the fact that I had way more demands on my time, than I had time or energy to give.

That lasted about 3 hours and then because I wasn't getting anywhere, I decided to quit focusing on the huge pile of stress, and get back into my problem solving mode. I analyzed the stressors in my life and debated how I could resolve my overload of stress. Was there anything I could take off my list? NO. Was there anything I could delegate and have someone else do? Not really. Was there anything I could change or postpone? Yes, there were 2 items I could postpone. Once I decided to put off 2 of the tasks for a few months -- it alieviated enough of the stress overload that I could then look at things clearly again.

I also have thought about what really stresses me out. I do commit myself to a lot of projects. I like working hard and I do work long hours. However, most of the projects I get involved with are things I have some control over. The things which create amazing amounts of stress are things that make me feel "out of control". Maybe that makes me a "control freak" -- but I don't think so. I think most people like to determine how much stress they can handle in their lives but then things happen and more stressors are added. It's really how we deal with stressors that either causes more stress or alieviates them. Anyway, just something to think about this week.