| Alter the situation |
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www.helpguide.org What do you do when you know you’re heading into a stressful situation that just cannot be avoided, such as a meeting with the boss or an exam? You alter it. Work out in your mind what about the particular situation is causing you stress, and try to change those things so the problem doesn’t present itself in the future. This might involve changing the way you communicate and operate in your daily life. Here’s how to alter that stressful situation. Express your feelings instead of bottling them up. If something or someone is bothering you, communicate your concerns in an open and respectful way. If you don’t voice your feelings, resentment will build and the situation will likely remain the same. Be willing to compromise. If you are asking someone to change their behavior, you too must be willing to do the same. Once the other person sees you are willing to bend a little, they will be more than willing to do the same and you’ll stand a better chance of finding a happy, less stressful middle ground. Be more assertive. Don’t allow everything and everyone else to dictate the pace of your life. Take charge and deal with problems head on. Try to anticipate what will cause you to stress out and take pre-emptive measures to prevent them. For example if you have an important meeting to prepare for and your chatty colleague comes over just to chat, let him know up front that you have a really important meeting to get ready for and only have a couple of minutes to chat. Manage your time better. Poor time management is what causes a lot of stress to a lot of people. When you have to much to do and not enough time to get it done and deadlines are looming over your head, it’s hard to stay calm and focused. Plan ahead and make sure you don’t over-extend yourself. It’s ok to say no sometimes. Remember you may not always be able to avoid a stressful situation but you can try to alter the situation to make it less stressful for you. |
