We’ve talked a lot about managing your mental load, especially since March last year. It’s easy to always see the negative to side to ‘being stressed’ but for this post we wanted to talk to you about positive stress………no honestly, stress can be good for you.
Good stress, or eustress to give the proper name gives us a sense of excitement and is good for our wellbeing.
Think about when you ride on a rollercoaster at the theme park, or when you do something new and fun, that feeling, that anticipation, that stress is doing you good!
Eustress stops you becoming bored, it drives your motivation to get things done, it makes you happy.
Take control of your stresses, see them as opportunities and challenges rather than threats, something to be accomplished rather than defeated by, be empowered by them. Say to yourself, I can do this, I am in control, I am strong
One of the things we do when we have a large or daunting piece of work to complete is to break it down into small, manageable pieces. Create a to do list and take pleasure in ticking off each task. Visual representation of your accomplishments is very satisfying and helps drive you to complete your challenge.
Positive stress can help keep you focused, increase your productivity and boost your memory.
Remember those days where you had a deadline for something that you didn’t think you’d make only to get your head down and get finished in time. Stress can be good for you.
Of course, you can have too much of a good thing, don’t take on too much, even the fun stuff, it’s all about the balance.
Identify the good stress from the bad, when something starts to feel overwhelming and the pressure doesn’t ease it’s time to take a step back, you might find a previous blog of ours useful if you are feeling this way.
Resources
The Stress Management Society is full of useful resources for coping with stress, from an online personal assessment, work related and personal stress guidance and ideas to help you reduce your stress.