INDIVIDUAL STRATEGIES FOR COPING WITH STRESS

Time management. 

Many people manage their time poorly. The things we have to accomplish in any given day or week are not necessarily beyond completion if we manage our time properly. The well-organized employee, like the well organized student, can often accomplish twice as much as the person who is poorly organized. So understanding and using basic time management principles can help individuals cope better with tensions created by job demands.

A few of the more well-known time management principles are: 

(1) making daily lists of activities to be accomplished;

(2) prioritizing activities by importance and urgency; 

(3) scheduling activities according to the priorities set;

(4) knowing your daily cycle and handling the most demanding parts of your job during the high part of your cycle, when you are most alert and productive.

Physical activity. 

Noncompetitive physical exercise, such as aerobics, walking, jogging, swimming, and riding a bicycle, has long been recommended by physicians as a way to deal with excessive stress levels. These forms of physical exercise increase heart capacity, lower at-rest heart rate, provide a mental diversion from work pressures, and offer a means to “let off steam.”

Relaxation techniques. 

Individuals can teach themselves to reduce tension through relaxation techniques such as meditation, hypnosis,

and biofeedback. The objective is to reach a state of deep relaxation, where you feel physically relaxed, somewhat detached from the immediate environment, and detached from body sensations.37 Fifteen or 20 minutes a day of deep relaxation releases tension and provides a person with a pronounced sense of peacefulness. Importantly, significant changes in heart rate, blood pressure, and other physiological factors result from achieving the deep relaxation condition.

Building social supports. 

Having friends, family, or colleagues to talk to provides an outlet when stress levels become excessive. Expanding your social support network, therefore, can be a means for tension reduction. It provides you with someone to listen to your problems and to offer a more objective perspective on the situation. Research also demonstrates that social support moderates the stress burnout relationship.That is, high support reduces the likelihood that heavy work stress will result in job burnout.