|
Copyright © 2009 COMPASS COUNSELING CENTER |
|
(Information presented here is not intended to replace psychological, medical, legal or any other professional advice or intervention. Every effort is made to insure accuracy but no such guarantee is stated or implied.) |
|
COPING WITH STRESS AND AVOIDING BURNOUT
.
|
|
1.
Write down all of your responsibilities in order of priority, then eliminate the least important ones.
2.
Learn to accept what you cannot change.
Accepting the situation doesn’t mean you like it.
(AA Serenity Prayer)
3.
Accept imperfection in yourself and others.
You are a person with a human body and mind, not a machine.
4.
Learn to say “No” without feeling guilty.
The awkwardness and uneasiness go away with practice.
Suggest other ways the task can
5.
Balance work with play.
Seek rewarding experiences in all aspects of your life.
All work and no play makes jack a nervous wreck.
6.
Work off tensions.
Blow off steam or reduce tension with physical exercise.
7.
Form at least one or two high-quality relationships with people you trust and can be yourself with.
Practice exposing your true feelings with them and allowing them to do the same without fear of disclosure.
8.
Check your self-talk.
It takes 10 positive statements to counter one negative one.
9.
Get away from a troublesome situation long enough to catch your breath and regain the composure you need to come back and deal with the problem.
10.
Take action to settle problems as soon as possible.
Letting them drag on only intensifies the stress and allows the problems to grow even bigger.
11.
Watch your diet and eating habits.
Overeating or undereating
while under stress, decreases your body’s ability to cope and recuperate.
12.
“Relax” with deep breathing, meditation or muscle tensing and relaxing.
Five minutes of this kind of relaxation can reduce stress for hours.
13.
Act your way into feeling instead of feeling your way into acting.
If you wait until you feel like implementing the previous suggestions, you might be waiting for a long time.
Take action and let the feelings catch up.
14.
Don’t expect any single intervention to “do the trick”.
Lowering stress and dealing with burnout is like a thermostat, not a light switch.
15. If it’s not getting any better, get help from someone you trust. It can be a friend, coworker, family member, clergy or counselor. |
