Stress Management: Definition, Importance, & Tips for Success

What Is Stress?

Stress begins with a physiological response to something upsetting or threatening. Ensuing thoughts, worries, fears, and negative emotions perpetuate this response, feeding into a vicious cycle that can worsen without proper stress management and treatment. Because stress affects the body, brain, and mind, individuals can experience numerous cognitive, behavioral, physical, and emotional symptoms.

Symptoms of stress may include:

• Trouble making decisions
• Brain fog or difficulty concentrating
• Decreased creativity or problem-solving ability
• Irritability or mood swings
• Increased crying spells or crying easily at little things
• Nervousness
• Vague feelings of unhappiness
• Feeling easily overwhelmed
• Decreased motivation
• Muscle tension
• Sleep issues
• Avoidance coping
• Emotional eating
• Substance use
• Withdrawal from friends and family

Why Is Managing Stress Important?

Unfortunately, stress is frequent and numerous in our hectic modern era, meaning our physiological responses cannot relax completely. Because our fight-or-flight response is supposed to be temporary, chronic stress can lead to numerous problems, such as heart disease, stroke, pain, sleep disturbances, anxiety, and depression.²

Stress management skills are essential for dealing with the risks of cumulative stress. Engaging in activities that promote rest and rejuvenation can prevent overwhelm from wreaking havoc on your entire being. In turn, we learn to respond thoughtfully to challenges rather than reacting in ways that worsen a situation or prolong stress.

Stress Management: 15 Tips for Success

Complete stress prevention is impossible. Therefore, learning stress management is essential when navigating daily life. While some stressors are uncontrollable, you can take steps to reduce anxiety, overwhelm, and mental exhaustion when met with challenges. Consider implementing self-care routines, regular exercise, and healthy nutrition into your life to start. Setting boundaries at work, home, and in relationships is also crucial when learning to manage stress.

Below are 15 stress management skills to practice:

1. Identify the Stressors in Your Life

The more you know what triggers your stress reaction, the sooner you can make positive changes. Tune into your thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations to catch them before they grow out of control.² Doing so helps you prepare for and possibly prevent exposure to stress, improving the likelihood of healthy coping and resolution.

2. Start With What Is Within Your Control

Identifying what you can control and taking action steps can help you feel more centered and empowered.⁴ For example, simplify a large project by breaking tasks into small, manageable components. Or, spend more time with people who provide positive support and encouragement instead of those who feed your stress.¹ Other times, take control of your responses by drawing on relaxation strategies when stuck in a difficult situation.

3. Limit News & Social Media Intake

The news and social media can be a source of stress, as stories of trauma, suffering, and conflict can leave you feeling emotionally drained. For some people, social media prolongs stress because of loudly differing opinions, false realities, or constant comparisons. Staying on top of current events is important, but limit exposure to anxiety-producing content when possible. Seek media outlets that focus on facts rather than sensationalism and unfollow negative or triggering online accounts.

4. Use Purposeful Relaxation Strategies

Teaching yourself to relax helps you control the physiological stress response. Fight-or-flight happens automatically, but relaxation techniques that activate the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) can counteract this response.^2,5 For example, yoga, tai chi, and meditation are evidence-backed ways to manage stress.²

5. Listen to Music

For some, stress management involves listening to calming or inspiring music. One study found pleasant music disrupts the stress response by influencing the nervous system, brain, breathing rate, and hormone production.⁶ So, consider turning on your favorite song or playlist the next time you feel overwhelmed.

6. Go Outside

Nature has many mental health benefits, and spending time outdoors is a quick and easy stress management technique. Some studies reveal that just 10 minutes in nature (such as a backyard or park) can reduce feelings of stress.⁷ Step outside and breathe deeply to reset your body and center your mind.

7. Tend to Your Relationships

Social self-care is as important as any other type of self-care, as connecting with others can help reduce stress and increase life satisfaction. Loved ones provide valuable support when coping with challenges, conflicts, and mental health struggles. They can also offer insight into different stress management skills that work for them and hold you accountable for finding ones that suit your needs. Foster healthy relationships by asking for help and returning the favor when needed.

8. Nourish Your Body

A proper diet is vital for short- and long-term stress management. Eating processed foods, sugars, and unhealthy fats can disrupt mood, while complex carbohydrates, lean proteins, healthy fats, and antioxidant-rich produce nourish your brain and body. Diets rich in magnesium, vitamin C, and omega-3 fatty acids can reduce the effects of stress on the body and mind.

9. Join a Support Group

Joining a support group is an example of stress management that utilizes community and similar experiences to increase belonging and reduce feelings of isolation. Sharing their challenges, coping skills, and solutions with others can help individuals feel less alone as they navigate life.

10. Start a Stress Journal

A stress journal provides insight into daily stressors and emotions, allowing you to reflect on your responses and make healthy changes. Additionally, identifying what causes your stress can help you develop tailored coping strategies to address specific issues, such as unmanageable workloads, relationship conflict, or unrealistic expectations.

11. Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness and meditation are both stress management examples that lead to improved well-being. Stress is a natural part of life, and learning to accept this without judgment can help you feel less driven to suppress, ignore, or deny your right to cope with overwhelm.

12. Use the Four A’s of Stress Management

The Four As refers to stress management strategies that help individuals reduce and cope with stress. They include avoiding unnecessary stress, altering situations by expressing emotions or managing time, accepting things you cannot control, and adapting to situations by changing standards or expectations. These small changes can drastically improve how you respond to and manage distress.

13. Move Your Body Regularly

Making time for regular movement and exercise is one of the best-known ways to cope with stress. Exercise releases endorphins, helping improve mood and energy levels. Exercise can also promote restful sleep, so consider setting time aside for daily physical activities. A simple walk around your neighborhood or stretching session before bed can be beneficial.

14. Prioritize Breaks & Self-Care

Breaks and self-care are critical for overcoming stress. Rest allows you to recharge, decompress, and prevent burnout. Additionally, you can step back and gain a new perspective, regulate your emotions, and practice self-care before stress takes over.

15. Set Work-Life Boundaries

Setting work-life boundaries is essential when learning to handle stress. Boundaries protect your time and energy while providing a healthy separation from work-related obligations. This strategy allows you to prioritize rest, enjoyment, and time with loved ones to manage stress.  

Treatments for Stress

In general, coping with stress includes some kind of support, whether from friends, family, or a therapist. Therapy can help you identify and understand your triggers, deal with underlying problems, and develop an action plan to handle stress.

Managing stress alone can be overwhelming, but finding the right therapist offers opportunities to discover novel examples of stress management. Online therapist directories allow you to filter providers based on specialty, insurance, location, and more. Online therapy platforms are also available if you have a busy schedule, prefer at-home care, or have limited access to mental health resources.

Below are therapy options to help you manage stress:

• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): CBT involves learning to identify negative thinking patterns that can increase stress and contribute to anxiety and depression. You can learn to recognize and change maladaptive thought patterns, identify triggers, and develop specific tools for dealing with problems.¹¹
• Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT): ACT helps people learn to stop struggling against, change their response to, and adopt lifestyle changes to reduce stress.¹⁴
• Positive psychology: Positive psychology helps individuals increase stress-reducing abilities, optimism, and gratitude. Furthermore, this approach teaches people to identify and use their unique character strengths to improve their lives and keep stress at bay.
• Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR): MBSR helps people manage stress and cope by emphasizing mindfulness.
• Music therapy: Music therapy involves improving emotional and physical health through specific music-based interventions.⁶ Many studies show that the benefits of music therapy include helping one reduce and better manage stress because it induces calmness and a state of relaxation by decreasing the body’s physiological stress reaction and boosting positive emotions.^6,19
• Art therapy: Art therapy incorporates creativity to foster personal insight and discovery.²² This approach to stress management can help lower cortisol levels in the body, resulting in better mood, relaxation, and reduced physical symptoms.
• Biofeedback: Biofeedback measures brain waves, heart rate and rhythm, breathing rate, and muscle activity to help clients recognize bodily sensations associated with stress. They can then learn relaxation techniques to calm their bodies when necessary.