Have you been struggling with ‘Secondhand Stress’? Yes, stress is contagious. Here are a few tips to keep it from spreading with a few Secondhand Stress-Busting Strategies:
- Stop and think about whether your stress-provoking behaviors are harmful to you and others, and choose not to go there.Try not to put yourself in situations where a lot of secondhand stress is created — crowds, heavy traffic, long lines…
- Build boundaries and healthy habits. The best way to limit the effects of secondhand stress is to become self-protective of your energy. Check out these relaxing self-care tips:
- Take five-minute breaks every hour.
- Stretch or walk around for a few minutes
- Try mini-meditations.
- Add more humor into your day.
- Carry a virtual stress management kit that includes a breathing technique that you can do, something that you can think about — such as ‘It’s not about me, it’s about all of the pressure that that person is feeling’ — a way to blunt that secondhand stress from having too much of a negative impact on you.
- Communicate directly. It may seem really challenging and difficult at first, but it will help to get to an understanding faster and it will be less stressful. Saving email messages as drafts and spending time re-reading for tone so you’re not causing others unnecessary stress.
- Don’t let little things get to you. Being able to see minor annoyances in the scope of the bigger picture can help.
- Accentuate the positive by practicing to see what’s positive around you by writing down a few things you’re grateful for each morning so that the negatives don’t have as much power to stress you out.
- Don’t spread secondhand stress. If we reduce the amount of secondhand stress we’re emitting, it will be less stressful for the people around us, which will make it easier for them to tell us what’s on their minds.
Be Inspired.
With Kindest Regards,
Thalia Chung, CLC, CCC, MCC.
Master Certified Coach
Life & Career Master Coaching – Free Consultation
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