Empty Your Stress Bucket

"Throughout the day, stress builds. You may wake up feeling anxious as you think about the day ahead, wishing you could go back to sleep (if you were actually sleeping). As you go about your day, frantically moving from one task to the next, your stress increases. Before you know it, you feel irritable and overwhelmed. Your head may ache, your shoulders and back may be sore, and you may feel exhausted."

"Many of us are skilled at pushing through and have many reasons why we can't stop and take a break: There isn't time. I have to get this done. The tasks are just going to pile up. No one else is going to do this for me! While some of these reasons may be accurate, that doesn't mean they are helpful or that there aren't consequences for constantly pushing through."

Stress often accumulates from the moment of waking, increasing as tasks stack and movement through the day becomes frantic. Early anxiety, constant task-switching, and unrecognized tension can lead to irritability, headaches, sore muscles, and exhaustion. People frequently delay stress-reduction because of perceived obligations and limited time, pushing through until their stress bucket overflows. Chronic pushing can cause severe depletion, worsened mood, intensified chronic pain, panic-level anxiety, or physical incapacity. Humans have limits and require regular check-ins. Pausing several times daily, tuning into feelings, and using realistic methods to pour out stress can preserve functioning and prevent breakdown.

Read at Psychology Today