How to maintain a good mental health in a stressful environment?

We have seen many challenges in our lives in 2020. Everything that we learnt and adopted in our life needed a reset button. We have had to unlearn everything and discover new things to address the same situation in our lives. The thought of this alone is so stressful, let alone the other aspects of living a fuller life.

Thus, let's explore ways to keep mental stress away.

Mindset

This is the biggest change that one needs to adopt to lead a healthier life. If you stress more, will the situation change? The answer is NO. Then working around that can reduce some level of stress. Thus, often practising the application of this mindset can be very helpful.

Clear the clutter and let go

Well, this one is a winner. Excessive or unwanted possessions create too much handling and are very stressful to manage. This, in turn, requires special attention. So, to keep your mind in order, remove the clutter from your surroundings. Give away or discard the items that you don't need. Now, apply the same to the mind space as well. Clear away the thoughts, memory and any unwanted emotions. Design how you respond to any situation in your own peculiar way. As cliche as it sounds, practising this attitude can give you great relief and a peaceful mind.

Time Management

Although, time management should be your top priority. The work-from-home culture has given us the flexibility to wear night pyjamas during our working hours. It cut off our travel time and taken away dealing with a bad traffic situation on the road. It also allowed us to be with our family members at all times.

While these are some of the advantages that we are grateful to, however, time management is still an issue we are dealing with. It is known, that managing time can remove the stress substantially. Write down the priorities and jot down everyday’s routine. Write down what needs to be achieved for that day. Prioritize a task based on its time and importance. Also, d not leave a task half-finished or in the middle. Because leaving a task mid-way consumes a lot more time than to do it in one go. So, Prioritise, Initiate, Complete.

Don't Multitask

Multi-tasking can stress the mind beyond our imaginations. Our mind is not designed to multi-task. The only multitask it is capable is of all the system which is in autopilots, such as breathing and the heart pumping. We do have exceptions like watching a regional movie and enjoying its songs and dancing together. But try this watching an English movie and listening to a song on the side, your very perception of multitasking can change.

Our brain functions from a different area to perform various activities. We can learn from our frontal brain and store it in our hindbrain, then it can work like on autopilot. For example, brushing our teeth and doing something with it, or driving a car. These are our brain's autopilot function. But, while work, we face various situations that require full attention. Not paying full attention (or multitasking) can make the situation stressful.

Adopt a routine

Adopt a daily routine. Include at least 30 minutes of exercise, a well balanced healthy meal, a planned out day based on priorities. Bring your focus on your breathing pattern the moment you feel stressed out. Be mindful of every activity you do. Sleep well and have realistic expectations.

Try this out and see the changes.