The Very Doable Stress Reduction Tips For the Overwhelmed & Stuck

How to reduce stress is one of the most commonly asked questions as business and personal lives speed up to supersonic speeds in this strange land of adulting. You know what prolonged stress feels like; you've lived it, and the memory of that feeling is forever burned into your spine and that pit of the stomach that seems to grow more extensive and more uncomfortable the longer you feel stressed. You know the feeling of being pushed beyond your limits, absolutely depleted, drained, and detached, and having nothing more left to give to the world that keeps asking for more. The cup is not just empty; it's chipped, the bottom is cracked, and you lost the saucer long ago.

You've searched for stress relief tips and techniques before, and it all seems like soooo much work, expecting you to improve upon your entire person when you can barely handle your morning cereal. This stress management guide will be precisely for you, the beaten, battered, and overwhelmed, ready to start recovering and putting yourself first for a while. It will list the least demanding things you can do with your limited energy supply to relax and start getting some mental and emotional strength and motivation back to make the following steps, expertly escaping burnout's jaws. If you're an overachiever and have some perky energy still left, maybe skip this lazy anti-stress guide. This is for our "I barely have the energy to read this text" brothers and sisters.

The 4 trauma responses

First of all, if you are always drained and fatigued with no changes in your stress level and no obvious reason to feel this way, go check yourself out. There might be something physiological going on. For others with real, legitimate reasons to crumble into themselves and implode under pressure, we'll briefly go over the natural human reactions to overwhelming or traumatic situations so you can once more feel like there is nothing wrong with you.

When facing a threat or being overwhelmed in any way, we don't all react the same. This might have a lot to do with the wiring we came here right there in the delivery room and the upbringing and learned behaviors we've picked up from our family, friends, and the societal and cultural milieu we grew up in during our formative years. Usually known as the fight-flight response because it has such a nice ring to it, there are a few more common ways to deal with trauma. We'll briefly mention these as it seems that they have their elongated versions in how we react to stress. So what are the 4 common trauma responses?

Fight

A reaction when you aggressively face any real or perceived threat, danger, or hardship, running through it head-on. This is sometimes useful but might also be inappropriate and worsen things.

Flight

Physically or emotionally removing yourself from a threatening or overwhelming situation, running away as far as possible to avoid being affected. This is useful in life-threatening situations but not so much in stressful situations that need you to resolve something.

Freeze

Most often associated with direct shock at a threat or danger where you're just unable to move or act—can be translated to long-term stress. This is that frozen, locked-in feeling that you can't move physically or emotionally to try and solve the stressful situation. You're entirely frozen or fried if you so prefer.

Fawn

Uf, that's an insidious one. You try to please someone else to avoid things escalating, even if you're going back on your word or stomping on your beliefs. Here, we're dangerously close to the point where we don't set boundaries or say no when we absolutely know we should have. This is a slippery slope.

Tips on how to deal with stress for the depleted

There are a few obvious tips, such as getting some exercise (but what if you're too drained), eating good food (but what if you can't be bothered to do the whole grocery store-table logistics now), and stopping the unhealthy habits (we know you needor may not be done with your coping mechanism yet, so drink that glass (or two) of wine if you really need to and finish those chocolates guilt-free). But now, we get into the really simple stuff on how to reduce stress that can change your outlook on life in minutes.

Meditate

There is no need to be an expert meditator to reduce stress, have any special equipment, or desperately search for a quiet place. If you find it great, but meditation is more about disrupting the stress pattern here and can be done as you're stuck in traffic, walking around, or waiting in line at the bank. The point is to stop the flood of overthinking and focus on something, anything at all, like the light hitting the cars stuck in traffic with you, the woman in line in front of you with an interesting hair clip, or just the rain streaming down the bus window on your commute. Consciously change your breathing, slow down, breathe in through the nose, hold a bit, exhale slowly, and focus on the breath as if it were the only thing in the world. This will calm your nervous system down naturally, and you'll instantly feel less anxious and get more energy. It will take just 3-4 breaths to start feeling the effects. The body is wonderfully anchored in the breath. Here's a nice guided meditation for those unphased by the F-word that will put some pep back in your step.
 

Connect with people

It seems silly to try and reach out to others if we can barely handle ourselves and feel the need to isolate, as we don't want others to see us at our worst. But shared burdens get halved, so don't underestimate the power of good friends and family, even if it will be a passive activity of just being together and doing nothing. Or go into a crowd alone, participate in a group activity where you don't need to stand out, like a mass, go to a gallery, visit a temple... You may be an introvert and really need to be alone to process. That's fine, too. You don't need to be in the same room to feel connected to others.

Laugh and/or smile

Yes, even if you don't feel like it, especially if you don't. If you need to fake it before you make it, do so. Read a joke, tell a joke, play a clip from your favorite comedian or comedy, watch a funny cat video, or whatever helps you get out of your own head and change your perspective. Life will serve some doozies, lemons, and curveballs (sometimes all at once), but a sense of humor - dark, refined, or fart-joke level will help you get through tough times with far less damage and will make you more resilient. This is what we really want - resilience, not a boring life with no challenges. If you're stressed and burned out to the point where nothing seems to make you laugh, it's time to go for some classic dad jokes. The obvious disarming lameness of these might be just what you need.

Sleep

Our favorite and easiest tip on how to reduce stress is sleep. Seriously, it demands no effort but can change a life. Keep in mind that trouble sleeping and stress are a loop. The more stressed you are, the harder it is to get a night of quality sleep; the more trouble you have sleeping, the less resilient you get to stress, and you start to fray physically, mentally, and emotionally. Sleep deprivation or poor quality of your slumber on a sustained basis is a sure way to lose your mind and emotional stability; in fact, interrupted sleep was used as a method of very effective torture and "breaking a person." It could be that you're not overwhelmed at all but are maybe sleeping poorly.

A new skincare routine

It seems silly that your burnt-out self could be bothered by such trivial things as skincare routines at the moment, but something interesting happens when you take a minute for a simple wash and moisturizer. It is a moment of self-care that sends a message to your inner tired self that the day is done, that it's ok to rest and relax, and that you're worth taking care of. Care shows that someone matters to us, and it makes no difference if it is directed at another person or ourselves with a simple morning and evening skincare routine. You can say all the positive affirmations in the world, but if your self-care actions don't match those words, your body won't believe it and will not relax.

Pro tip: Set an intent during your daily routine or skincare routine, such as washing the day away when you cleanse your face.

Write things down

Some people would recommend journaling, but that might be a bit of an overcommitment for someone barely holding it together as it is. You don't need to commit to writing out pages upon pages every day to work things out. You can simply go the no-strings-attached route and write things down when you start feeling squished out of existence. No structure is necessary; just sit down and start, in media res if you need to, or mid-sentence that's been ringing in your head. Just write for as long as the words are flowing (you might be surprised). Putting things on the page, no matter how incoherent and grammatically wonky (no one will read this, and you're not expecting a Pulitzer), releases you. You no longer need to keep it locked within the confines of your skin, and your brain can relax.

Get creative

One of the less usual but very effective stress management techniques is creativity. Not in a starving artist kind of way, dying for his art, but more as a way to unblock the repression that imminently comes with prolonged periods of stress. This creativity does not need to take the form of any specific known art direction. It can be making up your own words that amuse you during the day, singing angry metal versions of Disney songs in the shower to get some rage out, painting that boring wall, or decluttering a room you've been promising yourself you'd declutter. If you have no emotional energy or time to do the room, do a drawer, do another drawer tomorrow, and so on, and find a creative way to advertise things you want to get rid of.

How you feel is normal, dear, and it just means you are an alive human being. Isn't it great news?! You're alive (109 billion people from history aren't). Difficulty is part of the contract of life. We must accept that there will be hard times. These periods will test your will and all you are, and you'll look back on them, not knowing how you've made it. But you have and most likely will again because that's what humans do - prevail, grow, and rest in between.

FOREO’s Anti-Stress DEALS

There is beauty in slowing down, in not being a slave to the permeating philosophy that you’re never enough unless you burn up on reentry into your bed sheets each night. It always feels like we need to do more, be more, and hyper-produce. It is okay to stop, rest, relax, set boundaries, and limit the world’s intrusion into personal moments of self-care, into those few instants we get every day just for ourselves. Every simple routine, such as washing your face in the morning, can become a ritual. The only difference is intention, being present there, feeling the warm water on your face, feeling the freshness of clean skin and the pores breathing.

To mark Stress Awareness Month and put their money where their mouth is, FOREO offers special deals for our MYSA readers. From March 31st till April 14th, you can use code ZENGEN30 for an additional 30% off on selected, and already discounted, FOREO bestsellers to include in your private zen moments.

 NO STRESS DEALS

Do your duties and then stop. Force yourself to stop if needed if you can't naturally snap out of feeling responsible for everything and anything in your own surroundings. Promise yourself some time at the end of the day, and keep the promise. This is very important - Don't break your promises to yourself. Take a few minutes if you can't give any more now, do your skincare, write a few words about how you feel, and sing that "Let It Go" death metal as you're running the bath. This is your time, and it's sacred in the full sense of the word. Stay curious, stay beautiful and calm, and enjoy living in your skin - on the good and bad days.