10 Tips for Reducing Stress: Part 2

It was finals week at my university. I was trying so hard to maintain my 4.0, but I was on the edge in a couple classes. My family was trying to sell the house--and we had three showings that week.
If you have never moved and never shown a house, just know that it's rough. You may have less than 24 hours to drop everything and clean the entire house. My family had a big house because we are a big family. Three of those in one week was bad.
I also had a plantar wart in my foot that made walking extremely painful and the removal treatments were not working.
And we were leaving for Europe in a week where we would be walking miles every day.
Oh, and I was trying to finish writing 30 Days of Surrender so I could edit on the plane.

I felt like I was living and breathing insanity.
Then, my hands, elbows, and feet broke out in the biggest, itchiest, most painful rash I have ever had. 
Eczema.
Walking was torture. My toes were so swollen with the rash that I could not bend my toes. And they were unbearably itchy. Plus the aforementioned plantar wart made every step agony. I had one pair of shoes that I could wear--my dorky cushioned flip flops. But I needed the cool air circulating for the rash and the cushion for the wart.
It was ridiculous, painful, and I felt so high maintenance and overwhelmed.
I knew, then, that something HAD to change.
Realizing that stress was actually anxiety and discontentment with a different label helped me identify the root issue: distrust in God. This has helped me troubleshoot this large character flaw in my life. 

Last week, I posted tips 10-6 for reducing stress. To read that post, 10 Tips for Reducing Stress: Part 1, click HERE!

Here are today’s top five tips for reducing stress!

5. Get up early and go to bed early.

         During the school year when I found myself being overwhelmed with homework, I started getting up at five am. This was one of the best habits I have ever developed. I still get up at five every day except for Saturdays and Sundays, when I usually get up at six or seven.

Getting up early helps me get on top of the day, knock a chunk out of my to-do list before the sun rises, and spend some time with God before the craziness of the day ensues.

My goal is to have the lights out by 9:00 since that’s about the time my brain shuts down. Especially recently, I’ve been having trouble maintaining this goal. However, when I do get to bed by 9:00, it gives me enough sleep to be able to get up early and go hard most of the day.

Also, a twenty-minute power nap in the afternoon is totally worth it if your schedule allows. :)

4. Look for time-wasters and distractions and eliminate them.

         What occupies your time? Are you stressed because you can’t get your homework done—but then you spend three hours on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, or other social media? Do you watch a lot of movies?

Time-wasters are different for everybody. Discover the easiest ways for you to waste time and set goals to limit or get rid of them. Maybe you only get on social media after everything else on your priority list is done, and you set a timer and as soon as it goes off, so does the social media.

You may find that you’re really stressed because you’re not making the time to do the things that you need to do. Eliminating the things in your schedule that aren’t necessarily will give you a lot more time every day.

One large distraction may actually be your to-do list! This was hard for me to realize at first, because a to-do list is supposed to regulate and help me manage my time. However, when I started jumping around, distracted by all the other tasks I was supposed to be completing, I got far less done. 

Choose one task at a time, focus on it, and get it done.

3. Don’t cut your quiet time. If anything, make it longer.

This is your fuel! Whenever I don’t get my quiet time in, my whole day is wrecked. I’m usually really emotional, grumpy, and just overall not pleasant. When I do get my quiet time in, I find myself far more cheerful and far more efficient with my time.

When you start off the day with God, you tell Him that He is most important to you. He gives you focus and strength for the day. 

And I promise you that spending extra time with Him every day will be more than valuable as your schedule gets crazier.

When the root issue of stress is not an overwhelming schedule but a lack of trust in God (and a lack of Godly discipline), it is easier to see why spending time with God is so important in fighting this sin.

2. STOP. Just stop and pray.

I remember being overwhelmed by school a year ago and rattling my to-do list off to my friend. This friend patiently listened to me fret, worry, and prattle on and on. Then my friend stopped me and said, "Just stop. Calm down. Take a deep breath." I am glad I listened.
I had to stop, pray, and take a step back to view the situation. When you’re overwhelmed, you have to pause, reorient, and reorganize your life. Find out if you’re not managing your time well, not getting enough sleep, not spending enough time with God, having wrong priorities…etc.

Once you’ve diagnosed the problem, you can solve the problem must faster. Just stopping to think—even for five minutes—can help reduce stress tremendously.

1. Remember that even if your world is crazy, God is still on His throne.

         Even when you feel like you can’t catch up, or you’re being slammed and there is just no let up, God is still God. He is still Lord, and He is still in control.

I couldn’t seem to get on top of my to-do list and was feeling overwhelmed. But just remembering that everything is part of God’s plan calmed me down.

Being stressed sometimes can mean we don’t trust God. If we’re working our tails off and things aren’t getting done, we often find ourselves stressing that it never will get done. It’s times like that we just need to trust God that He has given us the time we need. We only need to be good stewards of that time.

There you have it! Ten tips for reducing stress! Which ones are you going to try? Share in the comments!