Everyone experiences stress, even those who look the most put-together or always seem to be on top of things. However, we all experience and react to stress differently. While one person may be stressed and experience fatigue, another might have seemingly boundless energy.
As a working parent, you are likely no stranger to stress, but you may be a little foggy when it comes to strategies for stress management. In many cases, when we get caught up in the daily grind we leave stress management on the back burner. We leave stress management tactics until it is too late, having already caused significant damage to our emotional and physical states, not to mention that our well-being can also affect those around us. This guide will help you improve your stress management as a working parent.
The Negative Effects of Stress
Understanding the adverse effects of stress is essential to both identifying it and being motivated to manage it. Here is how stress negatively impacts your body, emotions, and mind.
- Physiological: Stress negatively affects the body in a variety of ways. It reduces the effectiveness of the immune system (which is your body’s natural defense against illness). It can cause the body to tense up, create breathing problems, lead to high blood pressure and irregular heart rate, impact sleep quality, and reduce your energy and libido. Additionally, stress can worsen a myriad of diseases.
- Emotional: Stress can cause increased irritability, feelings of depression, anxiety, and more. It can also cause many people to drink heavily or rely on other substances to relieve these negative feelings, although these “solutions” simply worsen the problem in the long run.
- Cognitive: Forgetfulness, disorganization, inability to focus, and racing thoughts are all common cognitive symptoms of stress. As a working parent, this can severely impact your job performance and your home life. Even worse, if you are also attending school, stress can impact your academic performance in many ways, including forgetfulness with regards to your studies, poor test performance, a lack of adherence to attendance policies for in-person and online learning, and much more.
How to Manage Stress
Stress management is the only way to effectively deal with everyday life tensions and keep yourself from becoming overwhelmed by their harmful side effects. However, as everyone has a unique set of stressors and reactions, it is vital to figure out the best way to manage stress for you. The following tips will give you various tools to help you manage stress in your daily life.
Recognize Signs of Stress
The only way to mitigate the adverse effects of stress is to recognize them and identify your stressors. Once you do, you can take the right steps to ensure that you are better positioned to manage your stress.
Signs of stress include all those listed above, which impact your body, emotions, and mind. You may experience an assortment of these negative side effects, so it is essential to observe yourself. Noticing changes in your physical, emotional, and mental health can be challenging, but there are tools out there that can make the job easier.
Meditation allows you to focus on your body, so you can become aware of areas where you are holding tension, heart rate irregularities (racing heartbeat when sitting down), and breathing. It is a great way to check-in with yourself. You can find many meditation apps online for free or pay-as-you-go. A few dollars a month may be a worthwhile investment to improve your well-being. Check out the Calm and Headspace apps, two of our favorites.
Mood tracking apps, or simply reflecting in a daily journal entry, allows you to track your emotions over a long period. You may notice trends and use them to pinpoint stressors that cause negative reactions. Journaling, even on your phone or laptop, has been proven to benefit your mood and well-being.
Cognitive function is a little more challenging to track, but you may be able to note significant changes simply by reviewing your daily task list. How well were you able to get everything done? How does it compare to your typical day? Did you have unexpected trouble (lack of focus, forgetfulness, or disorganization) completing a task? Are you getting more “stuff” done that adds value to your life and those around you?
If any of these things apply, audit yourself. Try meditation and journal keeping to determine whether you are experiencing the compounded effects of stress.
Exercise
Though the most common advice regarding stress management usually includes rest and relaxation, physical exercise can be just as effective at reducing stress levels. Moreover, it has numerous positive effects outside of stress reduction, including promoting weight loss, improving mood, increasing strength, and building confidence.
When it comes to stress, exercise works on a neurochemical level as the body releases endorphins, which elevate mood and reduce pain. Exercise also reduces the level of stress hormones in the body. Though it can be challenging to exercise as a working parent, the next time you feel stressed or anticipate a stressful situation, try to go for a walk, run, bike, or a trip to the gym. If you are stuck at home, try some squats, pushups, situps, or even some stretching or yoga.
Schedule an Evening of Relaxation
If you are stressed, then you should relax. This is not rocket science, though it may be overused advice. However, it rings true. If you feel stressed, then it may be worth eliminating stressors where possible or simply taking your mind off of them for a short time. Sometimes even changing your environment can help. In other words, going outside, going for a drive, or changing your activities.
While we cannot easily eliminate the stress caused by a traumatic event like the death of a loved one, we can take our minds off of work for a while to find some inner peace. Take the time to do things that make you feel relaxed or bring a sense of joy. Catch up with your loved ones, take a long bath, or binge-watch your favorite show, all in the name of stress management.
Manage Your Goals and Set Realistic Ones
A lot of daily stress stems from personal or professional goal-setting, whether you want to get an important project finished a day early or spend more time with your children. The problem is not goal-setting itself. In fact, setting goals enables us to chase our dreams, earn achievements, and foster high self-esteem. Unfortunately, setting too many goals or goals that put undue pressure on you can cause stress.
To avoid this, learn to set realistic goals so that you can do what needs to be done without taking on too much at one time or giving yourself unmeetable guidelines. For example, if you want to spend more time with your children, start by carving out an extra 20 minutes in your schedule daily to just hang out with your kids. You can work your way up to planning a weekend getaway with your kids, but setting small achievable goals is the way to go.
Finally, do not make the mistake of focusing only on what you could not do during the day. Focus on what you did do and give yourself credit.
Key Takeaways
Stress is just one part of the human experience. It is completely normal to feel significantly stressed from time-to-time or to get stressed throughout the day. While you cannot get rid of the causes of stress altogether, you can learn to manage it. It is a life skill that can help you enjoy life more and focus on its more positive attributes.
However, if you have a hard time managing stress and find yourself becoming more overwhelmed by it, talk to a professional. A psychologist, counselor, or therapist can help you improve your stress management and discover underlying causes. In today’s world, you can do this through many mental health apps, as well as telehealth visits through your health insurance.