Stress

Dan asked me the other day how I deal with stress. I told him that if it gets to be ongoing, I try to find solutions. Like at work, if I feel I perpetually have too much on my plate, I'd raise the issue with my supervisor. But I also told him that this month, I knew it would be nuts. Between going to Chicago for a week for a conference, helping with a banquet, and planning a career day for 5th graders, on top of all my normal tasks, I knew October would be nuts. So in that case, I did my best to work ahead and I try to keep in mind that this level of stress is temporary. (I also let myself let go of some things. Like ordinarily, I deep clean one room a week so that in a month, the whole house gets deep cleaned. I decided no one would die if I skipped deep cleaning in October.)

I've been thinking about it since then, and I think my regular sleep and exercise habits have helped, too. Even though when you've got a ton on your plate, sleep and exercise seem to be the first things to go, I think they are important to helping you feel energized to take on the tasks you have more efficiently. Spending time with God is important, too. I feel ready for the day when I've spent time in the Word and in prayer.

I am an avid list maker. When I'm stressed and pressed for time to tackle everything on my to-do list, I add time goals to each task. That helps keep me on task. And I offer myself reasonable breaks if I can meet my goals. As long as I'm on schedule, a half hour break to watch a TV show is no problem. Planning the breaks is important, too. Not necessarily what I'll do, but how much time I can afford to take one. If you don't figure that out, you can end up spending a couple of hours on Facebook before you realize you've just wasted two hours. (And speaking of distractions, I try to minimize my distractions when I have a lot to do. If possible, I work from home, where I can concentrate better. If I don't need the internet, I turn off my Wi-fi so I can't go to Facebook without having to consciously think about it.)

Today's snowstorm was a perfect picture of what happens when stress overtakes you. First of all, the planning ahead is important. God designed seasons for a reason...fall generally ends before winter begins so that the trees are bare and don't collect such a heavy weight of snow. But many of the trees in our area still had a lot of leaves, and as a result, they gathered a huge, heavy weight of snow. That's a great example of how planning ahead when you know a stressful time is coming is important.

Under the weight of the snow, branches all over town fell down. Huge ones. We lost 7 or 8 just in our yard. And I thought about how one flake of snow was the final straw for that branch. Just one flake, one little flake added to the pile, was enough to crack giant trees in half. Stress can be like that—all those little things add up until we crack over some silly little thing.

And after we'd lost those branches, my neighbor came out and started shaking them to ease the burden of the weight of the snow. I thought that was a great picture of the other ways I handle stress. By easing the burden, you can keep yourself from cracking under the pressure.

And it's worked, so far. Those heavy-laden branches popped right back up and have been sitting pretty, free of a burden too great to carry. That's how I want to live. That's how I want to deal with stress.