Tools and Techniques for

Managing Stress

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Stress is your body’s reaction to any change that requires an adjustment or response.
This reaction can be physical, mental and/or emotional. Stress narrows your ability to
think clearly, function effectively and enjoy life. Effective stress management helps
you to be happier, healthier and more productive. It’s important to remember that
some stressors, like challenging projects, or even reasonable deadlines, keep things
interesting. You should also remember that it isn’t always possible to eliminate all
sources of stress. The goal is to balance both your work and life so that you feel less
stress overall whilst also building your resilience so that you are able to cope under
pressure and meet the challenges asked of you. Everyone manages stress differently
so it is important to find out what works best for you.

This booklet includes a number of different tools and techniques you can use to
manage your stress levels.

Contents

Create a plan 3
Meditation 3
Writing things down 4
Reframing 5
Positive thinking 6
Healthy living 7
The four As of stress management 8
Notes 9

2
Create a plan
If you find that your stress levels are too high, you might find it helpful to make a list of
everything that you would class as a trigger. It might help to categorise them i.e. work,
family, home etc. Once you understand your triggers you can begin to make a plan.

• Identify your trade-offs. Be conscious of your choices over the course of a week
and ask yourself if the activity is absolutely necessary i.e. do you really need to bake
a cake for a colleagues birthday? Could you buy one instead?
• Consolidate activities to give yourself more time. Try to pair a thought-intensive
activity with a physical activity i.e. listen to an audio book whilst exercising.
• Take short cuts where it doesn’t impact quality i.e. use a slow cooker to produce
healthy, hot meals that are ready as you walk through the door rather than rushing
to make a meal at the end of a long day when you are tired and hungry.
• Use stress management tools and techniques to support clearer thinking. This will
help to reduce the time you spend in fight or flight mode reacting to demands
without thinking. Tools and techniques include meditation, exercise, writing things
down and reframing.

Meditation
By learning to calm your body and mind, your physical and emotional stress can
reduce. This leaves you feeling better, refreshed and ready to face challenges with a
healthy attitude.
Meditation involves sitting in a relaxed position and clearing your mind, or focusing
your mind on one thought and clearing it of all others.
Many people find that if they try to meditate for too long each session or create
a “perfect” practice it can become intimidating or daunting, and they find it more
challenging to keep as a daily habit. It is far better to create the habit and work it into
a more thorough version of that habit.
Meditation is free, accessible and has few side effects. There are many apps and other
resources available for those wanting to have a go. The most important things to
remember about meditation are:
• Practicing regularly is more important than practising for long periods of time.
• Practicing regularly is more important than being perfect.
• Noticing that your mind has wondered and then redirecting your thoughts back to
the focus of your meditation is a good thing not a failure.
• Everyone’s mind wonders – it’s part of being human.

3
Writing things down

Keeping a diary or journal that explores thoughts and feelings surrounding the
events of your life works best when done consistently, but even occasional, sporadic
journaling can be stress relieving when the practice is focused on gratitude. One of the
most effective ways is to write in detail about feelings and thoughts related to stressful
events, as one would discuss topics in therapy, and brainstorm solutions, but there are
several different ways to practice journaling.

Gratitude Journal
Some people keep a daily gratitude journal where they list three or more aspects of
each day for which they are grateful. This helps you to focus on the resources you
have in your life already and create a more positive mood at the moment, both of
which have been shown to build long-term resilience. A bonus benefit is that you are
left with a record of the many nice things that have happened throughout your days,
so if you’re feeling down in the future, you can cheer yourself up with a few pages of
reminders for the things you have to appreciate in life.

Emotional Release
You may also write about your emotional responses to events that have happened
throughout the day as a way of coping with the stress. This can help you to process
what you are feeling and perhaps even explore more positive reframing options.
Writing about positive experiences allows you to maximise and savour the positive
feelings you may have for the good things that have happened in your day. This is
also a great way to expand on the positive and manage the negative things that
happen in your life, increasing your positivity ratio, which is an important aspect of
stress management.

Bullet Journal or Personal Planning Journal

Some people simply track what they need to do each day, goals they have, memories
they create, and other things they don’t want to forget. Because writing things down
can help keep your mind uncluttered and help you to remember what’s important to
you, this can relieve stress as well. Being more organized and balanced is a great way
to feel less stressed.

You don’t have to do this every day in order for it to work for you – a few times a week
or even on an as-needed basis brings benefits.

4
Reframing

Reframing is a way of changing the way you look at something and, thus, changing
your experience of it, e.g. a stressful event becomes a challenge to be bravely
overcome, or a negative event becomes a learning experience.

• The first step in reframing is to educate yourself about negative thinking patterns
that may exacerbate your stress levels. Educating yourself about thinking
patterns and how they affect people is important for laying the groundwork for
understanding and change.
• The next step is to catch yourself when you’re slipping into overly negative and
stress-inducing patterns of thinking. Being aware of them is an important part of
challenging and ultimately changing them. Once you become more of an observer,
it’s easier to notice your thoughts rather than remaining caught up in them.
• As you notice your negative thoughts, begin to examine the truth and accuracy (or
lack thereof) of these thoughts. Instead of seeing things the way you always have,
challenge every negative thought, and see if you can adopt thoughts that fit your
situation but reflect a more positive outlook.
• When you’re looking at something negative, see if you can change your self-talk to
use less strong, less negative emotions. Look for the positive in each situation, and
see if you can focus on the more positive edge of reality: see them in a way that still
fits the facts of your situation, but that is less negative and more optimistic
and positive.

5
Positive thinking

The positive thinking that usually comes with optimism is a key part of effective stress
management. Positive thinking often starts with self-talk. Self-talk is the endless
stream of unspoken thoughts that run through your head. These automatic thoughts
can be positive or negative. Some of your self-talk comes from logic and reason.
Other self-talk may arise from misconceptions that you create because of lack of
information.
You can learn to turn negative thinking into positive thinking. The process is simple,
but it does take time and practice — you’re creating a new habit, after all. Here are
some ways to think and behave in a more positive and optimistic way:

• Identify areas to change. If you want to become more optimistic and engage
in more positive thinking, first identify areas of your life that you usually think
negatively about, whether it’s work, your daily commute or a relationship. You can
start small by focusing on one area to approach in a more positive way.
• Check yourself. Periodically during the day, stop and evaluate what you’re thinking.
If you find that your thoughts are mainly negative, try to find a way to put a positive
spin on them.
• Be open to humor. Give yourself permission to smile or laugh, especially during
difficult times. Seek humor in everyday happenings. When you can laugh at life,
you feel less stressed.
• Surround yourself with positive people. Make sure those in your life are positive,
supportive people you can depend on to give helpful advice and feedback.
Negative people may increase your stress level and make you doubt your ability to
manage stress in healthy ways.
• Practice positive self-talk. Start by following one simple rule: Don’t say anything
to yourself that you wouldn’t say to anyone else. Be gentle and encouraging with
yourself. If a negative thought enters your mind, evaluate it rationally and respond
with affirmations of what is good about you. Think about things you’re thankful for
in your life.

6
Healthy living

Eating a balanced and healthy diet helps our bodies to manage the physiological
changes caused by stress.

• Choose whole, natural foods

• Start the day with a balanced breakfast
• Prioritise protein
• Try not to skip meals
• Avoid highly refined foods
• Watch the caffeine
• Stay hydrated
• Try to avoid emotional eating

Virtually any form of exercise can act as a stress reliever and can increase positivity.
It increases the production of endorphins. If you are concentrating on the movements
required for the exercise your brain can’t think about anything else. It improves your
mood, increases your self confidence, improves sleep and can lower the symptoms
associated with mild depression and anxiety.

7
The 4 As of stress management

Considering how you cope with stressful events generally and incorporating some of
the tools and techniques into your daily activities will help you to manage your stress
levels more effectively. However, when faced with a stressful situation you might also
find it helpful to think of the four As: avoid, alter, adapt, or accept.

Avoid
Avoid unnecessary stress by:
• Learning how to say no: Distinguish between the should and the musts and
when possible say no to avoid taking on to much.
• Limiting the amount of time you spend with people who make you feel stressed.
• Taking control of your environment.
• Dropping tasks that aren’t necessary.

Alter
Try to alter stressful situations where you can’t avoid them:
• Express your feelings instead of hiding them.
• Compromise.
• Create a balanced schedule.

Adapt
Adapt to stressful situations by changing your expectations and attitude:
• Reframe problems.
• Look at the big picture.
• Adjust your standard.
• Practice gratitude.

Accept
Acceptance might be difficult but, where you can’t change anything, it’s the best way
to cope:
• Focus on what you can control and accept what you can’t control.
• Try to look for positive elements such as what you have learnt as a result of the
stressful situation.
• Let go of anger and resentment.
• Talk to someone.

8
Notes