Changing Behavior to Reduce Stress

Another effective approach involves examining your own attitude and behavior for ways of making changes to keep stress, and your physical response to it, at a healthy minimum. In one study, it was found that executives who worked under stress, but had low levels of illness, tended to have a relatively vigorous attitude toward their environments (what might be called a "can do" attitude). They had a sense of meaningfulness; on internal locus of control (they believed that they not outside forces or other people, were largely responsible for what happened to them in life); and a strong commitment to themselves. In other words, they took a positive, active stance in their everyday dealings with the world.

Such a positive attitude can work for you. Let's consider two areas in which you can readily make changes that will help you avoid or reduce stress managing your time better and improving your program of nutrition and exercise.

Managing Your Time Better

You will greatly reduce your stress level if you adopt some of the "time management" techniques that stress experts have been discussing recently. Time management requires you to plan everything you do carefully, and really get tough with yourself about putting aside nonessential task and doing essential things now. Interestingly, time management also requires you to set aside some of your ego-involvement in your activity. You have to give up the feeling that you can do everything, and all at the same time. You have to stop feeling that you must be at the center of all activities and no one can replace you.

You should also bear in mind that these priority are flexible, subject to revision as emergencies, conflicts, and compromises arise. It would be self defeating to use time-management techniques to lock yourself into a pattern that imposes more stress on you. There is no point in clinging rigidly to a set of time priority that no longer apply to your situation. The idea is for you to learn to manage time, not to let time manage you.