How to reduce and eliminate stress

You feel stressed and continuously nervous? Could it be the case to reduce the causes of stress and improve the quality of your life?
The Texas Woman’s University has published the 52 things to do to reduce stress!

I made one Italian translation very fast for those who don’t chew English. So here is the list of 52 points!
If you put some into practice with positive effects, let us know 🙂

1. Waking up 15 minutes earlier in the morning. The inevitable morning setbacks will be less stressful.
2. Prepare for the morning the night before. Set up the breakfast table, prepare snacks, get clothes you are going to wear, etc.
3. Don’t rely on your own memory. Write down the times of the appointments, when to collect the linen, when to return books, etc.
4. Don’t do anything that, after doing it, prompts you to tell a lie.
5. Make duplicates of all keys. Bury a house key in a secret place in the garden and keep a duplicate car key by keeping it separate from the rest of the keys.
6. Do preventative maintenance. Your car, devices, home and relationships will be less likely to break / break down at the “worst possible time”.
7. Be prepared to wait. A newspaper can make waiting at the post office almost pleasant.
8. Lingering is stressful. Whatever you want to do tomorrow, do it today; whatever you want to do today, do it now.
9. Plan ahead. Do not leave the petrol in the tank below a quarter, do not wait until the last moment if you only have a bus ticket to buy another one, etc.
10. Don’t use something that doesn’t work well. Alarm clock, windshield wipers, VCR – cause constant exasperation, get them repaired or buy new ones.
11. Allow 15 minutes of extra time to get to appointments. Try to arrive at the airport one hour before departure.
12. Eliminate (or reduce) the amount of caffeine you consume.
13. Always have a backup plan ready, “just in case …” (“If anyone is late, here’s what we will do ..” or “If we split up in the mall, meet at this point”
14. Take it easy. The world will not end if the grass is not mowed this weekend.
15. Pollyanna-Power! For everything that goes wrong, there are probably 10 or 50 or 100 that go well. Count them!
16. Ask questions. Take some time to repeat return directions, what someone expects of you, etc. , you can save hours.
17. Answer with a “No!”. Say “no” to extra projects, social activities and invitations that you know you cannot support due to lack of time or energy, respect yourself, and think that everyone, every day, needs some quiet time to relax and stay together. alone.
18. Unplug the phone. Do you want to take a long bath, meditate, sleep or read without interruption? Find the courage and do it. The likelihood of a terrible emergency in the next hour or so is close to zero. Or use an auto responder.
19. Change “needs” into desires. All our physical needs translate into food, water, feeling warm. All the rest are just wishes. Don’t get attached to desires.
20. Simplify, simplify, simplify …
21. Make non-anxious friends. Nothing can lead to anxiety more than hanging out with anxious people.
22. Get up and stretch often if your job requires you to sit for a long time.
23. Wear caps. If you feel the need for silence in the house, put the plugs in your ears.
24. Get as much sleep as necessary. If necessary, use an alarm to remind you to go to bed.
25. Create order instead of chaos. Organize your home and space so you always know exactly where things are. Put things in their place and you won’t be stressed out looking for things.
26. When they feel stressed, most people take small, shallow breaths. When you breathe like this, stale air isn’t expelled, tissue oxygenation isn’t complete, and the result is frequent muscle tension. Check your breathing throughout the day, before and during high pressure situations. If you find that your stomach muscles are tense and your breathing is shallow, relax all of your muscles and take several slow, deep breaths.
27. Writing down your thoughts and feelings (in a diary, on a throw-away paper …) can help you see things more clearly and from a renewed perspective.
28. Try some yoga techniques if you feel you need to relax. Breathe deeply through your nose and count to eight. Then, with your lips half closed, take the air out very slowly for a count of 16, or as long as possible. Focus on the sound and feel the tension dissolve. Repeat this 10 times.
29. Project yourself into an event you fear. For example: Before speaking in public, take some time to examine each part of the experience in your mind. Imagine what you will hear, what the audience will look like, how you will present your speech, what questions there may be and how you can answer, etc. Visualize things as they should be. You will easily understand that when it comes time to really talk, it will be an “old hat” and much of the anxiety will be gone.
30. When the stress of having to finish a job takes you away from actually finishing it, it may be what you need to change your environment or activity.
31. Talk about it. Discuss your problems with a trusted friend, it can help you clear your mind of confusion so that you can focus on solving the problem.
32. One of the most obvious ways to avoid unnecessary stress is to choose an environment (work, home, play) that is in line with your personal wishes and needs. If you hate working at a desk, don’t take a job that requires you to be behind a table all day. If you hate talking about politics, don’t hang out with people who talk about politics, etc.
33. Learn to live one day at a time.
34. Do something every day that you really enjoy.
35. Add an ounce of love into what you do.
36. Take a hot (or cold in summer) bath or shower to release tension.
37. Do something for someone else.
38. Focus your attention on understanding rather than being understood; about loving rather than being loved.
39. Do something to improve your appearance. Looking better can make you feel better.
40. Plan your day in a realistic way. Avoid the tendency to arrange commitments one after the other; take some time between one thing and another to get some breathing room.
41. Become more flexible.
42. Eliminate commiseration like: “I’m too old to …” “I’m too fat to …” etc.
43. Use the weekend to change pace. If your weekly work is slow and schematic, make sure there is time and spontaneity on your weekends.
44. Just worry about today. Yesterday and tomorrow they will take care of themselves.
45. Do one thing at a time. When you are with someone, you are with that person and nothing else. When you are busy with a project, focus on making it happen and forget all the other things you need to do.
46. Give yourself some time, introspection, silence, privacy.
47. If there is something particularly troublesome to do, do it early in the morning and the rest of the day will be anxiety-free.
48. Learn to delegate responsibilities.
49. Don’t forget to take a lunch break. Try to get away from the table or workplace with both your body and mind, even if only for 15 – 20 minutes.
50. Don’t count to 10. Count to 10,000 before doing something that could make things worse.
51. Maintain a mature view of events and people. Accept that we live in a world that isn’t perfect.
52. Try to have an optimistic view of the world. Convince yourself that most people do their best.