By: fallen angel

To a lot of people, if not all, stress is something they deal with every moment of their lives, even after working hours. I myself went through a stressful period months into my working life, and I started having palpitations and shortness of breath during this period.

Needless to say, I was worried, and went to a doctor. After a thorough physical checkup, the doctor found that there’s nothing wrong with me, and asked if I was stressed. I left the clinic with a few tablets of anti-depressants, which I didn’t take in fear of having to depend on medication to deal with stress. And so I embarked on a search of a better solution in dealing with stress.

To keep it short, these are the 3 basic methods that helped me deal with stress early in my working life:

1. Drink less coffee. One or two cups of coffee per day is fine for most people, but more than that is excessive.
2. Mental picture:
   • Mentally picture the stress being confined in the office, and once you step out of the office, all the stress remained in the office. Since you can’t deal with the stress after office hours anyway, why let it affect you when you’re not in office? Free yourself from having the stress pinned down on you after office hours, and miraculously you will find it easier to breathe. Try it and see!
   • Mentally picture the stress pushing you forward instead of pressing down on you. That way, indirectly, you’ll be able to turn the stress into something healthy that will push you forward for success. It’s not a scientifically proven method, but it works for me, so I hope it may work for you too.
3. Read more about stress and understand how it affects you. I find “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living” very helpful, so try it out and see if it helps you .