The next step towards reducing stress is to notice your triggers and the coping mechanisms that follow. Once you’ve kept track for a week or a month, go back through your list and see which areas of your life caused you the most stress. You know yourself best and certain times of the day and year will always be stressful. But if you’re continually noticing a stress pattern in your day to day life, then there’s room for improvement. You can’t control everything in life and some things will never change, but you can always choose your outlook and how you respond to stressful situations.
Perhaps you’re always stressed while driving, right after getting home at night, or while scrolling through social media. Maybe you can’t change the fact that you have to drive every day, you feel exhausted after work or school, or that you want to stay in the social loop. If these situations are triggers for your stress there are ways to cope and reduce its impact. So instead you make a fun, energizing playlist for your car ride, you give yourself 15-30 minutes of alone time before starting “at home” duties, or you limit yourself to 10 minutes of phone time at night and fall asleep with a book.
Once you’ve identified your stress and its triggers, challenge yourself to create positive and healthy coping strategies that will strengthen you physically, mentally, and emotionally.