Dealing With Stress Sanely

Modern life comes with a big dose of stress. Work is increasingly demanding – with mobile phones, tablets, and omnipresent wi-fi not freeing us from cares but instead putting us perpetually at the disposal of the demands of the business. To get ahead, you’re expected to prepare on your commute, to be available to answer important emails in the evenings and at weekends. With no real downtime, stress can be ungovernable, especially if you’re dealing with something above and beyond the usual daily demands on your time.

Today we’re presenting a short guide to dealing with stressful situations and maintaining your sanity in the face of a modern life that can seem overwhelmingly stressful.

Moving House

Moving house is one of the most stressful experiences you can go through, and this is only magnified when it’s forced on you. Choosing to move when you want a change, can afford more or want to move in with a partner is one thing: it’s your decision to make, in your hands.

When it’s forced upon you, due to rent rises or the landlord simply selling your home out from under you, it’s a more stressful proposition. You have a deadline imposed on you, your mind goes blank and you find yourself desperately wondering how to move house.

Whenever you have something this stressful forced upon you, you need to be systematic. Feeling like you need to do something, and therefore doing anything because you feel like any kind of action will do is a recipe for disaster.

Find a calendar. Mark your deadline on it and take stock. Think about what you can reasonably do in the time available: if, due to extraordinary circumstances, you only have a couple of weeks you’ll likely be wasting your time looking for a new permanent home. Instead, try to solve the problem of where you’re going to live next, and once you have a permanent solution in the pipeline you can begin to find a real new home.

If you have longer, you have time to work out your budget and the areas you want to live in and use that to set alerts on property sites so you can find your new home.

However busy you are, try to schedule some time to put your stressful problems to one side and to relax, whatever that means for you. Even if it’s just half an hour to read before bed, allowing yourself time to decompress and think about something other than what’s worrying you is invaluable to maintaining your emotional and mental balance.