Both I and you hate that feeling when it seems like the whole world has turned against us and we can't stand any longer. The destructive power of stress makes it difficult to concentrate and think reasonably.
Of course, you all know that stress is bad for you, it can lead to serious health problems and speed up body aging. Despite that, stress in small amounts can motivate you to achieve more and become a stronger person, both physically and mentally.
Every challenge is given to you for a reason. In reward for any pain that stress brings, it goes with a row of positive effects. There are a few major ways to use stress for increasing your productivity. Let me briefly guide you through each step by step:
10 Steps: How to Use Stress to Increase Your Productivity
1. Reprogram Your Brain
Whenever you have too much work or other things to do, first of all, stop blaming yourself you started so late with it. If you concentrate on what you could have done but didn’t, you will only drive yourself into depression.
Remember that the key to successful workload management is accurate planning and strict schedule following. If you pull yourself together and follow the plan, you will manage to complete 90% of your work or even entire 100. You are actually capable of much more when you have a ready plan of your upcoming progress in your mind. You need to see your workload is quite possible to handle.
Remember that the key to successful workload management is accurate planning and strict schedule following. If you pull yourself together and follow the plan, you will manage to complete 90% of your work or even entire 100. You are actually capable of much more when you have a ready plan of your upcoming progress in your mind. You need to see your workload is quite possible to handle.
2. Don’t Sleep Too Much or Too Little
When stressed, you might be tempted to spend more time in bed. It will only ruin your efforts to combat any kind of depression you have. Morning is the best time to start your day with inspiration. Late morning has a destructive effect on your willpower, which means stress will have more chances to take control of you - so don't sleep too much.
Or on the contrary, you might feel the need to sleep little to have more time for things you have to do. But the truth is that the lack of sleep makes you even more vulnerable to depression and other stress-related conditions - don't sleep too little either.
3. Combating Temptations
For a huge percentage of people, food and alcohol become seemingly the best ways to cope with stress. But in reality, they only make things worse. You don’t need temporary ways to escape from the reality – you need to drive all your time and efforts on finding a solution to your situation.
Say NO to any temptations you might have and always think of the circumstances.
4. Be Grateful For Your Stress
When stressed, you might feel desperately miserable that it’s all happening to you. Having a lot of extremely responsible work to do? Be grateful that you have a job at all and your management considers you a person to rely on.
Having too much material to study? Remember that your education is going to be rewarding in the end and be grateful for a chance to get new knowledge in large amounts. Well, you understand that you wouldn’t study so intensively if you didn’t have any deadlines or schedule.
5. Don’t Ever Forget You Are A Strong Person
Whenever you start giving up and letting your stress devour you, remind yourself that it’s only happening to you to challenge you and make you stronger.
Remember that big things happen to people who work hard, and working hard often means overcoming challenges, stressing themselves out and combating obstacles.
The rule of thumb says that you need to get out of the comfort zone as soon as you stop seeing any growth. You constantly need to move on despite any stressful situations on your way.
6. Analyze Successful People
We all certainly have someone we consider successful and want to follow their example. But we need to understand what they did to become someone you admire. No success comes without hard work.
Let’s say you are a young mother of 2 kids who can’t give them enough attention and getting desperate because of that. At the same time, you have a friend who works daily, teaches her 2 kids a foreign language, travels a lot with her family, takes them to school and swimming or dancing classes and even does regular fitness exercises to be pretty for her husband all the time.
Personally, I have a female friend of mine who matches the above example and I've never seen her stressed out because of that. When following someone's example, you understand you are not expected to do impossible things – you look for solutions instead of constant complaints.
7. Focus On Things That Motivate You
You don't live in this world only to exist. You want to achieve something, no matter how hard you work for it. And this is when stress comes.
Whenever you are up to something but can't get it yet, always think about things you want to get in the end, whether it's your education degree, promotion, a new car or new opportunity for your kid.
Nothing happens overnight, but the more motivated you are, the easier it will be to achieve what you really want despite any stressful situations that are forcing you to give up.
8. Remember Similar Stressful Situations Taking Place Before
The entire life cannot consist of stress only. Otherwise, you are suffering from chronic stress which is not a good thing for your health and emotional state.
Let’s say, the end of the month at your workplace is extremely stressful and you feel like you are going to explode when it arrives. But was it really that difficult the previous month? You did it and you are still alive. You enjoyed that feeling of accomplishment when you were done with it, didn’t you? It’s going to be the same this time or even easier.
9. Leave Time For Fun, Relaxation and Social Engagement
Instead of excessive sleep and alcohol, choose healthier ways to relax. Try yoga, morning jogging, exercising, biking, or mountain hiking to control your stress and increase your productivity. You need your friends to help you out and bring some fun into your life. Social meetings will encourage you to get going with your work or anything you are up to.
10. Assess Your Progress
For lots of people, including you, stressful situations can be used to increase productivity. Don't miss a moment to look back and see what you've already managed to do.
Does it sound familiar to you that sometimes when you are relaxed and lazy, you can spend the whole day doing something small? But another day when you feel a kind of pressure, you can spend just an hour or two to do the same thing.
Always look back to see how much you've already managed to do and it will motivate you to do even more.
You can’t deny the fact that laziness usually loses in a battle against stress. And as laziness is the major enemy of productivity, stress might become your friend. However, you need to operate it properly, take acceptable loads and avoid chronic stress. Can you remember any situations when you managed to do the impossible under pressure or stress, and, you actually use it to your advantage?
Share those situations in the comment section bellow! Also don't forget to share this article with your social networks connections so you too can inspire people to use Stress to increase productivity. Thank you continue to...
Be GREAT!
You can learn more about Richard on Facebook.
Follow us!