I'm glad you're here, I've got for you five simple strategies for stress management. How to thrive under pressure.
Hi! I'm Dr. Paul Jenkins, I've been doing this professionally for almost three
decades now, and I can put you in position to be in a greater level of control over your own mind. So,
tune in and listen through to the end. Let's cover first three very specific physical strategies that
you can employ immediately, and then I'll hit two psychological strategies that will round it all
out. Here's strategy number one, get enough sleep. Now, I know you've got some stories around this.
Just check in and see if you are getting adequate sleep. Your brain needs this, your body needs this.
You are designed to handle stress. Think about what I just said. You are designed to
handle stress. But in order to do so, you have to be taking care of the equipment. And sleep
is an important part of stress management. There's usually three things that interfere with our sleep.
Alcohol, caffeine, and blue light. Now that last one might surprise you. All three of those interfere
with stage four sleep, which is the deepest most restorative level of sleep that we have. And so,
even though you're getting some sleep, it might not be the restorative sleep that you need if
you're using a lot of alcohol or caffeine. The blue light part has to do with the devices that are so
prevalent in our society today, including the one that you're watching this video on. We put a lot
of that particular wavelength into our eyes, the retina in your eye actually responds to different
wavelengths by triggering different things to happen in our bodies. And without getting into
all the science behind it, the blue wavelengths that are so prevalent in our screens are not
helping us to get the kind of sleep that we need, especially those deeper levels of restorative
sleep. So, it's a good idea to limit your alcohol intake to minimize your caffeine intake to less
than 200 milligrams before noon because it has a halflife too, it'll stay in your system for a
certain number of hours, and in the later part of the day, you're going to interfere with your sleep
if you're taking in a lot of caffeine. And then on the blue light thing, just avoid any screen time
before bed. Give yourself a couple of hours to be screen-free. That's going to help with your sleep
patterns. Let's go on to strategy number two. Again, a physical strategy eat a well-balanced
nutritious diet. Healthful food, who knew fuel matters. Think of your body as a machine for
a minute, and your brain is the biggest energy hog of the entire system. You have to be giving it good
efficient fuel to operate properly. Now, you might notice something as we get into this. That it's
going to benefit other aspects of your life. Like physical fitness or possibly weight management
or whatever it is that you're working on. But what we're talking about right now is brain maintenance.
If you want to be able to handle stress well, you got to be eating well. Strategy number
three is probably not going to surprise you given where we've been already. Get regular exercise. I'm
talking physical. Get the blood pumping, work up a sweat kind of exercise. The research shows that we
need this for our brain health. In fact, it's so interesting to me that in some of the clinical
trials where they put anti-depressant medication up against physical exercise and they're testing
the effectiveness of both exercise wins. In most of the studies that have been conducted on this,
exercise is more efficient. Now, I'm not saying you should quit your anti-depressant medication. If
you're on medication, consult with your physician before you make any changes. But what I'm saying
is the exercise is likely to provide some benefits that will allow you to manage stress
more efficiently, and you will see this as you implement it into your daily practice. Now, before
I get to those psychological models, I invite you to go to the URL that's on the screen right now,
Dr. Paul jenkins.com/themodel. Because this model is relevant to what it is that I'm going to share
with you next. Go grab a copy it's completely free, I'll put it right in your inbox, Dr. jenkins.com
/themodel. That model sets us up for strategy number four, which is to get some education and
instruction and coaching if necessary about how to operate the equipment of your own mind. The model
that I've shared with you shows two different processes that are going on all the time. In your
mind, you cannot turn them off. These processes are evaluation meaning judgment and just notice that
you're constantly judging everything that happens in your life. And creation is the other process.
You can't turn this one off either. Your brain is constantly working to create what is to be. That
doesn't exist yet because we haven't created it yet. But your mind is constantly working on these
two different processes. As you understand these process processes, it puts you in a position of
control and choice. And what would change for you when it comes to stress management or handling all
of the pressures that you handle on a daily basis? If you had a higher level of control
over your own mind, over the control center for everything that happens. That would be awesome.
I could talk about that last strategy all day. In fact, I do talk about that last strategy all-day
it's what I do professionally as a psychologist. We're not going to cover all of the details about
that on today's video. Get some instructions for how to operate the equipment and commit to that
process of constantly monitoring where your mind is so that you can control it more. Now, let's get
to that fifth strategy. Daily mental hygiene. Mental hygiene sounds a little like dental
hygiene, right? How often do you take care of your teeth? Do you brush your teeth every day?
That's dental hygiene. Your mind is so much more important than your teeth. Apologies to all of you
who are in the dental profession. I'm not saying teeth aren't important. I'm saying your mind is
more important than your teeth. What are we doing for our mental hygiene? Here's my challenge to you
as part of this strategy. Spend at least as much time on your mind as you do on your teeth. Can
we start there? How much time do you spend taking care of your teeth every day? A couple of minutes
maybe. You do it a couple of times a day. Okay, use that as a starting point, spend at least that much
time on your mind. This might mean something that you're reading for personal development. It might
be a Podcast that you subscribe to. It might be watching more videos right here on this channel.
It might be engaging with a coach, whatever it is do something daily to take care of the
equipment. I promise that these five strategies will put you in position to handle stress and to
rebound and be resilient with all the pressures and stresses that are sure to come. I hope you
found that helpful. If you did, would you please share this video with someone that you think
would appreciate it? And remember that free gift that I offered you. The model, drpauljenkins.com/
themodel. I'll put that psychological model right in your inbox for you. You're welcome.