when we talk about stress we often think that it's caused by big life-changing events
but stress can also be caused by a build-up of small pressures in life waking up to a
pile of dirty dishes day after day seeing the junk mail slowly accumulate by the front door
always running out of printer ink and paper when we're in a time crunch to get something done
i know it might sound silly to stress over these seemingly meaningless situations
especially with everything that's going on in the world right now but these non-stop strains of
everyday life can add up until one day it'll sneak up on us and we won't be able to ignore it anymore
i've come to terms with the fact that some days will be more difficult than others
but that also doesn't mean that we need to give up and just wait around until we start to feel
the stress take a toll on our emotional and physical well-being i found that there
are habits and systems that we can put into place to minimize these small stresses in life
because we all know that we don't need to add more things to our list of things to worry about
my first suggestion is to find a way to balance your day
like everything in life we need harmony and this applies to how we spend our days as well
i noticed that i used to dedicate 80 of my time to work and 20 for my personal life no wonder
i was always feeling burnt out i had to find a way to rearrange my day to work less hours
without feeling guilty or feeling like i was falling behind
i don't know if you guys can relate but i noticed that i made up a lot of these arbitrary rules in
my head i mean no one was telling me to work overtime or to reply to their emails as soon
as possible but it was out of habit and over time it left me prioritizing work over everything else
now i try to schedule my days and my weeks to reflect how i actually want to spend my time
because how we spend our days is how we spend our lives this means scheduling meetings but
also date nights family dinners self-care days too because what goes on my calendar
gets done of course this is much more difficult if you don't have full control over your own schedule
but the least that we can do is to look at our calendar and find a day or even just one
hour of our day to schedule some time to have fun relax and detach from our responsibilities
my second suggestion is to find mindful practices that work for you when i decided to incorporate
more mindfulness into my routine i eased my way into it with five minute guided meditations daily
walks journaling prompts to guide my writing while these are great methods to help us to be
more present now i know that mindfulness doesn't have to be a specific activity
it can be as simple as taking a moment to be mindful of the small everyday pleasures
maybe for you it's gardening turning off your phone when you're eating
cuddling with your dog on your couch or just taking a small break to listen to the rain
whatever helps you to connect with the present moment do it and do it often throughout your day
these pockets of mindful moments act as a reminder for me not to worry about the future or to feel
anxious about the past but to pay attention to the life that's going on all around me
i am a perfectionist not with everything i do but i do have high standards for things
i truly care about and creating these youtube videos is one of them during the
editing process i find myself making endless little tweaks going over the tiniest details
that no one other than myself can probably notice in the final production making sure that the font
is the right size the skin tone is perfectly saturated that the song transitions are seamless
while i don't think there's anything wrong with caring so much about what i produce trying to live
up to this unrealistic expectation week after week created an unnecessary stress to my life
it forced me to constantly look for mistakes and i never felt quite satisfied having this
mindset felt absolutely exhausting and took the fun out of the creative process altogether
i know it's just the perspective change but now instead of looking for my flaws
i see my improvements and my growth
i even set a rule for myself that i will publish a video when it's eighty percent quote perfect
and even if i make a mistake it's okay because i can try again next week
one of the biggest reasons i get stressed is when i feel overwhelmed with everything i have to do
too often i would feel anxious procrastinate and end up not doing anything at all but i realized
that a lot of this was due to not knowing how to properly manage my time and not being able to get
over the hurdle of just starting this is why i find the 5 minute rule to be so effective to get
rid of the unnecessary everyday stress i look at all the lists of things i need to do and decide
which tasks need my uninterrupted attention and which tasks i can tackle with the five minute rule
five minutes doesn't sound intimidating right and i think that is why it's so effective
this is not about cramming more and more into our day but it's a way to push through
so that we have less things on our to-do list and it takes a load off of our minds
so the next time you are feeling overwhelmed with your list of things to do
don't dwell on it just give yourself five minutes to start crossing off some things off of your list
and you'll be amazed at what you can do in such a short amount of time
lately when i find myself stressing over a situation
i started asking myself is this something even within my control
that doesn't make the situation go away but it has a powerful effect on easing my mind
the stoics believe that we have very little to no control at all we can't control what happens to us
what people say about us other people's actions the world and its problems and if so why are we
more than willing to spend our time and our energy trying to solve it like it's our own problem
the more that i try to control everything around me the more anxious i feel and i don't want to go
through life carrying this heavy feeling so i'm trying my best to accept that some things will
always be the way that they are but what i can do is focus on what is in my control
i hope that you guys enjoyed today's video if you're new here
my name is sophie and i would love to have you join our minimalist
and intentional living community please feel free to subscribe to my channel for more similar videos
thank you guys always for tuning in and i'll talk to you next week take care guys
you