Stress is not only enough to turn your hair grey, but it can also be severely damaging for your general health and wellbeing. We tend to make a joke of stress, throwing out the phrase ‘I’m stressed’ simply because we don’t know how else to put into words what we’re feeling, but the truth of the matter is that real stress can be fatal – heart attacks, stroke, raised blood pressure, these are all contributory from stress, and nobody wants to be dealing with serious health issues such as this.

It’s because of these reasons that it’s important to reduce stress in your life as much as possible, and try and live a life of harmony wherever you can. Nobody can totally eradicate every little drop of stress from life, because being 100% Zen about everything life throws at you is a difficult task to say the least, but there are ways you can knock it on the head a little, and give yourself a shot at being calmer and more composed as a result.

Don’t be afraid to delegate

Saying ‘no’ doesn’t come easily to most of us, but there is a lot of truth in the ‘no man is an island’ saying. You can’t do everything on your own, so you need to figure out the tasks you can pass on, and delegate them wherever possible. Asking for help does not mean you have failed, it means you have recognised that a task is important to complete, however you simply don’t have the time. There are only so many hours in one day.

Prioritise your tasks

A lot of time stress comes from the fact we have a to-do list as long as our arms and we simply can’t get to the bottom of it. You then go ahead and beat yourself up thinking you should be able to, but again, you can’t do everything. In this case you need to look at your tasks honestly and focus on the most important, leaving the others for a later time. This means you will complete everything you need to within your deadlines, and you won’t be pulling your hair out by the end of the day.

Meditation/yoga

Switching off your thoughts of everything you need to do at work/home for a little while, and focusing purely on yourself is one of the best ways to beat stress. Meditation isn’t the easiest thing to master, because it takes real strength and focus to turn off intrusive outside thoughts, but it is something which can be learnt, and something which has many health benefits. On the other hand, yoga is a great way to focus on breath and movement, strengthening the body at the same time. Both of these options are proven stress busters.

Remember to look after yourself

Feeling burnt out due to stress will be made ten times worse if you don’t look after yourself. If you’re not eating and sleeping properly then you will feel more stressed out and run down, so remember to eat healthily at meal times, cut out sugary snacks, and make sure you get enough sleep every night. Doing regular exercise is also proven to help with stress, and is great for the body and mind.

In large amounts stress can be dangerous, and even in small amounts it isn’t helpful towards good health. Kick it out as much as possible and see how much better you feel.