hmm.. since you posted all our tips here.. does that mean that you’ll be giving away TONS of books?? yey!

Stress is fear.
Think about it.

At its very core, stress is another way of saying we are afraid.
“Stress lang sa trabaho.” (I’m afraid my boss will get mad if I don’t get this right)
“Stressed dahil sa pera.” (I’m afraid may not be able to pay for my kid’s tuition.)
“Stressed by traffic.” (I’m afraid to miss the eliminations of American Idol.)
“Stressed by politics in the Philippines.” (I’m afraid of voting and having to blame myself for the bad choice in character .)
“Stressed by your mother-in-law coming over.” (I’m afraid she’ll think that I’m not perfect enough for you.)

We feel stress because we are afraid of an outcome that we can not control. That’s life. But what I found useful is to remember “A”: Awareness, Acceptance and Association.

Making a List and Checking it Once

You know the feeling when you’re stressed by something but you just can’t put your finger on what it is? What’s worse is that it keeps on swimming in your head and you are unable to think clearly. You relive the nausea and discomfort ad infinitum.
Write it down. Writing helps you get the fear out of your head and onto something tangible. It helps you identify what it is exactly about tomorrow that you are dreading, so that you are able to compartmentalize it and deal with it. The best part about writing it down is that you can go back to it and laugh at how absurd your fear was once you have surpassed it. You’ll be sure to be a better person from this exercise.
Knowing the fear will help you transition to the next step which is …

Be Good for Goodness’ Sake
Accept that fear is part of daily living. Pain is mandatory, but suffering is not. Once we accept that pain from our decision is possible, all that we can ever do is act to the best of our abilities and then be still, for all other things are out of our hands. Running the filmstrip of the worst case scenario over and over in your head will just make you miserable for no good cause. Know that you control your thoughts, and your thoughts and words shape your world. What more can you demand of yourself?
Once you’ve accepted that pain is possible, the next step will help you be better prepared for stress …

Make Santa Claus Come to Town
Can you make a face? If you can, know that you can affect your mood and how well you deal with stress. Studies have shown that your body language can determine your mood. Try this, emulate the body position and physiology of a stressed person … hunched over, breath in short gasps, put a scowl on your face, be unkempt and untidy; I assure you, you will feel miserable. Now, imagine a happy person who is able to manage stress well, what would he or she look like? Now try dressing well, sitting up in a positive manner, breathing slow and deep breaths with a big smile in your face. Feel the difference it makes in your mood and mindset.

It is said that a life lived in fear is a life half lived. Who wants to live that kind of life? Use your mind and flip your “stressed” backwards into “desserts.” Sweet isn’t it? If you can do that, you can rest assured that you can think your way into making your fears more manageable, and your life better lived.

De-stress tips
1. Revisit your passion.

It could be painting, eating a bar of chocolate or creating your own food recipe or just something you always wanted to do but cant because you were too busy.

The point: Relax

2. Go to your hiding place.

Remember as a kid? How enjoyable it was to play bahay-bahayan? You had your own place that no-one knew but was yours alone.
My hiding place is a bigrock facing a waterfall in bohol. I just sit there and empty my head.

Point: Feel safe.

3. Get creative. Get crazy.

Dance in the rain. Put a blindfold on your dog and let him find the dogtreat you hid.

Point: Start thinking outside the box

4. Be attentive to the universe.

The answers to your hardest problems come from being attentive and having that ‘mindfulness’ to your surroundings. When you ask God, he always gives a sign in some way in your ordinary life. Or at times, in my case, a dream.

Point: Not everything is under your control

The steps I take so I would not be stressed.
1. I determine what are important to me.
2. I then prioritize.
3. Then I make a plan.. for each if necessary. The plan may include the strategies, step-by-step procedure, targets, time lines/dead lines. responsible, budget, checklist etc.
4. If I can lead some people then, I choose people whom I can trust for the project…

Relationships are important so, if possible, I make allowances to accommodate requests of some people… to help those who are in need… especially those we do not know how to plan… do not know what to do, etc. That is, things that are important and/or urgent for others. But of course, I can opt to say no if saying no is more beneficial…

I request God’s help… to help me be optimistic, to make some people kinder, help me do the work and meet the deadlines, etc.

Stress is lessened if you know what you want/need.. if you have a plan… if you know what you will do… if you know how you will do it… if you know the status… if you know the potential problem or the problem… if you do not know how to do it, who can help you achieve your objectives… etc.

When you are with a team, it is best to know the problem or potential problem immediately, before the problem escalates… to solve problems with your team and let your teammates commit based on their capacities / abilities instead of forcing them to commit something they are not capable of doing etc

Loving your team helps a lot because a healthy environment is created… stress is lessened or to some extent shared by the team… hence, you all help solve the problem… or it gives you a feeling that everything will be ok… whether you are successful, not so successful or failed… you can easily forgive or be forgiven.

Hope this helps.

A lot of people today would admit to being stressed most of the time because of varied reasons. More and more people are really into finding the ways to manage stress as it has become everybody's conundrum.

Everybody has their own way of resolving problems and own way of managing stress. As in my case, I really don't need to follow some complex steps to get rid of stress and I find these five tips to be very helpful. I hope you also learn from this.

1. Balance your life.
Everyday we have to get up early, take a bath, eat breakfast and off we go to our offices. It's a routine and work will surely eat us up if we continue to work and work even when it's time to rest. Balance everything from work to leisure to rest. Try to leave your work in your workplace. Set your weekend for the family or if you are living alone, you try to set your weekend for recreation. In this way, you make your life balance. Remember that "always work and no play makes Jack a dull boy".

2. Learn to say "NO"

Most of our stress comes from our workplace where we need to mingle and socialize with our colleagues and we tend to please them by complying every request they ask. I have been like this during my first 3 years of work and it didn't help me instead it didn't draw the best in me. It even made my tasks stressful ones because I had to complete them one after the other with speed regardless of quality. So, at the end of the day, I hadn't really done a single job well which will flash back during the night before going to sleep. And what's worst? It gave me nightmares. So, better start saying "NO" now or you'd be taunted by stress even when you are asleep.

3. Learn to express happiness. Do laugh for goodness' sake.

Laughing is automatic when you feel happy. The question now is, " How can we smile if we are stressed?" Simple, wen you think that you have been eaten up by work and by problems, relax, close your eyes for few minutes and think of the funniest thing you've experienced. Start laughing out loud even if you sound silly. After all, it's not the people around you who will benefit from it. It's you.

4. Exercise… Don't be too lazy to just lie down and wait for your food to be served.

We tend to think of our work and problems if we are not occupied which means, if we just lie down like a slug. Do some recreational activities. You can jog and listen to music while doing it. I am pretty sure you'll start thinking of better things.

5. Attend to your own needs.

You are responsible of your own safety. Most often, we attend others' needs first before our own needs. Will we stop being hypocrites for once? We knew even from birth that we have individual needs. Attend to it. Don't try to be a fool asking somebody to do it for you…. It'll only give u more stress, I tell you….

So, these are all I got but I feel proud to be able to manage my stress. That alone is an achievement.