Stress in the city

Is your life a constant balancing act? 

Does your life just seem to be one constant stream of events and things to do? There’s never a moment to spare, not even to breathe. Which is exactly what you should be doing…taking a breath. Most of the time you love this fast paced lifestyle, the excitement of the progression in your career, your weekly work drinks where a glass of wine turns to a bottle, and then spending the weekends socializing with friends and travelling halfway across the country to see your family for Sunday lunch.

However, doesn’t leave much time for you. Does it? The years keep going by faster and faster but you can’t seem to slow things down and to take control over the direction that your life is headed. I mean, everyone else around you is living like this so it must be ok, right? But I think you know that deep down, you can’t carry on like this forever. It’s time to take a step back and reassess your priorities and start setting some boundaries.

 

Work/Life Balance 

Approximately 1 out of 3 workers experience mental health depression every year. Out of the workers 42% of women felt unhappy in comparison to only 29% of men. The Australian Work and Life index found that women have worse work/life outcomes than men due to the added caring and domestic responsibility at home.

What if you could slow things down and still enjoy a successful career, social and love life?

Have you ever even thought about what boundaries mean to you?

Now, I agree that you can’t just quit your job and fly to Bali and live on the beach. But it doesn’t have to be so black and white. There are small things that you can fit into your day that won’t take long but will make a huge impact on your stress levels.

 

What can be done? 

• Mindfulness

This is something that is becoming increasing popular, and for good reason. In a nutshell, mindfulness is to be aware and fully appreciate what is going on at the present moment. One example is, walking to work whilst worrying about the day you have ahead. Or mindfully walking to work, being aware of the very action of walking, how that feels, and taking in the sights and smells around you. Worrying about the day ahead of you is not helpful because it is going to happen whether you worry about it or not, and it therefore increases your stress levels. Mindfully walking to work will draw you back to the present moment and bring about a sense of peace.

• Positive thinking

Also another thing that can reduce your stress levels. Finding the positive in everything may sound hard at first, but with a bit of practise it will be become more and more apparent to you. Starting your day by taking a moment to think about all the things that you are grateful for that morning will greatly increase your positivity.

• Feed you mind as well as your body.

The things that you listen to, watch or read will have a huge impact on how you feel. Being selective about the media that you tune into is something that can be easily done and is very effective. For example, when you are on the way to work listen to an inspirational TedTalks or listen to some uplifting music.

• Life coaching

Life Coaching is an excellent tool for taking a look at the things in your life that are causing you to feel happy and creating solutions to those problem. With this help of an unbiased voice you will be able to get to the root of your issues and create a step by step plan to get to on your way to where you truly want to be.

• Get Active and outside

Whether it is yoga, running or dance, or a combination of all of those mentioned, taking the time to get your body moving everyday will reignite your passion and zest for life. Dedicating that time to yourself and your body is very important in re-establishing your balance in life. We were born to move and so without movement we are not really living with full expression in our lives.

 

What are the benefits? 

• A new zest For Life – Life will seem more exciting again. Each day is full of new opportunities and experiences ready for you try.
• Back to balance – Your life will be back in balance and you will be able to use your new skills to bring yourself back if things start to become unbalanced again.
• Strong foundations – Setting up these foundations in your every day will bring that sense of control in your life, giving you the chance to take a step back from any difficult situation, assess it clearly and come up with the best decision.