5 Ways to Find Your Stress Threshold
In the US, the Election is happening on Tuesday, which for some people is extremely stressful, for others, it’s no big thing (it’s all about perspective).
Thanksgiving is coming up, Black Friday, if you’re into American football, like colleges, there are all the big rivalry games coming up, not to mention everything that goes on in your own house, job, family and social circle!
It all adds up to one big stressful time!
BEFORE we hit the ground running into this crazy time…I want to take a second and encourage you to ask yourself…”How much stress can I actually handle?”
And I mean really and truly. We have adapted ourselves to take on more than we can “Chew”, but can we really handle it without feeling stressed?
It’s not in the feeling of just being stressed, but so stressed that you may start to feel anxious, or your sleep is now hindered or maybe you’re eating too much or maybe too little because your stomach is in knots…
We all take on too much! And we all have that threshold, where it’s gone too far.
Once we hit that stress threshold, we are in that “Fight or Flight”. During this time, we seem like we can DO IT ALL! All the things get accomplished that have to be done, but it feels challenging and forced and it seems like one disaster after another keeps happening….
And then afterwards we might go into the Freeze mode, and that’s when you know you’ve definitely gone too far! Freeze mode looks like pure exhaustion, not wanting to do anything at all, and no matter how hard you try to focus and get things done or how accurately you schedule your day, it feels like nothing got accomplished at all, which may make you feel that much more stressed!
So, how do we know when this is all about to happen? And how do we stop it from coming on?
We cannot stop stress, but we can become more aware of what triggers our stress responses, and how we handle it!
5 Questions to ask yourself to find that stress threshold:
- When did the stress start to feel difficult the last time you felt extremely stressed?
You may not feel the stress until it has built up. Looking back at your stressful seasons, what are the patterns you see that made you feel out of control and overwhelmed.
- Are you able to add time into your day/week just for yourself normally? If so, when do you let that go?
Taking time for yourself is paramount to lessening the stress response, and feeling like everyone needs your expertise, whether around your house, at your job or with friends and family.
- Are you able to create boundaries successfully with the people around you? If not, is this always so, or just during times of stress and when does it weigh on you the most?
- What does your house look like during times of stress? And when does it start to feel overwhelming, cluttered or in disarray?
- Are you able to delegate? And how does that go when you do?
I am the girl with the “Calm in Chaos” talent and the Problem Solver in my realm of friends and family, so people always call me with their problems, especially my 73-year-old mother, who has been asking me to solve her problems since middle school.
Typically, when people want the most attention it seems as if it’s always when we have the least amount of time to devote to them, because we have our own things going on at the time, which adds to the stress. Not that we don’t always have something going on.
For example, as I am writing this, I am getting ready for my wedding. I have planned it for the past year, and devoted time and energy to this one single day. And there was an incident that happened where I had to take time aside for my mother to help her solve her problem and make it easier for her.
Of course, that added to the already added stress of it all, and I am sure you have experienced something like this!
Honestly, since an incident ALWAYS happens when I have something big going on, I have learned to adjust my mindset and take it one step at a time or decide what’s the most important thing to do now, and what can wait.
Once you’ve discovered your threshold, you’re better able to sift through all the nuances of the situation and pick out the most important things that have to be done and be done by a particular time frame. Spread it out, don’t make every single thing acute, some stuff just has to wait. You may know exactly what needs to be done, but some of it will just have to wait.
Stress is inevitable, but how you handle it isn’t! Discover your threshold and evaluate your priorities!