Stress needs no official introduction but with National
Stress Awareness Day around the corner on 4th November 2020, it is the perfect
time for a refresher course in coping with stress in the present climate. In
its most basic sense, stress is a reaction. It is our natural visceral response
to anything we consider to be a threat, regardless of whether it really is one.

We are no strangers to stress, but it certainly doesn’t feel
like a friend. It can manifest physically in a range of ways from aches and
pains, fatigue and nausea to gastrointestinal problems, chest pain, or even frequent
colds and infections. But stress has to it as large a psychological component
as it does a physical one. This includes feeling easily irritable and moody or
withdrawing from others or feeling overwhelmed. There may also be a decline in
concentration, a whirl of worrying thoughts, and bouts of forgetfulness.
Although it does so in different ways for different people, stress affects
everyone.

In an evolutionary sense, a threat could be perceived as
different things that hinder our survival like a venomous snake or other wild predators. But in modern society, a threat in everyday living means very
different things. Today, a threat can look like a work deadline, a mountain of
responsibilities, a missed appointment, or a miffed friend. Sometimes, a threat
is the piling up of many small things that altogether feel insurmountable. Sometimes,
stress chokes. People often imagine stress to be just a mountain of pressure,
but sometimes it may even look like the complete incapability to move forward
at all. This translates into procrastination, lack of energy or lack of
motivation. This constitutes the lesser-known yet equally paralyzing freeze the option of the fight-or-flight response of stress.

One of the most common things that stress does is push
people into overdrive where there is no time to breathe, but just keep running.
It’s the difference between a 100-meter dash and a marathon. The act feels like
the same running but the underlying mechanics are entirely different.
Stress is perfect for the 100-meter dash: It gives you the pump of adrenalin
you need to rush to the finish line. The same rule absolutely does not apply
for a marathon, because your body and mind do not naturally have enough
reserves to keep you sprinting from start to finish. So what do you have to do?

Pace yourself.

This is the real key to addressing stress. In the current
climate, there will be few 100-meter dashes, but our entire lifestyle is a
marathon. With the recent advent of the pandemic, there is a lot to be stressed
and anxious about like keeping ourselves and our family safe and worrying about
our jobs and a million other things but with physically way fewer outlets to
relieve this stress. But this much is clear: Prolonged stress is harmful for
health. While surviving the pandemic, here are some key ways to survive the
stress as well:

• Identify your threats. Are you worried for your health, your
  job, your relationships? Gain awareness on the things you are worried will go
  wrong or harm you in some way.
• Find the triggers. The threats are underlying but notice
  the signs that point to them and start stressing you out. Do you already start
  the day being stressed? Or is it once you start checking your emails or making
  your to-do list? Or when you try to do many things at once?
• Press the pause button. It’s important to know how to take a
  few steps away from what you’re doing and relax at regular intervals using
  music or exercise or hobbies or silence, but relax and take it easy so you can
  come back recharged.
• Prioritize. Do tasks one thing at a time. Take the day one
  step at a time. Start small and build up to the big things or address the most
  urgent things first. Do it your way. The most urgent thing maybe something
  else, but the most important thing will almost always be to take care of
  yourself first.

Action that comes from awareness will help relieve a great
deal of the stress and anxiety you may feel in daily living. Your natural stress response can be your friend and will help you do some of the heavy
lifting (or sprinting), but you need to know how to reclaim your space and pace
yourself for the long run.