. I simply told myself that everyone on the road was going to be slow and do a lot of really stupid things like cut me off or ride their brakes for absolutely no reason. The simple fact that I expected those things to happen actually made me laugh when they did happen! I also found myself leaving earlier for work because I expected everyone to be slow. Which in turn meant that I got to work with plenty of time to spare. That also relieved a lot of stress because I didn’t stress out about being late for work. My favorite exercise was leisure time. I found that taking ten-minute breaks every couple of hours to take a walk or sit down and go over my schedule and to-do list helped me to stay more alert throughout the day. It also helped me to be able to concentrate better because I wasn’t thinking about what I needed to do that day. I also used my breaks to do little things that needed to be done like make doctors appointments, drop my bills off in the mailbox, or just to run a quick errand. All in all I am very satisfied with the exercises that I tried out and I highly recommend you give a few of them a try for yourself. I learned a lot in my research of stress management but the biggest thing I learned is that the main principle in stress management is change. You have to figure out what you are doing that is contributing to your problem and change it. I found that these changes usually fell into one of four categories: change your behavior, change your thinking, change your lifestyle choices, and/or change the situations you are in. By getting to the root of the causes of your stress, you can not only relieve those problems but also prevent recurrences. I feel that this has been a very time worthy assignment for me because I can continue to use everything I have learned throughout my life. I can also help others by teaching them some of these helpful strategies in managing their stress. ...
