Stress can be as harmful to your health as any mental condition. Stress can lead to deep depression, lethargy and rob its victims of motivation and an ability to enjoy life. Don’t let stress control your life. Instead, use the following tips to face your stress head on, and become a calmer person.

Visit the doctor regularly for preventative care in order to avoid both health issues and unnecessary stress and worry. If you don’t take the time to stay on top of your health, you’ll find yourself stressed out and possibly sick down the road. Go to the doctor regularly, adopt a good diet and exercise every day so you do not have to worry about your health.

Keeping the fixtures in your house in good repair will reduce your stress! Now imagine only three things that are in need of repair, and you have tripled the energy and time required to accomplish three tasks that could have been avoided if you had taken the time to keep up with the repairs!

Pleasant aromas can help relieve stress. Several different scents including basil, anise, and lavender have calming effects. Combine rock salt with a few drops of your favorite essential oil in a small glass container. When you breathe in your own favorite relaxing scent you might find that you are better able to calm down.

Writing about your stress can be an effective release. Sometimes people feel stressed about a situation that they can’t reveal to others. In these cases, writing about the situation can be very therapeutic. As an added bonus, writing things down gives you a record that you can look at later to see how you handled stressful situations previously.

Discover exactly what things are causing you the most stress in life, and work on ways to reduce or eliminate your exposure to them. For example, if there is someone who always makes your life worse and stresses you out then find a way to fix or get rid of that relationship. You can significantly improve your well being, as well as your health, by reducing or eliminating the identified sources of stress.

Spearmint oil can help with stress symptoms. When you start to feel stressed, dab some of the oil on your neck and temples. It is amazing how the small things can do wonders for stress levels, so give them a try.

When you become stressed out, do you have a tendency to clench certain muscle groups? Often these are your shoulders, lower back muscles, teeth or fingers. Whenever you recognize an area of tension in your body, consciously relax it by stretching. This will alleviate your overall tension and you will be more ready to relax afterwards.

Before you take action when you are under stress, take the time to breathe first. Count to ten or simply wait a few seconds while breathing as deeply and calmly as possible. By doing this, you will greatly impact your actions. You may change a knee-jerk reaction into a considered and careful response.

If you try your best to forgive others, you could have a less stressful life. When you obsess over the wrongs that others have done, it will cause your day to be much worse.

One way to keep stress levels under control is to improve your ability to prioritize and manage time. Constant rushing, or always being late, will feed the cycle of stress. Learn to control this problem by using your time more wisely and prioritizing events. By planning out tasks ahead of time, sticking to your schedule and working with the time management tools you find the most effective, you can get way more done while avoiding stress and overwhelm.

To ease stress, consider the things that are important you. Think about the things that really matter. If you get your priorities straight, you’ll probably find that most of the things you were stressing about aren’t all that important anyway. Once you get rid of those unimportant stressors, you’ll be much happier.

Smiling is an easy and simple way to reduce your stress. Smiling is a reaction to being happy and at ease, but you can literally cause your own relaxation just by forcing a smile. So smile every now and then and notice how much your mood improves. When you have mastered the art of smiling in times of stress, you will be well on your way to vanquishing the negative effects from your life.

Limbic System

One easy, often overlooked way you can fight stress is to smile. The muscles that are used when smiling trigger your limbic system, your brain’s emotional center. So smiling can really be considered a valid solution to the stress in your daily life, as it helps your limbic system generate feelings of calmness.

Pay attention the first time when being taught something new so that you don’t increase your stress levels later. You can keep your stress levels down by focusing on instructions when they are being given. Examples include listening to your doctor, teacher, boss or tutor.

Make plans to do something. When you are looking forward to something fun in your life, stress can be alleviated by turning your thoughts to your plans. Make plans to go see a movie or to go shopping.

Get yourself a pet. Stroking a soft, furry animal can help to eradicate feelings of stress. Animals live in the present moment, which is something we as humans should learn how to do. Having pets can help you relax and lower your stress to a manageable level.

For most people, lack of productivity is very likely caused by stress. It can lead to frustration, apathy, and total loss of interest in everything that you work on. With the insights gained here, the ability to manage your stress levels will be greatly enhanced.