Stress Management

6 steps to getting lean and healthy – Part 5: stress management and sleep

Let’s address the elephant in the room: Stress management and sleep. And if both of these are poor, you’re really going to struggle to get the results you want.

In part 5 of our 6 steps to getting lean and healthy, we’re talking all about stress management and sleep. This is hands down the missing piece in anything in your life from your work all the way to your social life. If you haven’t read parts 1 – 4 you can get caught up using the links below.

#5 Stress management and sleep

Everyone’s got stress right? Some more than others, or so it appears. Everyone has their different triggers. Maybe for you, it’s waking up first thing in the morning to 40 emails and 2 missed calls from your boss (with a voicemail that says, “Hey! Call me back, it’s urgent!”). Not the best way to start the day, but now you’re stress levels have already increased and you haven’t gotten out of bed yet. Plus you were at the office late last night and didn’t get enough sleep. So what are your options? I’ve got some ideas for you.

Identify your triggers. What sets you off and into high-stress mode? Is it your boss calling at 6:30 am? Your dog puked in the middle of the night, and you just found it as you were getting ready to walk out the door? Or you’ve got an important meeting this afternoon, and the school called because your kid threw up during gym class. It could be something small too, you get in the car to head to work and your gas light comes on, you can’t find where you left your keys, or someone says something to you at the wrong time. You get the idea. Identify what those triggers are so you know how to react when they show up.

Create a plan that you make a habit for these stressful situations. Now you know what sets you off, how do you react to it? Is it your reaction that causes the stress? Likely so. Think about how you can react differently to keep your stress low. Instead of having a panic attack when you see missed calls from your boss, take 10 deep breathes before dealing with it. Instead of flipping out on your coworker for entering those reports wrong again and you have a meeting in 5 minutes, calmly ask what went wrong and what they can do to improve it. Have a planned response for each of your triggers. Think about how you can deal with them without getting yourself so worked up. Keep doing that action until it becomes your automatic response, a habit. For other ideas on a stress management plan, check out this article on burnout.

NO more boundary creeps. No more boundary creeps! That’s it, no more! I’m talking about when you plan into your day time to take care of yourself, get in a quick workout before work (but your bossed messed that up) or make a nice healthy dinner after work (this time you probably felt guilty for leaving work before 7pm). It happens once, and then it keeps happening because you aren’t honoring that time for yourself. And now you’ve made it a habit to get to the office first thing in the morning and stay until no one else is left, making you feel tired, overworked, and undervalued. So the next time you wake up to 50 emails or voicemails from your boss, realize it’ll still be there after you do something for yourself for 10 minutes, instead of getting into overwhelm and high-stress mode. Then you’ll really be able to tackle the crisis head on with more energy.

Sleep hygiene. Lack of sleep can actually increase your stress levels. Then you’re stressed and can’t sleep. It becomes a vicious cycle. Create a nice bed time routine that sets you up to sleep well. Something you do every night. Brush your teeth, wash your face, take 10 big deep breaths, meditate, or read a book that won’t get your brained fired up before bed and get 6-8 hours of sleep. I already know what you’re thinking, about the amount of time, but here’s what I have to say. Do you really need to watch TV in bed? Do you really need to be checking emails in bed before bed? Do you really need to check Instagram and Pinterest one more time? Probably not, and you shouldn’t do any of those things in bed or right before bed. Allow yourself to wind down, turn the electronics off 30 minutes to an hour before bed. Use your bedroom for sleeping and don’t do other activities in there that don’t promote quality sleep, that includes laundry.

Note: You know that belly fat that you can’t stand? Part of the reason for it is that you’re highly stressed and not sleeping enough. I’m sure you’ve heard of cortisol, the hormone that increases when you’re highly-stressed. Unless you’re being chased by a bear, you don’t want this level high all the time. High levels of cortisol contribute to weight gain, cravings for sweets, and what I call stress weight. So all the more reason to decrease your stress and get more sleep.

How do you handle stress and make sure you’re getting enough sleep each night?

In the final part of this series, we’ll be talking about support and self-love.

Now it’s time to take your next step.