Ep 2: Managing Stress
Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of B1 English Talks. This podcast is here to help you improve your English at the B1 level and feel more confident in your progress. Each episode will dive into fun, real-life topics to help you sound more natural and practice your listening skills. So, let's get started.
In today's episode, we're talking about managing stress. Now, this is a big topic, especially when life gets busy or challenging. Many of us feel stressed from time to time, so it's helpful to have some simple strategies to stay calm and relax. What are your strategies?
Well, let's start with some ideas for managing stress. First, if you feel stressed, it's helpful to take a few deep breaths and focus just on relaxing. Breathing deeply can help you slow down and calm your body. For me, personally, I do tend to take deep breaths when I feel stressed. Usually, if I'm in a stressful situation, breathing deeply can really help.
And a lot of people find that having a good routine helps to reduce stress. If you have a busy day, it's important to make some time to rest, even if it's just for a few minutes. I can completely relate to this because sometimes my days are really, really busy. And at the end of the day, I will sit down and try to find just 15 minutes, 30 minutes to relax and de-stress and then go to sleep and get ready for the next day.
And another great way to manage stress is with exercise. If you exercise regularly, you will probably feel less anxious. And this could be something as simple as a walk, a quick run, or even a dance class. Anything that just gets you moving. So, I exercise every morning. I go to the gym every morning or go on a run every morning. I also take walks on nice days with my dog. And I do yoga on a daily basis. And sometimes I go to my chaplain classes. So, I am always moving. And if I was stressed before I started moving, the movement would relieve my stress.
Sometimes stress comes from feeling unorganized. If you're feeling overwhelmed, it might help to write down a list of things you need to do and then organize them by priority. For example, if you have an important task that you need to finish today, put that at the top of your list. Now, for me personally, I write out my calendar. It's blocked out. Every hour of the day is blocked out so that I know exactly what to work on next.
And I don't prioritize things in a list. I don't really like to do that personally because everything is a priority to me. I don't want to sweep things under the rug. It's an expression. To sweep something under the rug is to forget about it and make it less important than other things. So, I don't like doing that. So, I try to do everything in the day which, to a degree, can actually make me more stressed.
Another way to manage stress is by doing something that just makes you feel good. It helps you unwind. This could be a hobby. If you have a hobby you enjoy like reading or cooking or painting, then make time for it. It's important to balance the things you have to do with the things that you want to do. And I try to live this way as well. Now, a lot of the things I have to do are also things that I want to do where I focus on what do I want out of this thing.
So, if I go to work and I don't really want to go to work, I think about who I will see at work that I want to spend time with. Why I enjoy my job in general. And I'm a chef and I enjoy cooking. I will go to work thinking I'm going to make really good food, and that will be my joy. That will be my goal of the day.
Now lastly, don't forget to reach out for support if you need it. Talking with friends or family can really help with your stress. If you share your thoughts, you'll probably feel lighter. Feeling lighter in English means to feel better. And I'm the same way. I have a lockdown time on Sundays every week where I reach out to friends and family and connect with them. And remind them that I care about them. It feels really good to do that.
So anyway, if you found today's episode helpful and want to share your own ways of managing stress, I'd love to hear. Send me a message and let me know your favorite ways to unwind or stay balanced. Thank you for listening to this episode of B1 English Talks and I'll see you in the next episode. Have a great day.
