With context and patience, you can navigate the hurdles of even the most “stressful” life. Whether you’re a CEO, janitor, laborer, or stock broker, we all have career stresses at varying levels. Some more than others. And this doesn’t take into account stress from families, finances, relationships, deaths, moving, etc…!

I think and write a lot about stress. I think it’s probably because I’m always stressed out. I wake up to 50 or so e-mails in the morning, handle calls and internal and external meetings in the mornings, and then work through projects and problems in the afternoons and evenings. Even in the evening and over the weekends, my mind is still consumed with work, whether I’m in front of my MacBook or not. It’s not that I’m complaining or impassioned about my work, it’s that I’m passionate to a fault, passionate to a point where I feel like I can’t breathe sometimes without the weight of work on my chest. It’s part being the owner and CEO of a busy small business in a down economy, part the cost of high-intensity projects.

My life drives my work and my work is driving my life. This year, I’ve been working round-the-clock to reduce stress and to nix avoidable stressful elements and activities out of my life. Whether via time management, additional resources, narrowing focus, or saying “no” to certain projects, the goal has been to filter what comes in so that what comes out is the highest quality from the right paradigm. Why does it seem that though there is light at the end of the tunnel, stress is still as prevalent as ever?

There’s certainly some things that are unavoidable. Deadlines. Employee illness. The economy. In my opinion, you have to put your head up and dive right in to the task to chip the bulk of the stress away by sheer force. Other times, you have to prioritize stresses, dealing with the biggest problems first. And still other times, you have to call on the troops or step back to gain perspective on the situation.

If you’re a high-strung individual, a perfectionist, struggle with OCD tendencies, or always feel stressed out, don’t just try to shoot for vacations or allocate time for doing nothing at all. It doesn’t always work for me and may not always work for you. Instead, funnel your energy into a distracting and rewarding activity. Maybe hanging out with some friends over drinks, visiting a theme park, or sky-diving. The point is, funnel your energy towards exercise, activities, and distractions when you need a break. Otherwise, you’re time spent “relaxing” and doing nothing will turn into you sitting on the couch feeling even more overwhelmed and held by a downward spiral of negative energy, while your pile of stress feels like it’s growing by the minute while you’re not doing anything about it!

If you have stress in common with me, let’s both take solace in that we can overcome and persevere. As humans, we have a remarkable ability to supersede our own fears and worries. Stress and worry are byproducts of passion, commitment, values, and hard work. It’s our natural response to help us elevate to deal with problems. In the words of Devlyn Steele of ToolsToLife, “remove ‘problems’ from your vocabulary; problems are simply opportunities.” Opportunities to get a new job, step up to the plate and earn respect, get involved in a better relationship, or learn something important.

Don’t just take my advice, here’s a few more ways of reducing your stress: 1, 2, 3, 4

-RB

When tensions rise, blood boils, and pressure mounts, a defining moment occurs. In your personal and professional lives and in all relationships, it’s easy to stay breezy when the waters are calm. When a storm hits, it’s a defining moment. It’s when a balance of in-the-moment thinking coupled with “zooming out” for a larger perspective is critical.

During stressful moments, it’s critical to channel the natural physical and emotional reaction into energy that is effective and efficient. Yet, there is a huge difference between belief and action when it comes to this principle. One of the hardest things for human beings to master is using stress to their advantage. Stress isn’t a bad thing. For one, stress is a byproduct of caring about something. After all, if you didn’t care, you wouldn’t be stressed. And stress is a natural reaction with a purpose. It’s designed to trigger a response that helps you deal with the problem at hand.

So, the question is, what’s an appropriate response in the heat of the moment? First of all, you must master the art of introspection. “Know thyself” and get a sense of your emotions and adrenaline on a regular basis. Keep a “stress journal” if it helps and focus on getting a sense of when the stress occurs. In the evening, think back to the moments of your day that were more negative, more stressful than others. Try and pinpoint what caused the stress. By first becoming more aware of your feelings and emotions, it’s easier to control and channel them appropriately.

When a stressful situation occurs, it’s important to first remind yourself that 99% of the time, nothing you can do in the next 10 seconds will change anything. So take 10 seconds and breathe deeply, remind yourself that you may not have control over the situation, but you have control over how you respond, and get perspective. For instance, I live in LA and when I’m going through particularly stressful moments, I like to step outside, get a breath of fresh (hahaha) air and just look around. In the calamity and around traffic and people, I gain a sense of peace. I remind myself that yes, my problems are important and deserve my attention, but in reality, I’m 1 of 6,000,000,000+. This thought doesn’t overwhelm me, it underwhelms me. It helps me realize that I’m not that important. The world will survive if I make a mistake here and there.

After taking a few seconds to breathe and gain perspective, quickly jot down:

1. the problem at hand
2. the emotions you feel (e.g. why you’re angry, why you’re scared, etc…)
3. the available resolutions
4. the people you can count on to support you, if necessary

Next, it’s important to visualize yourself trumping the situation. Let’s be honest, in every stressful situation, you won’t come out on top. Everyone on this planet can attest to that. But again, it’s not what’s outside of your span of control that matters, it’s what’s within your grasp that matters. So focus on the things you can actually affect and fight the urge to turn a blip on your life’s radar into a life-altering event. Sometimes, the moment will indeed be life-altering. But the majority of the time, it won’t. And visualizing success will help you stay focused in a positive direction.

In the heat of the moment, your response defines who you are. It defines your strength (or weakness) and it tells people in your life what you’re made of. If you want success in your personal and professional lives, it’s imperative that you rein in emotional responses and unhealthy stress and keep a positive, grounded disposition. Others around you will become stressed if they sense your stress and it will only compound the issue. There is nothing I admire more than a person who doesn’t buckle under the weights of everyday life. And you can judge a friend, lover, colleague, or boss best when they manage to show integrity, unselfishness, and patience even when things go awry. Everyone is supportive, kind, and caring when times are easy and prosperous, but few are when things go South. Be the one who who stands tall for yourself and for others even when life throws curve balls. And understand that stress will never disappear, so if you’re looking for a less stressful life, it’s not always about keeping the bad stuff out, it’s more about dealing with the bad stuff in a better way

1. Reduce Stress

2. Minimize distractions (on your Mac)

3. The mind can only focus on about 3 or 4 things at a time so this is certainly a logical thing to do

4. “…Mitigate the Attention Crash”

5. Judo everything

6. Beat Brain Drain

7. Develop “Razor Sharp Concentration”

8. Do you know where you spend your time? Map your time

9. Take Small Coffee Breaks- Just so you know, it is possible to defend your coffee habit

10. Get wiki-style organization

11. Get some sleep