Source

Introduction

Welcome to my blog! Today, I will be participating in the engagement challenge with the title above.
It is really an exciting topic to write about because we are in one way or the other involved in a lot of stressful activities and as such need to stay balanced so that we won't be affected badly.
Please read below to see various things I do to stay balanced in times of stress.

What do you do to stay balanced in times of stress?

To balance work and rest, I do the following;
★ I plan my activities: I have a to-do list where I write down the things I will be doing for the day and the time I will use in doing each task. First of all, I will include my work hours, include the hours I will use for cooking and laundry, and also include time for rest. If I find out that the time alloted for each task for the day won't give me time for rest, I usually cross out one or two things from the list. Doing this has helped me balance work and rest and, as such, help me manage stress.

Source_{To-do list helps in balancing stress}

★ I identify what triggers stress: knowing what causes stress does helped me to manage stress. What do I mean?
If I know that working overtime contributes to stress, I will look for a way to reduce my workload and working hours.
A practical example is when I was pregnant with my second child, and my first child was still very young. I reduce my working days from five days to two days so that I will be able to take care of my toddler, myself, and my unborn baby, along with taking care of my family. This strategy has been so helpful to me for two years now until September last year when I resumed working for five days again. So identifying what triggers stress and working on is very important in balancing stress.

★ I eat a balanced and healthy diet: Eating good food has helped me manage my stress, knowing that good food affects our energy and mood and can help us cope with stress.

_{My lunch, makes me strong and healthy}

★ Regular Exercise: Apart from keeping us fit and in good shape, regular exercise helps us in fighting and managing stress because its cut downs anxiety, lowers depression as well as keeping us in a lighter mood.

Source_{Regular exercise help in staying balanced when stressed}

Jogging, sporting, and listening to music can help us manage stress.

★ Getting enough sleep: Keeping late night after a long stressful day can increase and worsen the stress. To balanced stress, I do take enough sleep at night knowing that poor sleep leads to depression and quality sleep helps to improve and maintain our physical and mental health.

Source_{Getting enough sleep helps in balancing stress}

Give three main reasons behind our stress?

◆ Loss of job: Loss of job is a major reason why some people are stressed up. They worry about their life, how they will cope without a job. Parents without a job will keep thinking of how they will care for their children without having a good job that will generate income. Thinking about this over and over again causes emotional and mental stress.

◆ Infertility: Some couples who have been married for a couple of years without a child will keep thinking about their inability to have children and worry about their childlessness. Too much thinking and worrying about their condition will lead to emotional stress, and this can delay conception as the case may be. It is advisable that couple who are trying to conceive should not worry too much about their condition instead they should think positively, having a positive attitude will bring them out of the condition rather than thinking and suffering the consequences of stress.

◆ Discrimination: Discrimination is of the reasons behind stress. When one is being hated, abused, or discriminated, such a person will develop low self-esteem and think negatively about him or herself at all times. This will surely result in stress.

Do you think now we should take this problem seriously? If so, then describe why?

I strongly say that the problem of stress should not be overlooked, it should be taken seriously.
It is advisable to see ways we can balance and manage stress. If we are not serious about managing and balancing stress, it can cause our lives.
Stress can lead to serious health problems like high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, headache, dizziness, loss of sleep, aches, etc.
You see, the above-mentioned health issues are not a good one, so we should see staying balanced in times of stress as an important one to be treated urgently.

Conclusion

To manage stress, we should try and have a positive attitude. Say no to some task, that doesn't mean neglecting our duties or being lazy. It means knowing when we have done enough and take a rest.
At this point, I will like the following friends to participate in this contest.
@okere-blessing
@oasiskp
@bela90