Stress In Aviation And How To Control It
You sit in your office anxious, nervous with a feeling in your stomach you cannot describe. Some days it's extreme and other days it just keeps you up at night.
You self diagnose yourself and think, "I'm only stressed. I have a lot on my plate right now."
Does this sound familiar?
I come across many people just like you, and me for that matter. We can be constantly stressed.
It's understandable you have a lot to deal with. Not to mention stress resulting from an unexpected issue that arose from nowhere.
But, this is life and it happens every day, in all industries. We're not subject to this just because we are in aviation.
It's how we control stress that can make us better at what we do and happier in all aspects of our life.
I have a few ways that I control stress that I would like to share with you, but let's first take a look at how stress effects us.
Effects Of Stress
According to the American Psychological Association, 77% of people whom are stressed report physical symptoms. Another 48% claim that their stress level negatively affects them, both personally and professionally.
Stress not only affects you at work but it begins to affect you in all aspects of your life.
You will begin to feel lazy because you're both mentally and physically tired. Once you're tired problems start to arise, you will begin to make the wrong decision and poor judgment will ensue.
Simply put, stress wreaks havoc both mentally and physically so avoid it.
How To Control Stress
No matter how hard it seems, your stress can be controlled.
I know, I know, it doesn't seem like it at times but I promise you can control it.
Here are a few tips I use that have helped me control my stress levels substantially.
1) Practice relaxation techniques - Whether its deep breathing, yoga, meditation or all three, relaxing your mind and body is well worth the time.
2) Say "no" - It's okay to say no. You can't always meet people's expectations and demands. Saying no will give you the opportunity to work on important stuff and still have time for yourself.
3) Set realistic goals - Without having goals how are you supposed to stay focused and on task? You can't, so begin creating SMART goals that will help you focus on the important things in your life, work included.
4) Create a to-do list - By creating a to-do list you'll be able to see what's important and what's not. Delete the non-important stuff or delegate to someone who it would be more important to. Read more about organizing your to-do list here.
5) Write all thoughts down before bed - Any thoughts that are racing through your mind before bed, write it down. You'll get these thoughts out of your head, onto paper and you can think more about it in the morning. This allows your head to clear and your mind to relax, making for a better sleep.
6) Eat right - Nutrition plays an instrumental part of how stress can affect your life. It's just like an aircraft, if you feed it the wrong stuff it'll perform poorly or end up crashing.
7) Get moving - Fitness also plays an important role in how you manage stress. By moving and getting your heart going you get blood to all the right places. If your aircraft is stored for a prolonged time what happens? Enough said.
Being able to control stress is easy, it's just a matter of making the right decisions in your favor. Utilize the tips above and you'll be a better, less stressed you.
P.S. We can be your partner and help mitigate your stress levels. Contact us today and we'll tell you how.