Most common sources and causes of STRESS 2/2

Stress duration in lifetime...

Below is the chart about the approximate stress duration in day, month, year, and lifetime format for your reference. Basically, the purpose is to help you understand that stress is just a small part of your life. But the moment it attacks, shadows every achievements, happiness and good moments you had in the past. So, you are left imagining fear, past failures, negative and awkward moments. The phase is not big but the after effects sometimes does take hours, days, weeks, months or even years to come out it.

Remember this: Nothing (no one) can harm you for no reason, unless instigated (given a chance).

Time has proved that people who have rough phases in life initially, have become great achievers. You just need to believe in your dreams and keep doing your best every time. Some of the phases in life where you come across different types of stressful moments (mentioned in above image - Stressful hours).

2. Side effects of stress...

There are many side effects of stress. If we couldn't identify the problem (mostly important ones) and work for solution, we tend to find an alternative task to shift our focus. But this act gradually transforms into a habit. And our habits makes us what we are. So a small change in your routine could change your entire personality. My suggestion in case of a stress attack would be to, "choose to respond than to react". If you choose to react in any situations with your regular reflex (way your normally react), you train your brain to repeat the same in similar situations in future. Even if you want to change your reactions at an important moment, your reflexes won't allow you. Because you have been reacting in a similar way.

Start training your brain to respond to stressful situations in a positive way and with all your present mindedness. Respond with IPDE (Identify, Predict, Decide and Execute).


At first it might be difficult to apply this rule with very first situation. But once you get use to it, you will just repeat your success.


Remember this: Nothing (no one) can harm you for no reason, unless instigated (given a chance).

Ways to deal with stress

The best way to reduce stress is to control it from its root, i.e. begin to control it in your mind itself. Convince yourself that there is no external factor which could force you without your will to react to any given situation with stress. For this you need to start practicing to think positive thoughts throughout the day. For example, anything that happens happens for good. There is nothing like losing, you either win or learn ways to avoid losing.

Most common sources and causes of STRESS 1/2

Stress is there with most us day in day out. Each of our minds are different from another. The problem arises when we start comparing ourselves with others. Most of us come across it at every stage of our life. It is a ghost which has no physical existence, but haunts us more than the real one (if we ever could see one, hope not ;) ). To be able to fight with it we must know where it lives and comes from. I have tried to find its sources and causes (mentioned below) to help you identify it and fight with it.

1 . Sources of stress...

I have categorized and have given each stress source a share of percentage based on my general observation (it may vary person to person). However, these categories are major part of anyone's life's source of stress. All of have family, social, health and financial issues in common. First we need to identify which of these contributes more to the stress percentage. For example, for some people Family issues are biggest reason for stress. They need to think and draw a plan to tackle these issues. There are many things one can do depending on situation to situation.

Next Article: How to avoid stress (in progress)

1 A. Stress formula

To interpret the above formula one needs just simple maths skills. It is the simplest way stress could be understood and worked upon. Keeping your expectations realistic to achieve your goals practically is the key to having less or no stress.  Always remember stress can never be eliminated 100%. Although, it is not possible to 0 (zero) stress every time but one can reduce it to a significant level with this simple formula in mind.

If stress could be measured in time... out of 24 hrs..

I know it is difficult to calculate it accurately, but even if you could have a rough idea about it. Then it will be helpful for your identify the time you wasted on actual and post stress events. Try to prevent the after effects of any situation that leads you to 'Actual Stress' to reduce the 'Time taken to come out of stress'. Have some memories/ideas handily available to get you back to the normal position every time stress attacks.

Above is just an approximate analysis on stress. (you can do an analysis for yourself).

It is obvious that stressed moments are not much but the moments spent to recover after it are the maximum. We pay attention to things/events/moments which bring stress and be prepared with a backup plan to tackle it.

To be continued...

How I started to get "A Good Night Sleep"?

I must confess, like you all, my day was full of many not so required tasks. Most of which I used to do for fun sake or just due to an uncontrollable habit. Some were influenced by others and some were self induced. For example..

• Unlocking my phone without any reason just to check if I received a message or I still remember the password or not.
• Watching series of relevant or irrelevant videos or posts on social media.
• Waiting for a call from someone whom I know would not make it atleast withing another 2 hours.
• Thinking too much on what something is said by someone regarding a topic/thing which has a connection with me directly or indirectly. (Just to add.. everything has a connection with everyone, directly or indirectly).
• Delaying things deliberately so that I could live the current moment with cool mind.
• Wandering my thoughts into interconnected words/things/situations/people or to something with no connection to the original thought. (Just to add... I just wandered twice while writing this line ;) ).
• Prioritizing unnecessary stuffs to feed my boredom.
• Playing video games on my phone/tablet/laptop..

And the list goes on...

These tasks many times are never a part of anyone's plan. But eats up most of our time/energy. You can start avoiding them by keeping a tab on your activities every few hours by keeping reminders or rewarding yourself. First you need to diagnose the problem and then start working on it. Let's try to understand the physical aspects of our body activities. Let's imagine your body as a smart phone...

• You also have a battery (rechargeable) which supplies energy for any activity you do. 
• The more activities you do, the more battery is utilized and drained. 
• Like mobile phone multitasking is always possible with your body. 
• You also have virus affecting your thoughts. Hacking of your thoughts is also happening by your colleagues at work, family members at home or friends at an event/gathering.
• You also need to cool yourself down when over worked.
• Find a cooling spot for yourself in your Home, Office or events/places to refresh/restart your body and mind. (Take a sip of Tea/Coffee, Talk to a friend/colleague, see images/videos you love etc... try what works for you best).
• Over exercising is over charging yourself.
• You must be in touch (network) with your dear ones every time.
• Have a widget/backup of good memories for instant review.
• Keep your screen (perspective) clean.
• Save all the beautiful moments in your heart.
• Always close all the unnecessary apps (thoughts) to keep your present memory (RAM) clear.
• Always wear a cool and attractive cover (cool cloths and positive attitude).
• Always upgrade your software (talent/skills) time to time.
• Accessorize yourself with good health and good thoughts.
• Go to Airplane Mode while going to sleep. :)

More tasks means more stress. "One thing at a time"

Started to avoiding things which utilized my energy for no reason. And shifted my focus to important task every now and then. Initially it wasn't easy for me though. But I used a Golden Mantra that is.. "One thing at a time" (mostly while doing important tasks). I was much more productive, focused, motivated and moreover satisfied with the outcome with this Success Mantra. Hope you find this mantra helpful...


Over work leads to pain (some sort of). "Define a limit for every task, but not for yourself"

Once you start anything make sure to decide when it should ideally end. Planning (realistically) your task with reasonable duration motivates you to push your limits and complete the task at hand.


You deserve happiness for every achievement. "Happiness lies in small achievements too"

Small accomplishments add to more happiness throughout the day. Stay motivated with your small achievements, so you can retain your energy for bigger goals. Pamper yourself as would to a baby who is always obedient to you and follows your instructions and loves you more than yourself.


Don't take your office to your home. "No work after working hours" (unless very very urgent and important)

Once you leave your office/work, stop thinking about the pending work or anything that could take you to the virtual office place. Just like after watching a movie for 2 or 2 and half hours we spent atleast another 2 to 3 hours discussing/thinking/sharing/posting/commenting/enacting things from the movie. We are tend to do few same things after leaving any particular place.


Close your day with some lighter moments "No stressful work 2 hours before sleep"

Never let your day end with sorrow, regret or sad feelings. Because if you sleep with negative thoughts, you won't be able to sleep well. Disconnect yourself with the outer world and focus the beautiful world within your thoughts. After a tiring day (whether successful or not), you deserve some good moments with family, friends and dear ones.


Don't stretch work unnecessarily "Say NO to distractions and unproductive work"

We are distracted because the thing that distracts us is more appealing to us than the work at hand. There has to be a motivation more appealing to us than the distraction to keep us focused. Reward yourself when you complete any important task. It will keep you engaged and focused.

All of the above suggestions are actually a part of self improvement and have a direct or indirect link with sleeping problems. I have personally tried and tested all the above and few more ideas to help myself get a good night sleep.

Hope you have 'A Good Night Sleep' :) !

How to deal with stress?

Stress is a state of mind where a person's body and mind is not in sync. It is your enemy in life which always interrupts you while you try to achieve important goals. Never ever let it be the reason for your defeat. The best way to deal with it is to identify the source and reasons for it. Then to work on them from their root to control and eliminate its further existence. Let me clear one thing here, stress cannot be eliminated completely, only its sources and reasons can be controlled.

"Control Stress before it controls you."

There are many reasons for stress. Many suffer due to changing lifestyle, monotonous work, anxiety, over expectation from someone or other reasons. Stress takes away your happiness, focus and attention. It is a cause for many early age diseases. So basically, it is a root cause of many problems.

Let's get the basics of stress causes. As categorized in the image right side Body, Mind, Emotions and Behavior are four causes stress.



Causes of stress


1. Body: Eat your food as medicine; or else you have to eat your medicine as food.

Most common causes of stress are associated mostly to body pain and it occurs mostly due to uncontrolled work pressure. Plan your day beforehand with a realistic and achievable ToDo list. When you don't plan, you plan to fail. The more you try to push your limits without a reasonable plan/goal, the more you get stressed out due to pressure from fear of failure. So, plan wisely.

2. Mind: A beautiful servant, A dangerous master.

It is all in your mind. We worry a lot about the things we constantly think about. We think about either past memories, present chaos or future expectations. These memories, thoughts and expectations are all living mostly in your virtual world. Your virtual world atleast could be unnecessarily 90% bigger than the real world. Which makes your life complicated. First of all we need to start living in reality more than the virtual world. Start doing things which keeps you busy, productive, more attentive and focused.

3. Emotions: Feeling becomes emotion, Emotion becomes nature, nature becomes habit. And habits can make you or break you. So, choose your feelings carefully BABA (Boy).

Whenever you come across a negative feelings/thoughts, try to escape from it, ignore it or replace it with positive feelings/thoughts. The more you spend time with the things you love, care, desire or dream of the more you will feel positive, motivated and inspired.


4. Behavior: Your behavior is a reflection of what you are from inside.

What we believe in guides our behavior. Revisit your faith/belief. Try to find the reason for your existence. If you could find a motive in life, that motive will guide you and help you act more responsibly and positively.

Next Article: How I started to get a good night sleep?

'Sleeping less' is also one of the most common issue in today's day and age. We sleep less because we have many tasks at our hand/ToDo list. Either for work or fun/entertainment, mostly fun/entertainment. We need to find what is more beneficial for ourselves and eliminate unnecessary tasks to stay focused and productive.

Clear you mind of any ambiguity about your future because nothing is permanent, not even your problems. Train your brain to choose happiness and positive thoughts because the more positive you are about yourself the more happily you live. Relieve yourself of any past uncomfortable memories because you deserve peace. Invest your time with Family, Friends and the once you love the most.
Live Lively, Live Well. :)