Do you feel out of whack with your job, your life, or both? Does the mountain in front of you seem insurmountable? Does your to-do list stifle and marginalize what you've already accomplished? Do you feel overwhelmed?
Related: 11 Strategies for Dealing with Stress
Stress is inevitable, but we can complicate the problem. We participate in exacerbating it. In fact, when it comes to exacerbating stress, nothing has changed since ancient times. Even King David, more than 3,000 years ago, said, “My anxious thoughts multiply within me.”
The term “stresscalation” sums up this exponential component of stress very well. Stress begets stress. It's downright combustible. We are setting ourselves up for higher levels of pressure. We engage in thoughts and behaviors that escalate it.
It is easy to search for solutions while continuing to fall prey to its menacing effects.
Advice on stress is everywhere – from how you recognize it, to how to prevent it, to use it skillfully and advantageously, to how to relieve it. Yet it's easy to search for solutions while continuing to fall prey to its menacing effects.
So while it helps to know what to do, the counterproductive things we usually do get in the way. productive that we should be doing. This is why we have to deal with stress via negativa— by eliminating the negative.
Related: 9 Ways to Say No to Negativity
Here's What Not to do when you feel overwhelmed. Or in other words, if you want to increase your stress, here are nine ways to do it.
1. Think negatively. This is particularly effective, especially if you do it personally.
2. Isolate and amplify that thought when something bad happens. Don't let any positive thoughts interrupt your catastrophic state of mind.
3. When you worry, stop your thought simulation at the point of greatest impact. After all, worry is like a movie. So be sure to stop the movie before the end. This will help keep dread and anxiety at an optimal level.
4. Live in the future. We are the only animal in the world that can experience the future before it arrives. It's like a built-in flight simulator. We can see ourselves crashing over and over again, even though it didn't really happen. Forget "now". After all, “now” will soon be “then”. So live in the future because it is yet to come. Brilliant!
5. Promote GMC behavior (Grabbing, Moaning, and Complaining ). In fact, our research has shown that stronger and longer is better.
6. Procrastinate. Why do now what you could do tomorrow? Report your work on that project, document, or issue. After all, you might miss the thrill of a sudden-death final in overtime. You will lose that heart-pounding, brain-spinning feeling of anxiety level. Why miss this thrill?
7. Eliminate margin. When you leave for a date, make sure the exact time you leave is the exact time you are supposed to arrive. This is particularly an excellent technique for stress calculation . Lack of headroom is fuel on the fire.
8. Be anxious. When you miss the deadline, be sure to panic. Being a non-anxious presence will not help you multiply stress. We suggest you panic. It's especially helpful to start yelling and moaning, getting angry at others, and finding someone else to blame. Blame is a great tool for redistributing pain. Anger tantrums and scapegoat are particularly rewarding.
One more and we're done!
9. Hold on to lightheartedness and irritability. Keep nurturing them, growing them, and holding them close to your heart. Escalating them is multiplying them, and it will keep your stress levels rising.
Now that you know how to multiply your stresses, you can choose your behavior. I have found it helpful to extrapolate current behaviors into the future. It shows what will happen if the current behavior is not changed. And that's a great deterrent.
Related: Use these mental techniques when your brain is overwhelmed
This post originally appeared on LeadershipTraQ.com .
