How is stress affecting you?

October 30, 4:00 PMAllentown Feminism and Relationships ExaminerStefanie Hickman

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Are women putting too much pressure on themselves?

Today’s young woman is not living in the same kind of world that their grandmothers grew up in. Many of our grandmothers grew up in a world where June Cleaver was their role model—dinner was on the table when husbands came home from work, the kids were done with their homework and ready to eat as well. Fact is that isn’t the case for many women today. Even though we know this isn’t the case, it seems that many women are putting the pressure on themselves to be everything to everyone. Women are taking on more tasks each day between work, family and other commitments, but they aren’t giving time for themselves. These tasks are causing more stress for women than it’s worth, which is causing a severe backlash on women’s health and relationships.

Stress affects our lives

Stress affects many of the different aspects of our lives including our health and our relationships. In as recent article published by WebMD.com, stress can lead to long term adverse effects on our lives:

• Forty-three percent of all adults suffer adverse health effects from stress.
• Seventy-five to 90% of all doctor's office visits are for stress-related ailments and complaints.
• Stress can play a part in problems such as headaches, high blood pressure, heart problems, diabetes, skin conditions, asthma, or arthritis in addition to depression and anxiety.
• The lifetime prevalence of an emotional disorder is more than 50%, often due to chronic, untreated stress reactions.

How do I reduce stress in my life?

One of the biggest stressors in a woman’s life is the amount of work that they are juggling. Here are some tips to manage all that you are trying to balance:
1. Leave your work… at work. The more work that you get done at your job, the less you will be bringing home. When you’re not bringing work home, which means more time for yourself and with your family.
2. Block out your time using a planner, but don’t over-schedule yourself. Go get yourself a planner that has a page for each day with time slots. For example, if you are going to the gym, block out that time and stick to it. Try using different colored hi-lighters for the different parts of your life.
3. Make time for yourself. While you’re blocking out time for everything you have to do, make some time for things you want to do! Whether it’s an hour reading or a day shopping, time doing something that makes you happy will spill into the other aspects of your life.
4. Feel beautiful every day. This doesn’t mean you need to dress up every single day, but do something that makes you feel confident about yourself. Wear cute undies or give yourself a mini-facial. The important thing is, you’re taking pride in you.
5. Set goals for yourself. If you tell yourself that you have to accomplish something by a certain time, do you always do it? Thought so. Make a list of things you need to accomplish each day and cross them off. You’ll feel productive while you’re checking off what you’ve done and at the end of the day, you won’t have all those tasks still hanging over your head.
In the end, the way stress affects us is dictated by what we do to control it. The more you understand yourself and what is causing your stress, the better you will be able to control it.