Psychologist Sabina Read has five top tips to reduce stress and fire up your memory:
- Identify your own warning signs and triggers to help manage stress before it overwhelms you
Typical warning signs and triggers vary from person to person so it is important to be aware of your individual needs and responses to stress. Common warning signs can include headaches, muscle tension and increased irritability while key triggers might be an overwhelming workload or taking on too much, being hungry or not getting enough sleep. - Replace ‘I should’ with ‘I choose’ to reclaim a sense of control and ownership
It’s common for people to adopt rigid and unhelpful black-and-white thinking patterns, including ‘my job shouldn’t be so hard’ or ‘my boss shouldn’t have spoken to me like that’. Life is ultimately about choices and while some things are outside of our control, using language such as ‘I choose’ instead of ‘I should’ empowers the individual to take ownership of the situation and decide what they will – or won’t – do based on personal values, and thereby reduce stress. - Understand that super busy is not the same as worthy and productive
‘Super busy’ is an over-used phrase bandied about as a workplace badge of honour. However, busy does not always equal productive or successful. Someone can be a hugely valuable asset to a business by being assertive, calm, efficient and setting boundaries, compared to those who are frantic and struggling with often contagious high levels of stress. - Strengthen memory by associating new learning with existing knowledge
Research suggests it’s easier to create more neural connections in the brain and retain new information when we apply it to an existing cognitive framework. Make the most of what you already know by building on your knowledge base, rather than starting from scratch, and your memory will thank you! - Get adequate sleep to consolidate and maximise memory
Don’t underestimate the power of sleep. We’ve been led to believe that everyone needs eight hours sleep a night; however, every individual has varying sleep requirements.
Sabina Read, registered psychologist and radio and television commentator, on behalf of Nature’s Own.
Source: http://www.insidesmallbusiness.com.au