According to US Statistics, 77% of the population regularly experience physical symptoms caused by stress and 73% regularly experience psychological symptoms related to stress. Chronic (long term) stress can have serious implications on our well being. With our lives becoming so busy, we find it difficult to be stress-free. Hopefully, by the end of this article, you will find some helpful tips on how to kill the stress.

Self Care

Maybe you have heard the term “self-care” floating around the internet. If you’re in an emotionally demanding field like social work or medicine, you would have learned a lot about self-care. Self-care is an integral part to kill the stress and improving your well being. It is for everyone and should be used by everyone regardless of their occupation. Self-care is taking the time to care for yourself. It is taking some time out of your day to relax without guilt.

Self-care is realizing that you can only be the best version of yourself when you are taking care of yourself.  Self-care can be anything and it is totally up to you. For some people, it is taking a bubble bath after a long day. For others, it could be taking a walk, going to the gym, watching TV, going out with friends, or just laying on the bed doing absolutely nothing at all. Self-care is entirely up to you.

It is just important to partake in your self-care activity without feeling guilty for doing XYZ chore or thinking about all the things you should be doing. Self-care is reminding yourself that you need to take the time to care for yourself so that you can continue caring for others. Take some time out of your day or week and assign it as “self-care time” the effects of which will kill the stress.

Remind yourself that Allah is the Best of Planners

A lot of our stress comes from things that we cannot control. If we have put our best effort forward and cannot control the outcome, why kill ourselves stressing over it? At times of great stress, we need to remind ourselves that Allah (SWT) has written pre-destined everything for us. Our wealth, health, family life, etc. are all pre-destined. Everything that Allah (SWT) does is in our favor. Once we realize that there is only so much we can control, we can kill our stress before it engulfs us.  kill the stress

Manage Your Time Well

Sometimes we bite off more than we can chew. We overextend ourselves to the point of exhaustion. We just cannot find the time to do anything. If that is the case, take some time to sit down and map out your daily weekly routine. How long do certain tasks take? Are there some tasks that can be done any other day? Is there some way you can reduce the number of tasks on your list?

What are the most important tasks? Having an answer to those questions may reduce some of the day’s burden and kill the stress. You can also create a list of the Most Important Tasks that need to be completed during that day and complete them in the morning so that you do not stress about it all evening.

Reflect

Take some time out of the day-maybe before you go to sleep, to reflect on the day that has passed. Did you really need to be as stressed as you were? Was there something you could have told yourself at that moment that would have reduced your stress?

Taking the time to answer these types of questions are useful in helping you manage your stress in the future. Often, we have negative ways of thinking and talking to ourselves which greatly impacts our feelings and behaviors. By identifying these negative thoughts and challenging them, we can create healthier, more positive thoughts which would lead to healthier feelings and behavior. Eventually, the positive things you tell yourself in stressful circumstances will act to kill the stress.

Make Dua

One thing I always try to remember, especially during stress is the hadith,

“Dua is the weapon of a believer.”

As I mentioned previously, there are so many things beyond our control and there is no use in stressing about them. One way to reduce the stress about uncontrollable situations is to make dua to Allah (SWT).

Dua reminds us that Allah (SWT) is the Manager of Our Affairs; we take the pressure off ourselves by asking Allah (SWT) to help us. Indeed Allah (SWT) is the Only One we ask for help. Remember that Allah does not burden a soul more than it can bear. You can get through whatever stressful situation you are in. Making dua to Allah will not only reduce your stress but improve your relationship with Allah (SWT).

learn tajweed.

May Allah (SWT) give us the strength to bear the burdens of this life and protect us from the burdens of the Hereafter. Ameen. 

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Asma Arshad

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