We all feel stressed at some point, and a certain amount of stress can actually be helpful in a person’s mental and emotional growth and development. However, too much stress is another story. Aside from being detrimental to your well-being, too much bad stress can cause illnesses down the line. That’s why it’s important to learn how to manage stress effectively and to take steps to ensure that you’re filing you life with the good types of stress.

Below are a few things that you can do to help alleviate stress:

1. Get enough sleep - Lack of sleep can lead physical and mental incompetence, which can cause mistakes, and in turn cause stress. Avoid such situations by getting a good night’s sleep every night so you’re always alert and awake the next day.

2. Keep a to-do list - A big cause of stress is feeling overwhelmed or feeling that you don’t have enough time to finish your tasks. Often, these feeling arise with poor time management and prioritizing. To avoid this, keep a to-do list to help keep you on track and productive.

3. Talk it out - Keeping all that stress in can do more harm than good. Make it a point to let it all out by confiding with a trusted friend or family member. Talk it out. You’ll feel much better afterwards.

Image credit: pat00139 on Flickr