Reducing stress in your home is one surefire way to find more energy and time in your life.
That’s because stress is a huge drain on your mind, body and spirit. It depletes your energy and has a profound effect on how you relate to your time. And so it makes sense that reducing stress – in any way that you can – is going to be a great benefit to you – and to those who share your home with you!
Does this scenario sound familiar? The baby’s crying while you hurriedly get dinner ready. The dog needs to be fed, you’re worried about a looming deadline for your business, the phone is ringing, someone in the other room is watching TV with the sound on full-blast, and your teenager just walked in and said, “What’s for dinner?”
This is a typical scene for many of us. However, the good news is that it doesn’t have to be this way. There are, in fact, things you can do to ease stress and create an environment where you can breathe and stretch – a haven from the stresses and strains that daily life can bring.
While some degree of stress is inherent in simply being alive and living with others, if you live in harmony with your core values and learn when to go with the flow … and when not to … you can go a long way toward significantly reducing stress in your home.
So, are you ready to get started? Here are some specific actions you can take to start reducing stress at home:
- Get organized. Life can quickly become chaotic when you don’t maintain organization. An organized home runs smoothly, while an unorganized home leads to stress and lost time.
- Communication is Key. When you fail to communicate effectively, you may not get what you want. If something bothers you, set aside time to address it directly. This helps avoid misunderstandings that can eat up huge amounts of time and energy. Not only that, but the benefits of actively working on communication skills are far-reaching. Skillful communication enhances performance at work and in school – and within the family it allows everyone to feel loved and appreciated AND it helps the household run efficiently.
- Connecting is Important. Finding time to connect is an important stress-reducer both because it’s enjoyable and relaxing AND because it keeps everyone in touch. Important information gets communicated while you’re together. So make time to eat dinner together and to have fun together. Schedule family dinners or family fun nights … and then follow through on your plans. You reinforce your priorities in this way – and an added benefit is that you are creating warm feelings and memories. These can be energizing and helpful during stressful or difficult times.
- Reducing stress is about love! Expressing and modeling acceptance and love is a powerful stress-reducer. When family members know that, when they make mistakes, they have a loving family that will back them up and forgive them, stress and self-criticism lose their power. Mistakes become pathways to learning, rather than things to feel ashamed of.
- Reducing stress is about rules. Having a set of family rules helps with organization and significantly reduces stress because it allows everyone to know what’s expected of them. You might start by scheduling a family meeting to talk about house rules. Make sure everyone has a chance to participate and share his or her concerns.
- Start small with your stress-reducing efforts. Whether it’s getting organized, working on communication, creating connection, or working on creating some family rules, the idea is to think of this as a journey … or a series of small projects instead of one overwhelmingly huge one.
Reducing the stress in your home gives you access to time and energy that you may not have known you had. It clears the way for each person in your household to realize their potential more fully.
Step by small step, it lies within your power to transform your time … and your world. So here’s to your time success, today and always!
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