Welcome to the third and final part of the series on stress relief. The final type of relief we will talk about is Problem-Focused Coping. This can be used when dealing with a stressor that you are able to change.
Problem-Focused Coping
To help put this into perspective I’ll tell a little story. Imagine you have an event coming up, say a holiday party. This party has to be amazing, and it will be, but you are overwhelmed with everything. Well you’re in luck because you can make a to-do list and start checking things off prior to the party to ease your stress. YOU can be in control. You start by setting up the decorations early, get those table settings put out, and prep the food you will serve. When there is a situation where you have control, you can change how it effects you. By taking manageable steps towards your goal you are implementing a problem-focused coping approach.
The important thing to remember is that you can have control and can make changes to aid in the stress relief process. It’s kind of like the saying “Work smarter, not harder”.
Here are things to remember about Problem-Focused Coping:
- Reassess your to-do list: instead of having a list of 20 things to do, try reassessing and create a more manageable list to do right now
- Obtain social support: this could be friends or family, maybe a co-worker or a therapist
- Cut out things that add to your stress: If something is not essential, maybe you can cut it out. Try not to over commit yourself. If there a meeting or activity that is not mandatory, or if you could delegate some of your tasks to another, would you feel less stressed? Look at what is on your plate and if there are things you can do without, then cut them out.