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It’s the last day to submit the report, but you have so much left to do and your friends are waiting in the café for you to arrive.

You have your exam tomorrow, its night already and you have done just one chapter.

Can you relate to such a situation? Do you start doing an important task and get up in between to eat or drink. Sounds familiar? This habit is called procrastination. And you are not alone in this.

Majority of people procrastinate their tasks. You may enjoy the time you spend lazing around, but this habit really hinders your progress and achievement in all aspects of life.

Here are some tips that you could use to deal with procrastination:

Acknowledge

The very first thing that you could do is to accept and acknowledge that you procrastinate. Unless you do that, you cannot move forward. There could be a scenario where you are postponing a task for a genuine reason. But if you find yourself doing the same for every other task, this is a problem.

Make a schedule

You can make a constructive action plan for the day and assign yourself time for the tasks. Follow this schedule religiously and you can feel the change in your way of working.

Prioritizing the tasks

You need to be clear and quick about designating the tasks on the basis of their exigency. It is better to finish the more important tasks first so that you are left with less important tasks for later in the day.

Difficult tasks first

You should always do the difficult tasks first; so that you are left with the lighter work post that. This would reduce your stress level and make your work more qualitative.

Keep a to-do-list

You can either create a soft copy for a to-do-list or keep a diary where you can write down the schedule. As you progress with the completion of tasks, you can mark those that you complete. This will give you a visual input of how much work you have completed and how much is left. This way you can see how efficient you are at your work.

Reward system

To begin with, while trying to curb this habit, you can always keep a reward that you will give yourself, only after you complete an assigned task. This is a way to contrive motivation to perform. This practice will give you that push you require to develop a structured way of doing a task. Also, rewarding yourself will make you happy about yourself, providing further encouragement.

Take help

Ask a friend to keep a check on you so that you do not go out of track. This is how the self-help groups work. You can also plan it out with a fellow procrastinator so that you both can motivate each other to be better.

Avoid distractors

When you sit to do a task, turn off social media, emails, etc. Avoid sitting amongst people or anywhere near a television.

Just to keep an important point in mind, procrastination could be because the person is suffering from a mental health illness. It could be anxiety, depression, OCD. When you notice other symptoms apart from procrastination the problem could be serious. In such scenarios, you would require to seek professional help.

Social media has become an important part of our lives lately. It is surely a boon as it allows you to connect with your friends and family, provides you with useful information and lets you stay updated with latest happenings around the world and trends. It’s a source of income for a lot of social media influencers lately.

But there is a flip side to all this as well. A lot of the latest studies show that social media is becoming a reason for so many mental health illnesses, depression being one of them. Let’s have a look at how this is happening.

Absent from the present

If you look around, it could be at home, a get-together, or a couple out on a date, we all remain glued to our phones. We are more concerned about the activities on social media rather than being where we are. We are constantly thinking about what next to post instead of focusing on the person we are with or eating our lunch.

Loss of Human Connection

When we meet our friends, a lot of times, more than knowing what’s happening in each other’s lives, we are more concerned about clicking a perfect selfie and putting nice hashtags. We are more of friends with our blue light rectangular screen than the people we post pictures with. We would have an idea about their online personality, rather than their real-life personas. This has been one of the reasons for arguments amongst people, as we avoid the person sitting next to us for checking our phones.

Virtual Reality

Most people have an alter ego through their social media accounts. They make their life to appear picture perfect, making other’s envy them. From putting check-ins at expensive restaurants to posting a picture of the top brand clothes, they try every possible way to make their feed look trendy and attractive. It’s like hiding the real-life picture and living it with so many filters.

Self Esteem

People often accept others’ virtual life as their actual. More than concentrating on themselves, they keep updated with others’ trips and relationship status, ending up making comparisons with them. This makes them feel bad about their own life and hence affecting their self-esteem. They feel worthless and start doubting their abilities and approach towards life. We remain unhappy. We become obsessed with trying to post an aesthetically appealing picture just to have a validation that people like us. Our existence is so much hanging on the likes and dislikes on our posts.

Too much information

Kim Kardashian, Hollywood’s famous reality star’s Paris robbery is one of the best examples of this. We make several posts throughout our day, providing the outside world too much information about ourselves, which is not ideal in terms of our safety. The other person knows our location that exact minute.

Procrastination

The concept of Monday Blues has become a cultural belief lately. And most of the time people just mock the situation and laugh things off that are actually bothering them, hiding behind this phenomenon.

We spend more than one-third of a day at our workplace and hence, our outlook towards our job really holds a great deal of importance. If you are passionate about your work, working any day is an opportunity for you. But if that’s not the case, it becomes a burden to spend those 8-9 hours, each day.

By now, we all are aware our state of mind does affect our productivity. If you constantly go through these Monday Blues, it is going to hamper your work quality as well as your interpersonal relationships.

Let’s look at some reasons why people face these situations-

Attitude towards the job

A lot of us get the kind of work we like, but there are others who are unable to figure out our passion. They go for a job for earning a livelihood or for just the heck of doing something. This is also determined by the factor that what a person’s traits are. For example, a person who procrastinates things or is unpunctual would often feel burdened and inefficient in his work, hence developing a negative approach towards work.

Relationship with colleagues

At times, regardless of how much do you like your job role, the people around you often affect your emotions. When we remain surrounded by people who give negativity, for a long duration, this might take a toll on us.

Work-Life Balance

A lot of people often find it difficult to create an optimal balance between our personal and professional life. Neither we are able to impress our boss with our work, nor are we able to satiate our family. All through the week, we work so hard and on weekends lie like a corpse, always living in extremes.

Lack of organization

We have always heard the advice that we should always plan our day in order to manage things in a better way. But this mostly goes in one ear and out the other. Being unable to organize and handle the work efficiently stresses us and messes up our work further.

Social Media Influence

Weekends are often overrated. We all use one or the other social media applications. And lately, there have been a lot of filters where a sad/ disappointed bitmoji (personalized cartoon avatar of oneself) or GIF with the captions like “Monday Blues”. Then there are filters with captions like TGIF (Thank God It’s Friday). The people using these applications gradually develop a strong opinion which is influenced by such social media concepts.

Mental Health Issues

It might not be your job or your colleagues that are the reason you feel distressed at your workplace, but maybe your mental health. There could be situations where you are actually more productive and could be going through depression. You have lots of friends and you seem well adjusted to every situation, but there could be things going on at the back of your mind. You could be an organized person and be doing things well but feel hollow on the inside. These could be signs of depression. Feeling low sometimes on Mondays is alright, but the same story every Monday is not.

Following are some quick tips to deal with Monday Blues:

• Organize your weekend beforehand
• Keep Mondays little light
• Avoid checking your work mail during weekends
• Keep fixed and appropriate hours of sleep throughout the week
• Have a good night sleep on Sunday so that you can feel refreshed and energetic the next day
• Keep a relaxing time, maybe 20-30 minutes, for you for each day and not just on weekends
• Keep a post-work hang out for Mondays
• Dress well on a Monday
• Consult a professional if you show signs of any mental health disorder

Do you feel stressed at your workplace or unhappy with your work? Is your work life hampering your personal life? Call us and get 15 minutes free counselling session at +91-9069069069.

Talking about sex or the sexual disorders has been a big taboo. People are hesitant to discuss it, especially when it comes to disorders. People with sexual dysfunction often feel embarrassed and are afraid to talk about it to others or even avoid seeking help.

There could various physical as well as psychological reasons that could cause sexual disorders. A few of them are:

• Neurological disorders
• Alcoholism
• Drug Abuse
• Heart diseases
• Diabetes
• Liver or kidney failure
• Intake of medication like antidepressants
• Anxiety
• Stress
• Strained relationship
• Sexual abuse
• Child Sexual Abuse
• Trauma
• Mental health disorders like depression
• Pressure to perform sexually

These disorders are common and it is always better to take proper treatment before things go out of hands. Some of the common disorders in men are:

Erectile Dysfunction

Inability to get an erection or to maintain the same is what erectile dysfunction refers to. Apart from the narrowing of blood vessels in the penis, diabetes or hormonal imbalances, there could be various mental health issues that could cause this problem. The stress to please the partner or maybe the lack of interest in sex could also the add-on.

The therapy would focus on how to reduce the anxiety of the intercourse. A past incident could continue to impact the person. The therapist would encourage the person to deal with the stress of the same.

Ejaculation Problems

When it comes to ejaculation problems in men, there could be three scenarios. First, where there the ejaculation is too quick during the intercourse, like before or within one minute of penetration. The average time for the same is around 5 minutes.

Second, when there is a delay or being unable to ejaculate during intercourse.

And lastly, retrograde ejaculation, where the sperms instead of passing through urethra go back inside the bladder. There would be either no or less semen, but the orgasm would be still experienced.

The therapy would focus on behaviour alteration. The partner could also be involved, who would help the man to stretch the stimulation for the longer duration. The major reasons for ejaculation problems are psychological factors like stress and trauma. In certain cases, there could other medical conditions.

Loss of interest in Sex

The person could be losing interest in sex or any kind of sexual fantasies. It could be due to stress, anxiety or an unstable relationship.

During the therapy, the therapist would make the client focus on their approach towards the sex and would try to help them figure out how and why it started. If there is any relationship problem, that would also be discussed through couple counselling. Apart from that keeping a journal of the sexual thoughts or fantasies could also be suggested.

Dyspareunia

The person is basically experiencing pain or facing difficulty during intercourse. It is caused due to the physical problem in males and consulting other medical professionals like a urologist is preferred.

Sexual intimacy is an important part of building a relationship and developing a bond between two people. Its lack may lead to an unhealthy relationship and distancing two people. There are signs where you would need to look into the matter seriously and seek professional help. One of you might be dissatisfied with your sex life and you both are losing the touch because of the same. Your sex life might be causing arguments and causing disappointment.

Apart from physical examination, there could be relationship counselling or psychosexual therapy that could help you deal with a problem as well as come out of it.

Depression is one of the most common mental illnesses, has affected approximately 57 million people in our country. This is equal to 18 % of the people affected by depression across the globe, according to WHO.
Recently, a lot of celebrities have opened about their mental health struggles and have shared ups and downs of their journey. And this has encouraged common people to come out and talk about the issues they are facing.
But still, a lot of myths prevail about the illness.

Everyone suffers through depression at some or the other point in life

A lot of people, still, take depression as a normal situation, whereas it is a proper clinical disorder. They often compare it with sadness or circumstantial stress, which is not the case. A lot of studies show that depression is not only the disproportion of the chemicals in our brain, but it also has other components like hormonal imbalances, shrinking and inappropriate wiring of brain cells, etc.

Only trauma causes depression

Certain awful and excruciating events often cause depression. A breakup or a divorce, loss of job, death of a loved one may leave you sad and empty for some time, but anything more than two weeks needs to be checked with a professional. You may require medication or counselling or a combination of two to improve your mental health. A depressed person often loses interest in daily life activities, there is the decrease in self-esteem and an increase in the feeling of worthlessness. In situations of post-partum depression or high functioning depression, there is no negative or traumatic event around the victim.

Depression is genetic

There are studies that show that there are chances that if your parents had a history of depression you are more likely to get it. But the significance of the same hasn’t yet been proved. You can always concentrate on the factors that you can manage, instead of worrying.

Pills will solve the problem

Depression does not get cured in a day. It’s not as simple as popping a pill one day and the next day life would turn into rainbow and butterflies. It takes a few weeks before the antidepressant starts showing its effect. Moreover, it totally depends on the professional if he feels the need to prescribe the medicine or not. There are people who opt for psychotherapies to deal with depression. Also, a combination of medicine and psychotherapy is considered to be most effective, when it comes to curing depression.

Exercise and a good diet will cure depression

Surely, a good diet and a regular workout session are beneficial for a good mental health. But believing that including a balanced nutrition diet and a 30 minutes running could cure depression is false.

Medications continue throughout life

A treatment for depression varies from person to person. First of all, not every person going through depression needs medicine. Secondly, it totally depends on your customized treatment plan, that for how long you need to consume the pills.

A depressed person is always negative

When people think about a depressed person, they imagine a person totally confused and crying. They could never imagine a person with favourable situations in life, who looks organized and in control of emotions could be going through depression. Dysthymia or as we know it high functioning depression is a situation where a person could have a great career, perfect relationship and posts happy Instagram pictures and could be the most popular amongst friends. This is a kind of persistent situation which could later lead to major depression if remain untreated.

Talking about depression still continues to be a stigma in our society. Just like any other illness, this can also be cured if sought help at the right time. Talk about your mental health and encourage people around you to talk about theirs.

Do you think you or anyone you know is depressed? Do you need help for the same? Get in touch with us!

Call us at +91-9069069069 for 15 minutes of free counselling.

When we ideate about our perfect partner, we all have a list of traits that we expect he/she possesses. We want our partner to be caring, attractive, and intelligent and loved by our friends and family.

But ending up with someone who is kind of a narcissist is a total nightmare. An emotionally abusive relation might not leave scars on the victim’s body, but it leaves the person traumatized. He/ she may suffer from various mental health issues like depression, PTSD, anxiety attacks later, if not immediately.

Following are some red flags of a toxic relationship:

Always worried about your partner’s mood swings

You are constantly walking on eggshells so that you do not upset your partner. You feel one moment he/she is treating you like a queen/king and the very next he ends up arguing with you.

Your partner threatens you to leave

Your partner always threatens you to break up whenever you both argue. You find yourself constantly worried about your relationship ending rather than enjoying time with your partner.

Too many restrictions

Your partner forces too many restrictions on you. He tries to control your life and tries to limit your social circle. He often disapproves of your opinions and friendships. He would even say ill words about your friends and family.

Emotional Unavailability

Your partner has no interest in your life and the things that bring your happiness. You have no real emotional support from his side. In case of arguments, he drags the matter for days and does not make any effort to sort things out.

You are apologizing

Whenever there is an argument, you are the one who is always apologizing, even when there is no fault of yours. He blames you for any disagreement and you feel manipulated by him in most situations.

Cannot take criticism

Your partner never accepts his shortcomings. There is never a healthy discussion, but always an argument with him. Even if he accepts his mistakes and apologize, he would end up repeating his mistakes.

Holds back affection and sex

He would stop showing his love and affection towards you and constantly bring you down. Withholding sex is another sign to consider. This might not seem to be harmful or abusive, but it surely affects when experienced constantly for a longer duration.

Avoid meeting or communicating

Your partner would avoid your calls or texts, but will probably be actively communicating to everyone else. He would also be active on various social media platforms. Even if he meets you, he would avoid talking and would rather focus on sex or would keep himself occupied with some or the other thing.

Hides the relationship

Your partner does not accept you publically. He avoids going out with you. He might be deleting your comments from his social media posts or un-tagging himself from your posts.

The above are some signs that clearly depict an unhealthy relationship. Can you relate to these? Do you feel trapped? If yes, it’s time for you to get yourself back.

Learn more about Mentriq

With the incidence of Singer Demi Lovato being hospitalized due to a Drug overdose, there is a need to discuss Substance Abuse and some of the important things that we need to keep in mind.

What is substance use/ Abuse Disorder?

Substance use disorder is when you use any one or more drugs that are under the 10 classes of drugs that will lead to your health issues, problems at school, work or home. The drugs include alcohol, sedative and anti-anxiety drugs, cannabis, marijuana, caffeine, Hallucinogens like LSD, Inhalants like paint thinner, Opioids, stimulants, Tobacco etc. More importantly, this involves behavior patterns in which you continue to use a substance in spite of having problems that are caused by using it.

The drugs abused could be legal or illegal for use and could also have an accepted medical use. These substances will all affect the reward system of your brain and produce pleasurable feelings. The activation is strong enough for you to intensely crave the substance. You will start to neglect your daily activities to find and use the drug.

When should your alarm ring?

• Inability to control your use of the substance
• You cannot meet your social obligations due to substance use
•  usage of the substance in physically dangerous situations
• You show physical signs of dependence or use
•  consuming the substance in larger amounts and time that was initially planned.
• You want to cut down or stop the use of the substance and fail every time.
• Your interpersonal relationships are strained due to the use of the substance.
• You continue to use the substance despite knowing the ill effects
• Need for more quantity of the same substance to feel the desired effect
• You have unpleasant physical effects when you stop the usage of the substance

How do you help someone or yourself from Drug Abuse Disorder:

Stay away from the Drug community

Most often people who do drugs have a group that they reach for when they do such gatherings around drugs. In a culture where doing drugs has become a part of your social milieu especially if you are a teenager/youngster, it is most essential to take a step away from the friend who suggests you any form of the drug just for fun. You do not have to “Fit-in” when you don’t want to. Remember Drugs should never become your pass-time and also there are no friendly drugs. Fear them!

Get Creative

Find creative ways to manage your boredom. Join groups that match your interests,i.emeet people who are in sync with the things that make you passionate. Replace your night get together’s on Friday nights with a visit to a trekking club, music club, book writing club, or anything that can interest you. Do not do drugs just to make your day good!

Share with Closed ones

If you feel that you are already under the influence of some kind of drug, find help from your friends and family members. There is no shame in seeking help for your weaknesses unless you want to end up on the road without assistance being taken to the hospital without your consent. The ability to admit where you are wrong and what needs improvement is the sign of strength and that will help you grow under all circumstances.

Don’t lean on drugs when under stress

If you are dealing with unpleasantness in your life, there are more chances of falling into the trap of being an addict. But this is exactly the time you should refrain yourself from any kind of drug at all cost. When you do drugs during extreme emotional turbulence, your brain associates with such kinds of emotions. Whenever you face such emotions your brain will tell you to do more of the drugs to avoid the unpleasant or to increase the euphoric feelings. The irony is emotions and situations will always be dynamic and hence you will always reach out for the drugs.

Meet a therapist

If opening up to a close friend or family member is too much work, take an appointment with a Psychologist to reach to the core of your problems. People generally get addicted because of underlying emotional problems which remain unresolved in their unconscious.

GET HELP BEFORE IT GETS LATE!

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Some things Can permanently Change your Life! In the Fable, The Red Shoes, a very young girl dreams of a pair of pretty red shoes. There is a blind woman who loves her and cares for her. She tricks the blind woman into buying her these beautiful pairs. She loves these red shoes and gave more importance to them than other important immaterial things in her life and as it happens in Fables, karma is watching it all. The shoes get stuck in her feet permanently and she is forced to dance without stopping. She had to keep on dancing until she almost dies of starvation and exhaustion!

In real life, we often do the same. We follow the things that we think will make us happy oblivious to the dangerous path that it may lead us to.

A recent study found that people who experience satisfaction from their jobs are not the ones in fancy offices but the ones who approach their work as their calling. It could be the Job of a menial labor as well.

Take note of these few habits to have a more meaningful and fulfilling Life:

Stay away from Toxic People

Negative people will erode the quality of your life tremendously. These people will be very unhappy with you when you decide to stay away from them, nevertheless stay away! Avoiding their influence will be worth the cumulative effect of years they will have on you. Each time you find your blood boil out of anger towards a co-worker or family member who is toxic, remember someone who helps you in making your life more peaceful.

Do not use Phone, laptop or Tablet before sleeping

This habit harms your productivity and sleep in a big way. The blue light from these devices plays an important role in altering your energy level, mood and the quality of sleep. The morning sunlight contains huge proportions of this blue light which stops production of sleep-inducing melatonin and hence you feel alert. The concentration of this blue light reduces as the day progresses. Hence, you feel sleepy.

When you watch Netflix lying on your bed, this blue light is emitted right into your face which interferes with your ability to fall asleep. Try to avoid all kinds of devices after dinner. Television is okay if you sit far apart from the screen.

Be grateful of “Now”

If you want to be peaceful and happy, being grateful for whatever you have is a fundamental tool. Wealth, cars, glamour will not bring happiness. The happiness you get from owning something is Temporary, you will crave for more and more. If you cannot afford a Champagne and caviar, you can still enjoy a full meal. If you are not able to appreciate the life you already have, you will not be able to appreciate the “Great Life” that you aspire to get. “

Your life will be an endless wait to reach a destination which you will never arrive at.”

Things are not always like you think them to be

This thing goes hand in hand with appreciating the “Now”. Don’t compare your life to that person on Facebook who you believe has a perfect life. They might also be trying to deal with a lot in their personal and professional lives behind the doors. The perfection that you see could be a Mirage. A trouble you are currently facing in life might turn out to be a good thing in the long run. Hence, stop trying to be omniscient; you are not a fortune teller. Always be open to possibilities that life has in store for you.

Start, even though you might fail

Writers spend unlimited hours brainstorming and writing pages after pages about ideas, plots, and characters which they are aware that they would never include in the final book. Ideas need time to develop. You have to give your ideas some time because great ideas take time to evolve. Don’t try to b perfect!

Jodi Picoult said, “ You can edit a bad page, but you can’t edit a blank page.”

Organise Yourself

This is a very important tool for being productive. The common perspective is that there a scarcity of Ideas, whereas in reality, spare time is a scarce thing. You seldom have enough spare time and still, spend so much time not being organized. Stop touching things 3-4 times and tossing them from here to there. Have a physical space for all important things that you need to respond to whenever you get some time rather than scanning a stack of documents.

Do things that remind you of who you are

We aspire to that coveted new term that is around called ‘Me time”, But what is that “me time”? It is that time slot you reserve for yourself to do the things that you want to do most authentically. This is the time when you take off all your masks and just be yourself. Dance on the tune of your favorite numbers at top volume, go for a run with a close friend. These moments will rejuvenate you!

Be a “No Man”

Even if you have not watched the famous movie “Yes Man” it is not a big loss because you have to be a “No Man”. Research shows that if you fail to say No and are more prone to say Yes to all requests that are forwarded your way, you will experience more stress, burnout, and even depression. You will lose your self-control eventually. Say “No” when you have to instead of using phrases like “I don’t think so” or “ I am doubtful of” etc. If you say NO to a new commitment, you give honor to your existing commitments. Remind yourself to say NO so that you can increase your self-control and prevent the negative effects of Over-commitment.

Make realistic goals

Big, aspirational goals can be very inspiring until you realize that it is not practically possible. At this stage when you fall short of achieving these goals you are completely disappointed and guilty. It is good to set goals that push your limits and challenge your abilities as long as you are within the bounds of reality.

We are an accumulation of our daily habits hence, choose them carefully. Cultivate habits that take you in the right direction!

Also, read our blog on being CALM

This is a Circadian Rhythm related sleep disorder. Circadian Rhythm is also known as your sleep/wake cycle that is the 24 hours clock that works internally in your body. This rhythm is cycling between your sleepiness and alertness at regular intervals.

A shift work sleep disorder is associated with insomnia, excessive sleepiness and affects people who work hours extend beyond regular work hours and overlaps with the typical sleep time. There are different kinds of manifestations of shift work sleep disorder depending on shift work schedules like intermittent, permanent, or rotating shifts of work hours.

For most of you, the energy level will dip around the middle of the night between 2 am to 4 am which is the period of deep sleep and post lunch around 1 pm and 3 pm when you generally crave for a post-lunch nap. Although, these periods could vary a bit if you are a Night-owl or a Morning-person.

 It is important for you to get treated if you think you are suffering from Shift work disorder. To find out, here are a few symptoms:

a)You feel drowsy when you are at work or out with your family for social engagements or during your “off-time”.

b)You are often unproductive at work and it is difficult for you to think quickly or make good decisions.

c) It is difficult for you to sleep when you are off your work and are supposed to sleep.

d) You cannot sleep for seven to nine hours at a stretch and often wake up very soon.

e)You have a disturbed sleep and wake up quite a number of times during sleep

f) Feel irritable and moody

g) Your work and sleep schedule has created a lot of trouble in your interpersonal relationships.

Here are a few things you can do to adjust easily:

For night Shifts –

Keep your sleep and wake time same even on the days that you have off. This will help regulate your circadian rhythm, improve the quality of your sleep and will help you be alert during your work hours.

For Rotating Shifts

a)Try to rotate your shift timings clockwise which is shift from a day to an evening to a night shift and not the other way round or without any pattern.

b)When you are about to start a new shift, start adjusting to it gradually. Start three days prior to the new shift date and delay your sleep and wake up time an hour or two each day according to the new schedule.

Some tips to sleep better during the day:

a)Wear dark glasses while you are on your way back home as light has an alerting influence on your circadian rhythm.

b) Use dark light and noise blocking curtains in your bedroom

c)Keep your bedroom as quiet as possible. You can use a white noise machine or a fan to block out sounds too. Try using earplugs as well!

d)Inform your family members about the time when you want to sleep undisturbed. You can also use a ‘do, not disturb-sleeping’ sign on the door

e) Keep the temperature in your bedroom cool.

f) Limit your caffeine consumption as it stays in your body for many hours. Drink caffeine 6-7 hours before you go to sleep.

g)Do not drink alcohol before going to sleep. Alchohol can make you fall asleep but it will make you wake up earlier. You will also have a disturbed sleep eventually with regular consumption.

Sometimes, sleep disorders if left untreated results in other more serious disorders and eventual burnout. If you feel that your sleep problems are not manageable at your personal level, please seek help from a Professional.

How you manage your emotions and stay calm in stressful situations has a direct link to your performance. Research has found that 90% of good performers are extremely skilled at managing emotions.
Stress is very detrimental to your mental health. When you expose yourself to prolonged stress, the cells in your brain that are responsible for self-control get damaged.

The most important point here to keep in mind is that anxiety and stress are necessary emotions as you will never take action under zero stress. Hence, when you are under moderate levels of stress, you perform best; but if you prolong that it could be fatal for you. Studies have shown that intermittent stress makes your brain more alert and results in the development of new cells.

Prolonged stress can lead to heart disease, depression, obesity to name a few. If you sit back and think about it you will notice the majority of the stress that you experience is subjective and under your control. You just have to manage it well.

Here are a few things what you can do to manage stressful situations:

Appreciate whatever you have:

Take time to appreciate whatever good things you have in your life, it will reduce your stress hormone cortisol in the body. If you cultivate an attitude of gratitude you will experience an improvement in your mood, energy levels, and physical well being.

Don’t ask yourself ” what if “

Throwing yourself with questions like ‘what if’ will only fuel your worry. Everything in your life can go in numerous different directions hence focus on taking necessary action in all situations rather than worrying about what could go wrong.’ What if ‘questions will only make you anxious and that is not the place where you want to be.

Try to stay positive

Focus your attention on something that is completely stress-free, which will make your stress intermittent. Help your monkey brain to focus on something that is positive by selecting productive thoughts. This will help refocus your attention. Although when things go wrong it is difficult as the mind is busy processing negative thoughts. Identify one positive thought that happened during the day, yesterday, or last week and focus on it. You can also focus on some exciting event that you have planned for yourself. It is important to shift your attention.

Disconnect for a while

Technology has made our life easier but also made disconnecting a challenging task. Notifications, messages and Whatsapp will follow you even during your vacations. It is difficult to ignore messages from work on weekdays but you can start with weekends. Keep blocks of time when you cut all connections and go offline. Start with timings when you are unlikely to be contacted and gradually expand the amount of time.

Limit your caffeine intake

Caffeine triggers the release of ‘Adrenaline’ which is a source of “flight or fight” response. It forces you to stand up and take action when there is a threat. When you are on a “flight or fight”, your rationality goes for a toss in order to give a faster response. This is not a response that you need when you have to answer your boss’s email. When You take caffeine, your emotions overpower your actions. The life of caffeine in your body is long and hence it is far from the intermittent stress that we are talking about.

Sleep well

Take your sleep time seriously. When you sleep your brain recharges and you wake up alert and clear in thoughts. When you deprive yourself of sleep the stress hormone levels in your body increase even without a stressor.

Prevent negative self-talk

The more you talk negatively to yourself the more power you give to them. Most of the thoughts that go through your head throughout the day are just thoughts, not facts. Beat thoughts that consist of “always”,” never”, “ever” etc. When you are thinking negative just write them down literally and retrain your brain with a more rational alternative.

Breathe

The best way to make your stress intermittent is by breathing. Focus on “breathing in” and “breathing out” to stay in the moment. This will prevent your Mind from wandering. Count each breath till you reach 50. Don’t worry if you get lost in the middle but always try to come back.

Last, of all take support from your family friends colleagues and offload your work.