The nocturnal guide to decreasing stress

Most toolsof the tools that promise to complete your life and make it more productive or efficient are crap and just a bunch of re-chewed jibberish. It might work for a while, as a matter of fact, most things do. But on the long run it will let you down. 

Beneath you will find tricks and/or tips that worked for me, right from my own real-life experience :).  I'll show you tricks that worked for me to decrease stress, increase productivity, enhance my life and to embrace minimalism. First up in the series of stories is:

Decrease Stress

You can be a super efficient, on top of it all human being on the outside. But chances are, your being eaten from the inside out. At least, that's how I used to feel a lot of the time. 

To combat this, I've used multiple principles to lower my stress levels and maintain a clear head whenever possible. 

• Exercise and movement are magic

I'm not talking about going to the gym, or squatting untill you feel like your legs are on fire. I try to walk every day, for at least 30 minutes. This can be during lunch hour (at my job we take 1 hour off to have lunch, I need like 15 minutes...). If I didn't get a walk in at lunch (because of meetings for example) I work before I go home, or I go out for a run when I'm home. 

When I'm at work I also stand up and walk around every hour, this can be to go get a cup of coffee or have a bathroom break, or just go to the copying machine.. As long as I'm moving at least hourly I'm fine with it. 

Additionally I aim to go for a run 2-3 times a week, averaging around 5K (30 mins). On the days where I don't run, I try to do at least 10 minutes of additional exercise. Apps I like for this are: just 6 weeks and Sworkit. I particularly enjoy Sworkit because it has a set for general stretching (excellent after running, but also on a day to day base to loosen up my office muscles :) ) and a set for Pilates. If I don't want to use an app, I just do a few routines with my kettlebell. 

• Meditate daily, for at least 10 minutes

At first I thought meditation was just a bunch of salespeople trying to sell another self-help, ideologic method, but turns out, it actually works for me.. Who would've known? 

When at work I meditate daily, this can be in the remainders of my lunch break, before I go inside in the morning, or when I'm done for the day. 

I have tried multiple apps for meditaition, Calm and Headspace being the most well-known. I do however strongly prefer Headspace. Their introduction 10 day serie is an excellent starting point, and they're adding new series focussing on health, stress, students,... regularly. I pay €5.99 p/m per year and it's awesome :). 

One important tip I have though: don't medidate 2 hours before your go to sleep. I find that my mind can't find rest if I medidate so close to my bedtime, and thus it's harming my night's rest. 

• Get enough sleep

I tried different ways of sleeping. In short episodes of 2-3 hours each, cutting it down to 6 hours per night to maximize my available time. I tried the sleep cycles detailed in the 4-hour body by Tim Ferris, all of them worked for a few weeks, and then I 'crashed'. 

I'm sure it might work for people, but it just didn't work for me. I'm at my best the day after if I get 7-7.5 hours of sleep. I tried apps and sleep trackers but most of the time, that annoys me more than anything else. What works best for me:

- Use some soothing music from spotify 15 minutes before sleeping
- A cool room (20° C max)
- A decent bed.  I'm serious, you need a matras that feels like it's swallowing you in a supporting manner (I have no other way of explaining it :D ). 

Works every time :D 

• Find someone to talk to

Having someone to talk to is one of the most important things for me. Getting married helps, but it isn't mandatory ofcourse. It's heaven having someone to talk to every day, someone to calm you down when you're overly excited, someone who shares your beliefs and values, someone to have deep meaningful conversations with. 

If you're not in a relationship, find a friend you can do this things with. But find someone who's honest with you. If you only have friends who just put up with you because they have something to gain, but refuse giving something back it's not going to work. 

This doesn't necessarily have to be someone you meet in person every day. I'm not a big talker myself, I prefer the written word, so in my early teens and 20's I used to do a lot of talking (and venting) over chat tools (yeah MSN, I mean you!). Whatever helps! 

Thanks for reading! 

Again, I want to thank everyone for sticking with me during this wall of text (although it's spiced up with gif's). I hope you enjoyed it!

Next time I will be posting a story on a few of my own productivity 'hacks'. 

What are your tips to decrease stress? Let me know!