It’s Stress Awareness Month – how’s your stress bucket looking?
This month we are reflecting on how important looking after our mental health is. Rewarding though working in social care is, it can also undoubtedly be pretty stressful from time to time, so the Stress Bucket can be a really useful tool. It’s quite a common way to look at everything going on in your life and look at how simple actions can keep your water levels down!
Many things – from something minor like being stuck in traffic to major events like a house move or a bereavement – will rain water into your bucket. Mental or physical ill health will also affect your stress levels. The more your bucket fills, the less capacity you have to cope with stress, and the more likely you are to become overwhelmed.
If you feel like your stress bucket is about to overflow, there is good news!
There are very simple ways to lower the water level in your stress bucket – just being outdoors, in your garden or a local park, or going for a walk can be enormously beneficial. Thinking about other ways to empty your bucket is also an opportunity to focus on doing what you enjoy – whether this is cooking, exercising, listening to music or reading – as well as an opportunity to try new things.
Other tried and tested techniques include:
- Breathing exercises, such as box breathing or 7-11 breathing which can really help you manage stress and anxiety
- Meditating helps to reduce physical tension in the body and to release worries in the mind
- Journalling is a great way to focus your mind and thoughts and to ‘let go’ of fears or ideas that are causing you stress.
Finding simple ways you can lower your stress levels regularly is key. You don’t have to spend ages doing it (unless you want to!) but you will notice the difference if you make time regularly for some activities that work for you. When managing stress, little and often is often much more effective, and what’s important is that you find what’s right for you.
Useful websites or organisations
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