Written on 30-11-2017

Besides increasing your risk of heart disease, depression and obesity, prolonged stress state decreases your cognitive performance. Here are 10 strategies used by smart people to cope with it, and keep it under control:

  1. They Appreciate What They Have

Taking time to contemplate what you’re grateful for isn’t merely the “right” thing to do. It also improves your mood, because it reduces the stress hormone cortisol by 23%. Research conducted at the University of California, Davis found that people who worked daily to cultivate an attitude of gratitude experienced improved mood, energy, and physical well-being. It’s likely that lower levels of cortisol played a major role in this.

  1. They Avoid Asking “What If?”

“What if?” statements throw fuel on the fire of stress and worry. Things can go in a million different directions, and the more time you spend worrying about the possibilities, the less time you’ll spend focusing on taking action that will calm you down and keep your stress under control. Calm people know that asking “what if?” will only take them to a place they don’t want—or need—to go.

  1. They Stay Positive

Positive thoughts help make stress intermittent by focusing your brain’s attention onto something that is completely stress-free. You have to give your wandering brain a little help by consciously selecting something positive to think about. Any positive thought will do to refocus your attention. When things are going well, and your mood is good, this is relatively easy. When things are going poorly, and your mind is flooded with negative thoughts, this can be a challenge. In these moments, think about your day and identify one positive thing that happened, no matter how small. If you can’t think of something from the current day, reflect on the previous day or even the previous week. Or perhaps you’re looking forward to an exciting event that you can focus your attention on. The point here is that you must have something positive that you’re ready to shift your attention to when your thoughts turn negative.

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長期處於壓力之下除了會增加患上心臟病、抑鬱症及癡肥的風險外，還會降低你的認知表現。以下是十個精明的壓力處理方法︰

  1. 保持感恩態度

懂得感恩不但是一種正確的態度，而且能減少皮質醇（令壓力產生的荷爾蒙）達23%，  改善你的心情。戴維斯加利福尼亞大學的研究顯示，每天都持感恩之心的人，心情、活力及體魄均會提升。當中原因很可能與皮質酵水平低有關。

       2. 避免想「要是……怎麼辦？」

  「要是……怎麼辦？」這句話往往會令人倍感壓力和憂慮。一件事情可以有一百萬種不同的處理方法，花越多時間擔心各種可能的發展，著手處理事情的時間便越少，如此只會令你更加無法冷靜下來處理壓力。因此，善於處理壓力的人都不會去問「要是……怎麼辦？」，因為這只是自尋煩惱。

        3. 保持正面想法

 正面的想法有助轉移大腦的注意力，避免大腦連續處於壓力之下，適時舒緩大腦。有意識地想些正面的事情，可稍微阻止大腦胡思亂想，讓你重新集中。當然，在事情進展順利，加上心情又好時，這樣做並不難；然而，在事情進展不順暢、腦袋又充斥著消極的想法時，想要從正面看事情便沒那麼容易了。這時，你可以試著回想當天發生過的事情，找出一件正面的事，無論此事有多小。如果當天真的找不到，想想前一天甚至前一周的事，又或者嘗試將你的注意力集中在一件即將發生又令人興奮的事情上。重要的是，你必須讓自己有正面的想法，當負面情緒湧現時，能隨時把注意力轉移到它們身上。