Jarrod Shapiro, DPM Practice Perfect Editor Assistant Professor, Dept. of Podiatric Medicine, Surgery & Biomechanics College of Podiatric Medicine Western University of Health Sciences, St, Pomona, CA

Stress Reduction

The last few weeks have been particularly stressful for my wife and myself. We recently decided to put our house up for sale to move a little west of where we currently live. Residing in the Los Angeles area makes life quite interesting for us. Currently, my wife drives my son about three hours both ways to his dance classes at least four times per week and sometimes more (he's a serious ballet dancer). Unfortunately, the only dance schools that teach what he needs are located closer to Los Angeles (hence the long drive). Additionally, my son will be returning to school (he's currently homeschooled), and my daughter will be starting school soon. This means we want to be in an area with specific schools, which are only west of our current location.

To improve our current situation, we decided to sell our house and buy a new one in a more desirable area. As anyone that has sold a house knows, the process can be stressful. We had to ready our house for sale. Professional window cleaners, home cleaners, photographers, realtor, open house, private showings and minor repairs have taken up a lot of time and energy, not to mention looking for a new home in a challenging market with little stock available. Of course, all the regular parts of life still go on, including my work, which demands a good bit of my time.

		Tonight's Premier Lecture is Onychomycosis: What exactly is it and how is it diagnosed? Warren S Joseph, DPM, FIDSA

What do you do when you have a particularly stressful day? Hide in the closet and drink a lot of alcohol? Sounds like a great option, but maybe that's not the most productive stress reliever. 

There's nothing unique about my life's stresses. We all have various threads pulling at our time and energy. We all have last minute situations that come up. Deadlines abound. We all have stress. Now, by no means am I an expert in stress relief mechanisms. I'm just like you, with daily stress that I try to manage without it becoming overwhelming.

So, from a non-expert status, here are 10 ways one can deal with stress.

1. Plan. Figure out all of those responsibilities and assignments that require your time. Budget your time to complete them over as long a time period as you can, breaking each task up into parts. Stick to your schedule, and as you complete your tasks, you'll see they were not as stressful as you thought.
2. Don't wait for the last minute. Procrastination breeds stress. Completing that major project the night before it's due will do nothing but fray your nerves. Additionally, if an emergency comes up, you will no longer have the time to complete your project.
3. Exercise. Plenty of studies have demonstrated the benefits of exercise for stress reduction. Current recommendations state 150 hours of exercise per week or 30 minutes per day. I exercise intermittently due to scheduling and family issues, but I find I always feel better the rest of the day when I do exercise.
4. Breathe. When you're in the middle of that stressful moment, it's often good to just take a second and breathe. Take a deep relaxing breath. When I was a resident on my general surgery rotation, I watched one of the senior surgeons take a deep calming breath when dealing with a frustrating resident during a particularly challenging case. It worked for him, why not for you?
5. Pause. Cease motion. This can occur in the stressful moment or in general. During a busy day, I like to take a few pauses where I reflect for perhaps 60 seconds on what I just completed. Alternatively, a longer pause – called vacation – is also important to recharge.
6. Stop. There comes a point where it's better to just stop, put the work down and leave it for tomorrow. Perhaps you might use this in conjunction with planning. Schedule yourself time each day to stop working. Maybe you would be better able to relax if you stopped work at 7 PM each day? You might think you'll get behind unless you keep working. But what if stopping, doing something relaxing, and then picking up the work the next day made you even more productive than simply powering through? Food for thought.
7. Sleep. Almost all animals require sleep, and we are no different. Think about how good you feel the next day after those rare times when you get a full night's sleep. Nightcap anyone?
8. Keep your perspective. Ask yourself, is this task so important and so significant that it's worth becoming stressed out over? Is this so important that my health should suffer as a result? It's hard to maintain perspective in the moment. This is where pausing, reflecting, and sometimes even stopping become so important.
9. Maintain your support network. No one knows you better than family and friends. These are the people that love you unconditionally. Use these people to discuss your stress. Since they know you so well, perhaps they'll have good suggestions that will work for you.

10. Speak to a Professional if you become overwhelmed. There are times when life's stress simply become too much to bear. When everything feels like it's too much, get help. Don't wait for a disaster to occur before you ask for help.

Daily stress will likely never change, and in reality there's probably very little that we can truly control. However, how we respond to that stress — our attitudes — is one thing we do control. We can consider our lives in perspective, with all their trials and tribulations, and practice those stress reduction techniques to remain healthy. I wouldn't give up my life — with all of its stress — for anything, so with the bad comes the good. And I'm happy to experience both.

Best wishes,

Jarrod Shapiro, DPM
PRESENT Practice Perfect Editor
[email protected]

Get a steady stream of all the NEW PRESENT Podiatry eLearning by becoming our Facebook Fan. Effective eLearning and a Colleague Network await you.

Grand Sponsor

Major Sponsor