This week we are talking about life transitions and our topic is managing the stress of transition and change. Change is an inevitable part of life. It can come with excitement, but it can also be stressful. Whether it’s something we chose or circumstantial, managing the stress of transition and change can be difficult. People are generally creatures of habit. Stepping out of that habit creates changes in our situation, emotions, and thoughts. The challenge and stress of change has to do with it being something new. It comes with the unknown and presents situations we may not have handled before.
Everyone will encounter change in their life. It is normal to to experience stress. People have a tendency to put a timeline on how long it should take to acclimate to the change. They judge themselves when it feels like it’s been “too long.” This mindset doesn’t account for all the many factors that come with change.
There is no clear cut length to get situated when managing the stress of transition and change.
This is especially true when it comes to transitions in life stages. As time goes on, we enter these different stages and they each come with challenges. The life stages include infancy, early childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, middle adulthood, and late adulthood. The fact that adulthood is split into different stages is often forgotten. This makes it harder to recognize this is a common life transition that understandably comes with stress.Normalizing this process for yourself is extremely important when it comes to managing the stress of transition and change. Remember that there is not a point where you should have everything figured out. Don’t discount that any change comes with a certain level of stress. The bottom line is, identify change as stressful and take out any judgements you have on yourself for your feelings, thoughts, and behaviors around this change.
Right now ask yourself: “How do I currently manage the stress of transition and change? Think about what you do that you find effective and where there is room for improvement.
Managing the stress of transition and change is a skill to be learned.
Even though each change by definition is new and different, you can create a foundation where you can ease the stress. Here are some tips on to create that foundation:
- Stay on top of self-care. Change often brings a lot to do, keeping us busy. It can be easy to forget about our self-care needs. However, not taking care of ourselves makes us more vulnerable to stress. It can lead to being more irritable and easily triggered. Therefore, make sure you are making time for the basic self-care tasks. This includes eating, sleeping, and personal hygiene. Taking the time to do these things will allow you more energy to handle both the practical and emotional stress that comes with change.
- Make time to relax. Another common thing people get too busy to do when dealing with change is not finding time for relaxation and fun. This will only burn you out. To help avoid this burnout, plan the time for relaxation and fun every day. Know what your limits are and when these types of breaks are necessary.
- Utilize deep breathing. When managing the stress of transition and change, if you find yourself getting overwhelmed, engage in deep breathing to help calm you down. Take a deep breath in and hold for a count of 5, then exhale for a count of 7. Do this for a few minutes until you feel more relaxed. This type of breathing sends signals to your brain that everything is ok, allowing you to find more calm.
- Stop ruminating. Managing the stress of transition and change can come with a lot of obsessive thoughts. Thoughts around how stressed you are, fear around what this change means, over-analyzing how you are dealing with things, etc. This rumination increases stress levels, making it harder to manage everything. Notice when you are ruminating and distract yourself from it. What distracts each individual will be different. You can do things like watch t.v., read a book, play a game on your phone, take a walk. Find what will work for you.
- Lean on friends/family for support. Managing the stress of transition and change is more difficult when you do it alone. Allow yourself to lean on others for support. Ask for help when you need it. Make time to vent about how you are feeling. Know you have to manage everything alone.
Take a minute and think about how utilizing these tips can help you go into managing the stress of transition and change with more ease. Think about what you want to do differently when it comes managing the stress of transition and change. Consider what kind of impact that will have moving forward.
“Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.” Jim Rohn
Alyssa Mairanz, LMHC, DBTC
Alyssa Mairanz provides counseling and therapy services for life transitions, relationship issues, self esteem, depression, anxiety, and DBT and Psychodynamic therapy in a NYC group practice in the Flatiron District near Madison Square Park. She also serves the Village, Chelsea, Union Square, the Financial District and the surrounding areas.
Empower Your Mind Therapy’s mission is to helps our clients build the life they want and find more happiness and satisfaction.
