Have you ever been so stressed that you felt like you didn’t know how to cope? If so, you’re not alone. Stress can ruin our sleep and make us more prone to eating poorly. Our bathroom trips get out of whack. We get sick. And sometimes, stress can be so bad that we struggle to simply make it through the day.

Sadly, in the modern world, stress is also a problem that’s only getting worse. According to recent surveys, 77% of U.S. adults report feeling “stressed out” regularly, and 67% of us have been so stressed at work in recent months that we’ve contemplated quitting our jobs. Even if you don’t feel like your daily level of stress is that severe, it’s still likely that you’re dealing with way more stress than you’re even aware of.

A Uniquely Personal Problem

In general, stress can be defined as a feeling of emotional or physical tension that arises from situations where we feel overwhelmed, threatened, or unable to cope with the demands before us. However, what is stressful for one person may not be for another. The American Institute of Stress makes it clear there is no universal definition of stress that everyone agrees on, or that applies to us all. This is due to the complex and shifting nature of how stress impacts us individually. There are so many symptoms of “stress,” both physical and mental, that each of us tends to experience the condition in our own unique way.

Your stress might arise from work pressures, financial difficulties, personal relationships, or health concerns. Whatever the cause, that stress can also manifest in a wide variety of ways, both mental and physical. You might experience anxiety, irritability, fatigue, headaches, or even muscle tension as a result of feeling stressed.

Our perception of stress is also subjective and varies widely from person to person, depending on our individual experiences, coping mechanisms, and overall resilience. This immense variability makes managing stress a unique issue that we all have to master in our own way. The good news is that we’re already all equipped to wage this battle. Our personal experience with stress is actually the absolute best way to inform how we choose to deal with it. But to get there, you have to form a battle plan and spend some time taking stock of your own unique form of stress, so you know exactly how it tends to present itself.

Measuring Your Stress

Think back on recent times you know you were stressed, whether it was as a result of work, relationships, or something else going on in your life. Now, reflect on your physical, mental, and emotional reactions to that stress. Maybe you always experience tension on the left side of your neck when stress strikes. Or maybe your mouth always seems to become dry. You could get emotional watching a sappy commercial as a result of your stress. Or, maybe your stress motivates you to clean or work out in an attempt to escape your thoughts and focus your mind elsewhere.

Stress is creative in how it manifests, especially when we consider all the millions of possible stress triggers that could bring it on. By identifying what most often causes you to feel stressed and how your stresses most frequently manifest, you can develop personalized strategies to manage or avoid your stress triggers more effectively. This tailored approach to stress management is useful not just for recognizing and addressing the root causes of stress, but also for providing early intervention.

By noticing the initial signs of stress, such as headaches, irritability, or muscle tension, you can take proactive steps to mitigate those feelings before your stress escalates into its more serious forms. This heightened awareness will also enable you to create a roadmap to where your stress most often starts and how it typically develops. Having this clear picture of your stress can make your efforts to manage it that much more effective.

Keeping Stress in Check

The most important aspect of anti-stress self-care — and managing the stress we experience — is determining how we address our stress in the moment. Accepting that we are experiencing stress and acknowledging any other feelings that have come along with it is a good start. This is when awareness and self-care meet. When we have the clarity of mind to accept that we are stressed, we can be far more successful in how we treat the condition.

When we perceive that we are stressed, we can also work to avoid all the negative thoughts that often come along with stress, like feelings of inadequacy or fear of failure. Even more importantly, by knowing our stress triggers and how our stress uniquely manifests, we can also try to head it off before it becomes more severe.

For instance, if you notice that stress causes headaches and you feel one coming on, take immediate steps to relax. Try deep breathing exercises, gentle neck stretches, or practicing soothing meditation. Drinking plenty of water and taking a short break from your current activity can also help alleviate the tension causing the headache, give you time to reflect on what is making you so stressed, and explore alternate ways to deal with that feeling.

Similarly, if stress often leads you to procrastinate and you’re starting to feel stuck in a rut and wanting to put things off, you can learn to manage and alleviate that stress by breaking your tasks into smaller, more manageable steps. Set specific, achievable goals and use techniques like the Pomodoro Technique, which involves working for 25 minutes followed by a 5-minute break as a way to keep pushing forward, despite stress attempting to bring your day to a stand-still. Prioritizing tasks and creating a schedule can also help you stay on track, better manage your stress, and reduce the overwhelming sense of burden stress can bring and that often leads to procrastination.

In the same vein, knowing other unique stress triggers and how our stress manifests — whether through digestive issues, insomnia, emotional outbursts, or something else — can also help us to develop other personalized strategies to address these symptoms promptly and to nip our stress in the bud, before it blossoms and becomes even more severe.

Putting It All to Work

Remember, stress impacts everyone, regardless of our age, occupation, or where we live in the world. At some point, something will arise that makes us feel stressed and on the verge of being overwhelmed. But we don’t have to let that stress win! By knowing our own unique triggers, how our stress manifests and is most likely to present — and dealing with those symptoms as soon as they show up, we can all get a head start in better managing those emotions. This proactive approach to stress management can not only help us all to manage our stress more effectively, but also helps to keep us healthier, happier, and living a far more harmonious life.

Sorry stress! In this battle, you didn’t stand a chance…