How do you deal with stress?

I recently started graduate school(Master of Public Health) and working at two-part time jobs, one of which is requires me to work all night on Friday and Saturday. I'm also working towards registering as a sleep technologist, so I'm studying for that on top of my class work. Starting in January, I'll be studying to take the MCAT again and then the process of reapplying to medical school starts (which is enough stress for multiple lifetimes).

I exercise (cardio and weights) for 1.5 hours, 6-7 days a week, in an effort to lose more weight (went from 210 lbs to 200 lbs and eventually want to get down to 170 lbs).

No boasting going on, just letting you know my situation.

Before, exercise was enough to relieve any stress I had. As I go on with this
life I'm leading, I feel like the stress is building up and I have to beat it down harder and harder during my workouts.

To sum up, I need another outlet for this stress. I wish I could devote time to another activity (besides shaving), but I just don't have enough hours in the day. Smoking doesn't suit me. I smoked hookah, which is arguably the same as cigarettes, but I don't like what it does to my body during work outs. Nowadays, anything more than two German beers and I feel terrible in the morning; same for a glass of scotch, being that the effects are immediate.

Anyone do any stress management in the past? Please and thank you!

Also, share your stress stories and how you are coping. Hearing about other people's stress management can be helpful.

Easy...If your single...get married and give your wife a copy of the "Good wife's guide".

Can you get a pet of some sort? Although they add an obligation/level of responsibility, I found my dogs to be a great stress reliever back in my single days.

I listen to heavy metal... soothing to my senses.

Meditation

I'm also an occasional pipe smoker

Walking helps me. I take my 3 dogs with me.

If you want to avoid stress . . . Do not give your wife a copy of the good wife's guide. I, for one, will not even admit to seeing that document.

I agree on the pet idea. My pup and his enthusiasm when I come home is an instant stress drainer. I have various hobbies, well supported here, in addition to having a good shave. Cooking, knives, wine making, gardening. I enjoy nature sounds put to music CDs . . .

I've found a lot of stress relief in getting my head right as to what I'm doing, what is important, and what is not. Steven Covey has some great stuff out on audio.

Take Care.

Mike

Usually it's sitting on the deck, listening to music, smoking a cigar, but it sounds like 2 of those are out for you!

I have a single Betta fish in a tank on my desk. The little fish has more personality than a lot of the people I work with. When I'm at my wits end at work, I usually just stare and play with the fish. He'll follow my finger anywhere. 30 dollars and you can get a complete set up going. Extremely low maintenance.

We offer a stress management course at work for employees. It's mostly just some light stretching and breathing exercises.

Unfortunately I live in the graduate dorms with three other fellas and the university has strictly prohibited pets of any kind.

I like cigars, but I can't see myself relaxing like that.

Has anyone taken up yoga or know someone that has? It seems like something I'd like to try, especially considering my family is of Indian origin.

I've also heard calligraphy, especially that of the Japanese variety is well suited to stress relief. Any ideas?

As for getting married....let's not even talk about that. I ate breakfast a little over a week ago with the very pretty girl that works at the front desk of my dorm. I proceeded to go on vacation with my family and called her a few days after I returned. I asked her out to coffee, but I hadn't heard from her in over week. I even saw her Saturday morning after working. She was visibly tense and I figured from her body language and demeanor that she expected me to be upset or confront her.

I spoke very gentlemanly to her and left it at that. I think I would rather put my efforts toward finishing this master's degree and getting into medical school.

Keep the ideas coming ladies and gents! I appreciate the ideas and excellent wit tremendously

Aside from the Dog and 2 cats I enjoy photography. It's a little time consuming but very rewarding!

Try a yoga class or maybe a martial arts class instead of one of your cardio workouts

I'll occasionally go somewhere remote and just scream as loud as I can, take the dog for a walk,read a book that's interesting yet quick to read, I'm reading choke right now. Go for a drive with no music on and drive as fast as you dare and just listen to the engine as it goes through the gears, watch a funny movie.

I use anyone or all of these things in any given week as I am a treatment home foster parent and have some of the worst kids ever! (I mean that in a nice way) It's not their fault they are the way they are but it's my job to try and reverse it.

At any given time I may be subject to whatever feelings they may have good, bad or otherwise and when it's bad it's BAD! I've never heard 10 and 12 year olds talk or say the things these guys say to me! Everyone I know thinks I just sit back and get paid like I'm some sort of glorified babysitter!

Here's the reality of it, when you leave school or work that's it, your gone from there. I never leave work. What I do is 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. Even when I'm on holidays I have to call my relief workers to make sure they aren't to stressed out, that's how much of a handful these guys are!

Some soft (volume wise) classical music and a good book usually does the trick for me. Or a glass of bourbon and a good cigar but that's out.

Singing usually works really well for me. I have some classical training, so it is something I enjoy doing.

Healthy good advice:
Find some one to talk to, a friend, a lover, a professional (if you feel you need it) a goldfish will do in a pinch, you obviously need some sort of release your hobbies aren't giving you and back and forth with some one who understands you might help you reduce/ avoid some of your stressors.

What I actually do:
Drink hard, for a long period of time.

Lathering soaps or creams, honing, stropping standing around my my work shop and organizing.

Sounds like your schedule is packed full, really full!

When you feel that it gets harder to work out, thats normally the sign of lacking restitution, so the key here is restitution. But with your workout habits, you already know that. How much do you sleep? With your schedule I would say that anything less than 7 hours would probably add to the stress.

I have found myself in incredibly stressful situations in my previous job, and after a lot of soulsearching I found that the cause was that I actually was not able to perform any of my roles to the level I wanted to. Not my job, not my role as a husband, and not my role as a father.

Eventually my company filed for bankruptcy, and that jobsituation cleared. I have used 1½ year to regain my position as husband/father to where it should be, and that is extremely satisfying. In my current job I also feel stressed from time to time, but I assign that to me learning a completely new culture (went from commercial IT production to a government research organisation). But it helps when I know I do the best I can, and that I add value.

I have used meditation, but it does not work if you perform it casually. However 10-20 minutes every day will give quite good benefits, 30 minutes even better.

But can you pack that in to your schedule?

/Max

I try to take my mind off from the stress factor.

I could go for a walk, listen to music, read a book, watch a movie.

I zone out and do not think, play some video games or just cuddle up to my wife, it's helping me through some very stressful moments right now. Also hanging out on here has been a big help to me lately (although I keep getting tempted to spend money I don't have on starting straights )

My suggestion would be to look at all the commitments that you've made and see if you can't shift something to another time. I think that it is very important to be organized and to work from a plan. However that doesn't mean that you have to do everything immediately. Working, completing your MPH, studying for your MCATs and writing applications might be enough for now. Maybe you can move something like the sleep technologist qualification to Year Two of a five year plan? That way you can decompress a little.