Lists Can Help Ease Everyday Stress

A very dear friend of mine is into creating lists to help her on a daily basis. Not just the kind of lists you would make to go grocery shopping or a daily routine. The lists she makes are more like how can she improve on her life, what she’s grateful for on a daily basis, and if she’s struggling with some personal problems, the pros and cons of each situation that’s troubling her.

I started to think about these “lists” she makes and how much they have helped her. If you really stop and think about it, how often do you just sit down and write out a list of things you are grateful for? For those of you who do, WOW! Congratulations! When I’m having a hard time making a decision about something that will impact my life, I am now starting to STOP and write down all the pros and cons of what the outcome could/should be. It doesn’t always make up my mind for me, but usually it does help.

Who would have thought that something as simple as a list could be such a great coping skill? When I went on-line to do some research about coping skills, this is one that I didn’t find. I found journaling and lots of other things mentioned, but list making wasn’t one of the more popular ones.  I Googled, “making lists for decision in life,” and came up with this: http://www.decision-making-confidence.com/examples-of-decision-making-models.html.  What caught my eye more than anything was the opening header that reads: “Choose To Be You – Know What To Do!”

It never hurts to try something once and see if it works. If it doesn’t help after a few days or even a week, try moving on to something else. We all have different ways of coping with our everyday life’s stressors.  I hope this helps some as it has helped me tremendously.