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Writer's pictureDr. Julia

A Stress Coach is Your Key to Improving Productivity and Mood

Updated: Aug 8, 2022

A stress coach can help you prevent and manage high stress and anxiety that gets in the way of your mood, energy, and productivity.


Many of my clients are high achieving, ambitious, and motivated individuals.


What you don't see is that they struggle with low energy, fatigue, poor attention, low productivity, and non-existent sleep.


Why would such highly ambitious individuals have these issues you ask?


Simple answer-high stress getting in the way of their ability to unlock their true potential in life.


Does this sound like you as well? No worries if it does, since there is a lot that can be done to change this.


The best way to step into the best version of yourself and accomplish everything that you want is by working with a stress coach.


stress coach


A Stress Coach: When Do I Need One?


A stress coach can help you prevent and manage the high stress that gets in the way of your mood. Your productivity. Your goals. And so much more.


You may be asking yourself-how do I know when I need a stress coach? Good question. A stress coach can help you when you notice that stress starts to negatively impact your life.



High stress impacts us in so many ways (and usually in combination). A stress coach can help you if you find that stress is negatively impacting your life in any of the following ways:


Physical Health


One of the most frustrating impacts of high stress is uncomfortable and distracting physical symptoms. The following physical issues can really get in our way when stress and anxiety are high:


  • Headaches

  • Nausea, diarrhea, constipation, and other stomach issues

  • Muscle tension and discomfort (shoulders, neck, and other areas)

  • High blood pressure

  • Chest tightness

  • Frequent illness


Ever tried to be productive and focused when your head is throbbing or you need to use the bathroom every few hours? I'm guessing you probably were not very productive or focused.


Mood


High stress can impact our mood in many ways. A low mood can be distracting, reduce our thinking abilities, and decrease productivity. High stress can cause the following mood changes:


  • Irritability

  • Frustration

  • Anger

  • Tearfulness

  • Depression

  • Overwhelm

  • Loneliness


Productivity


One of the most frustrating consequences of high stress is diminished productivity. The higher the stress, the less sharp our cognitive abilities. Therefore, high stress can result in the following issues with productivity:


  • Poor attention, concentration, and focus

  • Decreased problem solving abilities

  • Problems with decision making

  • Procrastination and avoidance of important tasks

  • Disorganization

As you know, limits in these abilities can have significant impacts on our ability to accomplish what we need to do in the workplace and how we feel about ourselves as a result.


Relationships


When stress is high, we are likely to experience a series of mood, physical, and behavioral changes that can negatively impact our relationships. High stress can have the following negative consequences for relationships:


  • Increased fighting

  • Snapping at others

  • Isolating from others

  • Avoiding others

  • Feeling uncomfortable speaking up at work

Interpersonal problems in the home or at work can often negatively impact our mood and focus as well, which can further decrease productivity.


Sleep


There is a direct relationship between high stress and sleep issues. When we don't sleep well, we are more likely to feel stressed, irritable, and low energy due to the release of cortisol, the stress hormone.


When we are stressed, we are likely to experience the following issues with sleep:


  • Trouble falling asleep

  • Trouble staying asleep

  • Waking up early in the morning unable to go back to sleep

  • Stress-related dreams and nightmares


How do you usually feel after a poor night's sleep? I'm guessing you are not at your peak performance, mood, or energy. Not exactly the winning combination for being successful in our work and personal lives, right?




stress and anxiety coach


Prevent and Manage High Stress with a Stress Coach


High stress and anxiety impact us in so many frustrating ways. I'm guessing that your stress impacts you in more than one area listed above. So frustrating, ugh!


The good news is, there are many things that can be done to prevent and manage the high stress and anxiety getting in your way.


Stress coaching has been found to decrease psychological distress in professionals, improve mood, and boost productivity.


A stress coach can help you with a comprehensive plan to not only manage high stress, but learn to prevent it before it interferes in your life.


Stress is multifaced, and therefore addressing the following three areas together in a way that works for you and your lifestyle is crucial for preventing stress from continuing to get in your way.


1. Calm the Stress Response


When the stress response is activated, a series of physiological changes occur due to activation of the sympathetic nervous system. This causes physical changes such as increased blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, chest tightness, and other uncomfortable physical symptoms.


These changes are what often cause all of those uncomfortable physical symptoms and changes in your cognitive abilities that get in the way.


One of the most important strategies for preventing and managing high stress is learning to calm the stress response on a regular basis by activating the parasympathetic nervous system for a sense of peace, relaxation, and focus.



2. Adapt a Low Stress Lifestyle


A comprehensive coaching program helps you address the lifestyle factors that can increase and impact stress. This includes looking at and addressing the following areas:


  • Sleep

  • Relationships and communication skills

  • Health behaviors (e.g. food intake, physical activity, substance use)

  • Leisure and recreation

Our lifestyle has a large impact on our stress levels. Therefore, a comprehensive approach looks at all the lifestyle factors that may impact your stress levels to identify tangible changes that can be made for you that fit your lifestyle.



3. Stop Stress Thinking in the Way


There is a direct relationship between our stress levels and our thoughts. When we get stressed, anxious, irritable, etc., our thinking changes in a predictable way.


Under stress, our thinking becomes more negative, pessimistic, unhelpful, and untrue. We tend to make unhelpful and negative predictions about the future and ourselves that are often catastrophic in nature, which can further increase stress.


Some common examples:


  • "My boss thinks I am a horrible employee. I'll probably get fired."

  • "I'm behind on my project. Why do I always wait until the last minute to do everything? I suck at my job."

  • "My house doesn't look like the pictures on social media. Everyone is probably thinking I'm a loser and a horrible parent."

  • 'What's the point of doing this? I never do anything right anyways."

As you can imagine, these thoughts are upsetting and distracting, and they also increase stress quite a bit.


Therefore, addressing stress and anxiety-based thinking is an important part of preventing and managing high stress.


activities for stress management

How to Find a Stress and Anxiety Coach


Working with a qualified professional can help you significantly improve your life by addressing stress in a comprehensive way that fits your lifestyle.


It is important to seek a qualified professional with training and education in treating stress and anxiety. Look for someone who has completed their education in a Masters or Doctoral Level program with training and experience in working with individuals with high stress and anxiety.


Establishing a good connection with a qualified professional is one of the most important aspects of successfully working with a coach to help you manage stress and anxiety and prevent it from continuing to interfere in your life.


Summary


High stress and anxiety get in the way of our mood, productivity, sleep, relationships, and so much more. The good news is, it doesn't have to interfere in your life anymore.


A qualified coach can provide you with a customized program to prevent and manage stress so you can step into the best version of yourself and have everything that you have ever wanted.


It's time to stop the struggle with stress, for good.

 

Are you ready to stop stress from running your life? My custom 1:1 coaching program will help you remove high stress in the way of your focus, productivity, and mood in just 8 short weeks.


I've helped hundreds of clients do this already, and I can't wait to help you too.


Book a discovery call so we can change your life next!





-------About Dr. Julia



Hi! I'm Dr. Julia. Health psychologist, stress and sleep expert, and creator of the Master Stress Method.


I have worked with thousands of individuals in major hospitals, university medical centers, and primary care settings to improve their stress levels, sleep, and overall emotional and physical well being.


My current focus is helping busy professionals prevent and manage the high stress that is getting in the way of their productivity, mood, sleep, and their ability to reach their full potential.


My 8-week, 1:1 coaching program has helped hundreds of stressed out, overwhelmed, and burned out clients significantly reduce their stress and anxiety, improve their sleep, and maximize their productivity, in just 8 short weeks.


I can't wait to help you stop the struggle with stress, for good. Let's chat :)




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