By now, the COVID-19 virus has affected virtually all parts of the world. Some regions being worse hit than others. So it will be fair to say the world is currently swimming through a swamp filled with coronavirus, but there is safe, dry land ahead of us, but we have to preserver these hard times.

For most people, the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted our life in one way or another. The tradition of waking up in the morning, putting on your work clothes, and leaving home for work has all been thrown out of order. If you are a business owner, who relies on walk-in customers and selling non-essential goods

The world is simply not ticking as we have known it to tick, and it is getting tiresome for some of us. Especially those confined in their homes amidst calls for work from home, social distancing, and virtual events. While we can get printed masks and head to the office (if necessary), many people feel that they are under pressure in every area of their life. For many, going out of the front door can be anxiety-inducing.

Most have chosen to stay at home for the benefit of themselves and their loved ones, but this doesn’t mean that families are now getting along like a house on fire! Relationships between families and friends will be put to the test. Conflicts that could previously get resolved by simply ignoring the topic or one another for some time will not be too big to ignore. As we continue facing each other for an extended period inside our homes.

Stress is building up

Human beings are social beings; well, at least the majority of us. The physical aspect of social interaction we get when we leave our homes for work, to buy groceries, hang out with friends at the restaurants and bars, come together to watch sports, attend church, go to weddings and parties, or take a stroll around the block as what makes life enjoyable and less stressful.

The COVID-19 pandemic has, to a great extent, changed our social world as we knew it. We are now confined to our homes, with highly limited movement outside. The future of our businesses seems to get blinker every day as economics experts forecast a looming global recession. Some say it might be worse than what was witnessed in 2008.

At the same time, there are those inevitable bills that need to get paid: mortgage, rent, municipal licenses and permits, groceries, and medication, among other expenses. At the same time, the cash inflows have reduced; money is just not coming in as it used to.

Tools for Managing Stress

While the answer to ‘how’ to solve most of these problems arising out of the COVID-19 lockdowns and slow economic activities remains at each individual’s discretion. We can, however, recommend some tools that could help you better manage your stress levels.

These are digital tools that have received a lot of positive feedbacks from users who were trying to manage their stress levels. They are as follows:

Happify

There is so much going on around us that can breed negative emotions. From the news updates, we get both locally and internationally. To the stress, our various relationships might be undergoing now that we are around our spouses and children around the clock. Little things that you might have been able to overlook previously seem a bit bigger to ignore now that you are together around the clock.

Whatever the case might be for you, Happify is a tool designed to help you develop the skills needed to manage stress better. The app enables you to identify the source of your stress, turn the developing negative emotions around, and help you focus on doing something productive.

Headspace

You can never go wrong with meditation when you want to calm your nerves down. However, getting yourself calm enough to meditate and benefit from its calming effects can be difficult when your head is running 100mph.

In this digital information era, our smartphones are almost always the point of entry of messages, emails, phone calls, and news updates that might upset us. Yes, it is a must-have tool, but what good is it to you if it is making you stressed up?

Of course, you cannot turn it off indefinitely, but if you could stop getting those notifications that are stressing you out for a while. It will go a long way in calming your nerves down. Headspace is an app that turns off all notifications on your smartphone for a set period, during which it gives you meditation exercises.

Runtastic

Runtastic is an app that tracks your sleep pattern versus how active you were during the day. When you are stressed out, your records will be out of the expected pattern, at which point you will get notified.

Hopefully, then you will take deliberate steps towards getting more and quality sleep through tactics such as meditation and better managing your stress.

Wrapping Up…

Stress is part of life; you cannot run away from it. However, it does not mean you have to take it head-on like a charging rhino; you will break your head and neck. Instead, you are better off learning to manage and deal with it in a better way. One effective way to learn how to deal with stress is by talking with a licensed counselor. You can learn more about how counseling can help reduce stress at BetterHelp.

In addition to the three digital tools suggested above, taking deep breaths also goes a long way to help you manage stress. You also don’t need a fancy smartphone or internet connection to use it.