Research

Adjusting to change

In order to adjust to change you need to think positively and have a good, healthy coping mechanism. Healthy coping mechanisms allow you to deal with the situation appropriately, boost your mood and lower your stress levels.

You want to deal with the change on your own terms, you don’t want it to control you. You must control it!! Don’t ignore you problems because you will only make it worst for future you.

Coping skills

Change can happen at any moment, and you will need to be able to handle it. This means you need skills that will help you in any situation. Like:

  • Being able to focus on what is familiar (this helps you stay in control and ground your actions, feelings, and thoughts)
  • Have a good perspective (this means looking outside your situation and at the greater scheme of things, such as how it may benefit or impact your life, maybe even make it seem smaller)
  • Be flexible (you need to be able to accept what is happening and move forward. By being able to deal with unexcepted events, restrictions and letting go of expectations you might find it easier to adapt to this new change)
  • Be kind to yourself (let yourself have a break and don’t be too hard on yourself. Care for yourself)

“We all struggle at times, no one can operate at 100% 100 percent of the time. Forgive yourself for these times. Incorporate laughter when you can too. Laughter can be the best medicine,” Amanda Denney

  • Stay active (don’t let the situation get the better of you. Exercise even if it is just to take your mind of the situation for a while. Stay in contact with your friends, go out, do something new)
  • Focus on what’s in your control (there is no point focusing or thinking about something that is out of your control because there is nothing you can do, why waste the energy?)
  • Getting help (if the situation becomes too much and spirals out of control, you can lean of someone and ask for help, whether it is advice or even just someone to talk to)
  • Talk (you need to be able to find people that understand and talk to them. This means leaning on someone to make it easier and more bearable)
    • A therapist might be able to help you with this. They can teach you coping skills such as:
      • Positive reframing.
      • Humor instead of violence or anger.
      • Acceptance and understanding of situation.
    • You can also reach out to friends, parents, teachers, or anyone you feel comfy talking to 🙂
    • Support can include:
      • Emotional support: Friends and loved ones can listen and provide empathy and comfort.
      • Encouragement: Your social support system can also encourage you to succeed when confronting some type of challenge.
      • Information: Social connections can also be a great way to learn things and gain information that you might need as you make a change in your life.
      • Tangible support: Sometimes, changes bring a need for actual physical help with certain tasks. For example, you might need someone to bring you meals when you are sick or drive you to appointments. 
  • Some more coping skills include reducing your stress:
    • Get enough good quality sleep.
    • Eat a well-balanced diet.
    • Take brief rest periods during the day to relax.
    • Take vacations away from home and work.
    • Engage in pleasurable or fun activities every day.
    • Avoid use of caffeine and alcohol.

Strategies for coping with change

  • Lower your expectations.
  • Take time to reflect
  • Reframe and center your thinking
  • Prepare for further change
  • Ask others to help or assist you.
  • Take responsibility for the situation.
  • Engage in problem solving.
  • Have a routine
  • Maintain emotionally supportive relationships.
  • Maintain emotional composure or, alternatively, expressing distressing emotions.
  • Challenge previously held beliefs that are no longer adaptive.
  • Directly attempt to change the source of stress.
  • Distance yourself from the source of stress.
  • View the problem through a religious perspective.
  • Recognize what may happen and plan ahead
  • Write down something positive
  • Keep Calm
Nicole Penberthy

During this project it made me realise how everything is connected, even if you are now aware of it. For example, when fixing a tyre, you might encounter physical or emotional stress because you cannot get the nuts off. You might encounter stress if you have not eaten a meal because you have no time because you have to study, which also involves your life skills and coping mechanisms. If you have a blown lightbulb ad you do not have any light you can encounter environmental stress. Everything in this project is connected and that I why I believe these demonstrations are so important to develop yourself in society. Because these simple tasks teach you life skills you need for the rest of your life. The transition between school and university may be hard but it is lessons like this that will make it easier for you😊😊enjoy!!

https://nicole.penberthy.co.za
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