Stress can cause poor concentration, depression and anxiety, and a host of health problems. Here is what you need to know about stress and how to manage it.

Recognize the positive. Some stress can prompt decisions and motivate you to tackle important tasks. 

Recognize the negative. Negative stress happens when demands exceed resources or your ability to cope.

Recognize differences. The way you experience stress might not be the same way someone else does. For instance, for one person, stress may cause a negative outlook and feelings of loneliness, while another person may have trouble sleeping or experience frequent illnesses.

Analyze your stress. Consider delegating tasks to coworkers and family members to lessen your workload; you also want to make time for activities that will energize you when stress is leaving you drained. Ask yourself these questions to get to the sources of your stress and to target activities that will relieve it.

• What depletes you? (E.g., housework, negative relationships.)
• What can you delegate? (E.g., a work project, grocery shopping.)
• What energizes you? (E.g., hobbies, time with friends, exercise, music.)

Let go of perfection. Perfectionism can be the source of a lot of stress. Do your best and accept that many times good enough is good enough.

Get organized. Physical clutter can affect your mind and make you feel overwhelmed. Schedule time for getting organized. Set aside a couple hours on the weekend to clean up your home office. Devote the last work hour on Fridays as the time when you clear out your email.

Focus on what you can control. A lot of stress results from feeling not in control of situations, so identify what is in your control. You can’t control a person’s behavior, for instance, but you can control your reaction to it. 

Practice gratitude. Wanting more and more can leave you stressed. Gratitude is the strongest link to good mental health. Each day, think of at least one thing you are grateful for or of one positive thing that happened to you.

Seek help. If you are having trouble managing stress, it may be time to seek out the help of a counselor.

These suggestions are based on “Quick Stress Busters and Hacks,” a CASE4You employee session presented by Christina McKelvy, a licensed counselor.