Psychology: You can use the three-M rule to reduce stress in a targeted manner

Vacuum?
With the three-M rule, you can react to stress in a targeted and flexible manner

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Got into the stress trap? But they also lurk everywhere! Hopefully you’ll find your way out of there quickly with the three-M rule.

Occasional, short-term stress can be known to be positive. Positive stress helps us to focus, mobilizes energy and gives us a real push. On the other hand, recurring or long-term stress – pure horror! Constant stress wears us down and has been shown to be very bad for our health, both physical and mental. In addition, we are usually much more relaxed about ourselves. We are more open, in a better mood, more attentive and usually more productive than when we are under pressure. It is therefore good to know strategies to get out of the stress trap.

However, there are very different stressful situations with different triggers and forms of stress. And of course, not all of them can be tackled with the same approach. To be prepared for this problem, the three-M rule can be helpful.

Three Ms help against stress

The three-M rule is to be understood practically like a donkey bridge, with which we can remember and visualize what options we have to avoid or reduce stress. The Ms stand for:

  • Mechanically,
  • Mentally and
  • Manage

Now let’s take a look at what is meant by the individual terms and what kind of stressful situation they fit into.

Mechanically

In a relatively large number of cases, exercise is a very effective way to get rid of stress and feel better. A jog, a quick workout and suddenly the world looks different than before. Mechanical stress relief works particularly well in situations in which we are relatively flexible and independent of external factors such as time or other people. In which we put pressure on ourselves and feel trapped. Movement helps us break out, gain a new perspective, clear our minds. This usually makes us more productive and then makes much better progress with our to-dos.

Mentally

Mental stress reduction can take place with the help of breathing or meditation exercises or just a practiced thought process that we “activate” if necessary. For example, it helps some people to consciously ask themselves what is actually putting them under pressure when they feel stressed. Others mentally put themselves briefly in a beautiful place and thus come down. Mental stress management is particularly useful for situations in which we can only take a few minutes to shake off the pressure that is getting too much and is in our way.

Manage

The point of management simply means self-organization. If we can somehow, it would be great to basically plan our days in such a way that we do not constantly push us to the limits of our capabilities and / or time constraints to do everything we want to. If you are well structured and have your stuff organized, you avoid the stress of constantly having to improvise or look for things. It usually makes sense to get into management when we notice that we are really under constant stress for weeks, rushing through life and still feel as though we are not getting anything done. Or in phases when de facto there is more to come than usual.

Source used: Instagram

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