I’m sure you’ve heard of this age-old piece of advice: When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. 

As we’ll discuss today, this little bit of advice can often be very useful for stress management. 

Are you still digging?

So, what is it that caused you to end up in this stressful situation in the first place? Did you do something? Not do something?

Honestly assess whether you’re still doing (or not doing) that specific something. If you are, you’re still digging and you really need to stop! 

Maybe you’ve taken on too much responsibility at work. In this case, the last thing you want to do is to take on more responsibilities either at work or at home. 

Did you have a bad falling-out with a loved one? Then check your ego at the door and stop making it worse with passive aggressive behavior. 

Stressed about your health? Stop self-destructing on empty calories and other unhealthy addictive substances. 

Easier said than done

There’s good reason why the old adage at the top has been around for so long. People have a natural tendency to keep digging when they’re in a hole. We often get some sort of unhealthy short-term satisfaction from digging even harder. 

But a little bit of mindfulness can help a lot with putting down your shovel and rather focusing on the positive ideas we discussed over the past three days. 

So, stop digging, build a game plan of stress-relief techniques, let go of any unnecessary stress, and take deliberate action on useful stress. Together, these ideas can greatly reduce stress and anxiety. 

See you tomorrow when we formally wrap up this week’s topic.