But there are several ways to minimize and manage stress in our everyday lives. Provided below are 9 tips to help you lower your stress level and ultimately improve your quality of life.

1. Sleep is vital. Sleep for at least 8 hours a day. Give your body the rest it needs to repair the wear and tear throughout the day. Sleep needs to be continuous – not fragmented.

2. Eat well and vary your diet. You should provide your body with all of the nutrients it needs. Eat on time and never starve yourself to complete pending tasks. If you need them, take vitamin supplements to provide your immune system and body with the boost and energy it needs. Vitamin supplements are safe to use under medical supervision.

3. Practice deep breathing exercises regularly. It increases the flow of natural tranquilizing hormones in our body and promotes a general feeling of wellness.

4. Don’t take work home. Your Blackberry should not buzz from work emails or calls when at home. It’s OK to turn your phone off!

5. Spend quality time with family and friends. They expect you to talk and laugh with them, and not get buried in your laptop.

6. Laugh whenever you can at work. Take pleasure in every little thing you do. Enjoy and share those forwarded mails and breaks with your colleagues.

7. Use your earned vacation and personal days or take a trip. You need and deserve a break at least once a year. Don’t let monotony hamper your work-life experience.

8. Delegate work. You cannot do everything yourself. Use your trusted subordinates to manage some of your work. It will make them feel happy and important, as well as relieve you.

9. Stay positive. We can never eliminate stress from our life – this is the natural reaction of our bodies to any kind of challenge. But, we can certainly cope and stay positive if we are serious about dealing with the problem. Stress is a part of life, but the person who can manage it best will be the winner!

Perhaps you have heard the saying “When you point your finger at someone, you have three fingers pointing back at you!” In this short, but effective, illustration of this maxim, the value of taking stock in your own situation before criticizing others is espoused.

A baker in a little country town bought the butter he used from a nearby farmer. One day he suspected that the bricks of butter were not full pounds, and for several days he weighed them.

He was right. They were short weight, and he had the farmer arrested.

At the trial the judge said to the farmer, “I presume you have scales?”

“No, your honor.”

“Then how do you manage to weigh the butter you sell?” inquired the judge.

The farmer replied, “That’s easily explained, your honor. I have balances and for a weight I use a one-pound loaf I buy from the baker.”