Trust the hive learners community to always come up with topics that are very relatable and current, these topics help us broaden our perspectives and keep us in touch with the latest trends. It also encourages us to engage in meaningful conversations and share our own ideas. This can help us learn and grow as individuals.

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Talking about stress these days is very important, as there are so many unavoidable factors which constitute us being stressed, from trying to meet up our financial and future goals, work-related, family, society or peer pressure and a lot more. Stress is not a good thing as it affects our physical and mental health. It is essential for us to identify and understand our triggers and also find ways to manage stress so we don't fall victim to its negative impacts. From my little experience and research, taking a break or engaging in healthy activities such as meditation and exercise can help reduce the effects of stress, also activities that calm and make us feel happy to help in reducing stress, also avoiding an environment or people that make you feel stressed.

Cause of my stress in recent times

Personally, I've had to go through stress in various forms, especially financial-related stress, trying to meet up with my duties as a provider for my immediate and extended family, the only way I can meet up is basically just working hard, and my job as a fashion designer is already hard enough, trying to meet up with my clients order at a short duration stresses me a lot, that I sometimes have to work overnight to meet up, unfortunately, this way of life often gets me sick, stressed and weak. not until recently, I decided not to continue walking this path, because to be frank stressing too much my overworking doesn't really end up well, you end up using the money earned to pay for treatment at the hospital or getting drugs to get better.

How I deal with my work-related stress as a fashion designer

What I do now is take regular rest, even breaks in between days, especially after a work-filled day, in order to meet up and not disappoint my clients, I also issued a notice of plea to my clients, to make their orders at least two weeks ahead, so I can take time to do a perfect job for them, because truth be told, working on a dress while stressed can lead to lots of errors in the making process too. Also instead of doing the job alone, I got assistance that helps has helped me in reducing the stress of the workload and to have some time to relax and reflect on how to better improve my craft. I have also invested in better quality and durable machines and tools for my job. This has enabled me to produce better results for my clients. Also, overnight work isn't as often as it use to be, it is only during the festive season that it becomes inevitable.

Have I been able to get rid of the stress?

To an extent, I will say yes, but not totally, At least I can take the appropriate amount of sleep in a day, which enables me t function better. also, the drastic weight loss I used to have due to stress has lesson now. I feel more energized and motivated to tackle the tasks of the day. I also have more control of my emotions and I'm able to think more clearly. I'm more productive and efficient with my time.

This post is in response to the hive learners weekly contest, week 72, edition 1.

Thank you for reading.❤❤