If you're stressed, knowing true reasons of your state is among the first things you should do to get rid of stress. Coping with the problems that have caused your present situation is the only real way out of trouble you're in. However, the problem is that most of the time the real causes of stress are not obvious. If you are to find the real cause, you should start from making a list of all possible reasons of your current situation.

The first part of your list should include all problems you have or used to have in your life. Be thorough - sometimes you may be very stressed because of past problems if they remain unsolved or if you suffer a defeat.

When you finish writing down stressful situations, continue to the next part of the list - people. If anyone adds to your stress by commenting your actions, making you look bad or simply makes you feel awful merely by his or her presence, you should consider increasing distance between yourself and those people. Remember that it is perfectly ok to keep some relationship professional only or even break them up if they are harmful to your well-being.

Now you can turn your attention to solutions rather than to problems. Think about how you can alter your current lifestyle, family life and work environment to amend your problems. Do not hesitate and write down even the most extreme solutions as long as they are technically doable and won't bring more problems than they can solve.

After you find solutions to most your problems, you should create a list of activities you want to do, but are not included in your daily routine. You have to make your life fuller and funnier if you are to survive - only fun and enjoying your life as it is can keep the stress level in check. So, make sure that you included all activities that make you happy!

When the list is ready, you know more or less what you should do to get rid of your stress. The only thing you should keep in mind is to read the list regularly (once a month is usually enough) and keep it up-to-date. If you follow your own advice, your stress level will fall down quickly and will never rise again.