Why are we all so stressed? ⏲️ 6 Minute English

Hello. This is 6 minute English

from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil. And I'm Becca. Worrying about work or exams,

War and climate change in the news? It's no wonder

that modern life is stressful. What makes you stress, Neil? Oh, good question. I think not having

enough time to do something,

that really makes me stressed out. How about you? Um, when I'm trying to do something

that I've never tried before and I'm not very good at it,

that makes me feel really stressed. I find that stressful too. And how do you cope

with stressful situations, Neil? Well, I try to slow down, uh, pause,

take a breath and think 'at some point, probably later

today, everything will be okay again.' How about you?

Yeah, same. But in my mind, I'm telling myself

that 'I will be better at what I'm doing. I just need to practice more.' Hmm. Many young people who feel

stressed about the modern world use the word overwhelm

to describe their feelings. And overwhelm was also the topic of

a recent BBC World Service programme, What in the World. Here's Iqra Farooq

and Claudia Hammond. So overwhelm is an emotional state

where you are struggling with your current situation.

So, you might feel overloaded, you might feel you can't cope and that

might be a temporary thing hopefully. But if it's not in the longer term, if that becomes more of a kind

of chronic kind of stress, then that that might lead to burnout

in the end. Feeling overwhelmed

and unable to cope with life can become chronic, meaning

that it lasts for a long time. Overwhelm can lead to

burnout, mental or physical exhaustion

caused by working too hard. So how can we manage the stress in our

lives and feel happier and healthier? That's what we'll be discussing

in this episode, along with some useful new words

and phrases. You'll find all the vocabulary

from this episode on our website bbclearningenglish.com. But before we start,

I have a question for you, Neil. One simple way of combating stress

is taking time to rest. So, according to

research conducted by BBC presenter and psychologist Claudia Hammond, which activity is thought to be

the most restful? Is it a) reading for pleasure, b) walking in nature,

or c) listening to music? Well, I think

they're all quite relaxing, but I'm going to guess b) walking

in nature. I'm surprised, Neil! I know you love music.

And we'll find out the answer later. One of the most stressful things

facing many young people is exams. Here, Claudia Hammond offers

some advice for managing exam stress to BBC World Service's What in the World: ... particularly in the exam itself, if you feel stressed, then just knowing

that you well may well perform better while you're stressed that this...

it concentrates the mind, it sharpens and your nerves sharpen your thinking

and allow you to really do your best. It's normal to feel nerves

before an exam. Nerves is an informal word for worry

or anxiety, but according to Claudia., nerves aren't necessarily bad. Yes, nerves

can help concentrate the mind. The phrase concentrate or sharpen

the mind means to think more clearly about something like an actor or

an athlete feeling nerves before a big performance can help

them do their best. Claudia recommends

other ways to reduce stress as well. These include slowing down and accepting

that it's okay to be good enough, rather than always trying

for perfection. Here, she shares more tips with

Iqra Farooq of BBC World Service's What in the World: I guess there's no one-size-fits-all

as well when it comes to this. So, if someone's listening

and thinking, I want some top tips on just feeling overwhelmed generally

in my life, what would you say to them? So, first I would say except that your

to-do-list is never going to end, it's always going to be there. So, even I know

that might sound defeatist, but even if you get

to the end of it today, tomorrow there will be something else

on it. And that's just life, and that is just signs

of a busy life. There are many ways to combat stress, not a one-size-fits-all solution. The phrase one-size-fits-all describes

trying to apply the same solution to many different problems. Claudia's final piece of advice is don't

worry too much about your to-do-list, the list of

all the items you have to do. Why? Because it never ends. Every day there will be something new

to add to the list. So, why stress? Some good advice there, Neil. I think I'll try these techniques

next time I feel stressed. And speaking of ways to de-stress

reminds me of my question I asked you earlier. According to research conducted by

BBC presenter and psychologist Claudia Hammond, which activity is thought

of to be the most restful? And you answered b) walking

in nature. Unfortunately,

Neil, the answer is a) reading. Ah well, reading

is really relaxing as well. OK, let's recap the vocabulary

from this episode, beginning with the adjective chronic,

which means continuing for a long time. Burnout is a feeling of physical or mental exhaustion

caused by working too hard. If you say that a difficult situation

sharpens or concentrates someone's mind, you mean that it makes

them think clearly. Nerves are an informal word for worry

or anxiety. A one-size-fits-all approach tries to

apply the same solution to all problems, rather than solving them

individually. And finally, a to-do-list is a list

of all the tasks you have to do. Of course, another way to beat stress

is doing something you love, and if that's improving your English, then why not visit our website

bbclearningenglish.com where you'll find loads

more activities for doing just that. See you again next time, but for now it's goodbye.

Bye.