I don’t have the patience for meditation. Can I lower my stress levels another way?
Yes. Try embracing your stress: that jittery, heart-pumping feeling you get when you’re faced with a seemingly insurmountable problem is your body’s arousal response, and it’s triggered by fear or excitement. What allows you to differentiate anxiety from exhilaration is context. So, interpret your shredded nerves as the latter, and your focus and performance can actually increase in line with your levels of stress hormones. Side note: meditation really is worth persevering with, so do stick with it.