How to cope with stress when selling your home: while you’re waiting for your home to sell you can put into practice the following simple and practical advice including relaxation and healthy eating.

You don’t necessarily need to accept or resign yourself to the fact that you’ll have sleepless nights over the sale of your home. You can learn some coping mechanisms that can help you along the way, so you don’t end up freaking out or be in a permanent state of anxiety. There will be so many things you don’t have control on, so worrying about them is generally a waste of precious energy (energy you could use, for example, into doing some DIY, cleaning or start packing for your move!).

Developing Healthy Habits

Do you like running? When you feel the tension mounting, why not get changed and go for a run to clear your mind and burn off some stress.

Some form of meditation can also be beneficial: you don’t need to choose anything esoteric. Something as simple as setting 10 minutes aside without interruptions from phone or email, keeping your eyes closed and slowing down your breathing, can be of great help to manage your stress levels. You can also go for a walk outside (recommended reading: Strictly Walk Slimmer), focusing on your breathing: for example, you can breathe in for a count of 4 seconds and then breathe out for a count of 4-6 seconds. If you catch your mind wandering, you can add a word for your in-breath (for example, ‘calm’) and another word for your out-breath (for example, ‘relaxed’). This is just a suggestion, but the main point here is to offer your brain a bit of respite from all the thoughts and worries that take up a lot of energy.

I have learned about Sophrology a few years ago and it’s a simple but effective dynamic relaxation technique you can use any time, anywhere. You can find out more in this practical guide called The Life-Changing Power of Sophrology.

If you prefer to lift weights, you can make the most of the endorphin rush after your workout to see yourself succeed in your house sale, replacing any thoughts that undermine your abilities with positive ones. It is quite useful to see yourself in the future, signing the sale contract and living in your new home. You can call this daydreaming if you like, but this visualisation technique can be a good way to keep your morale and motivation high.

If you haven’t packed all your kitchen utensils, pots and pans in a box, keep cooking healthy meals instead of relying on take-aways. Processed foods are rich in salt and sugar, which tend to deplete your energy so you end up feeling tired and lethargic all the time. It is tempting to get a take-away when you have a few viewings lined up at home and you don’t feel like cooking or you don’t want to do all the washing up before a viewing, or you don’t want any lingering cooking smells before a viewing. You can still prepare something like salads on the day of a viewing, which also don’t require a lot of washing up afterwards.