*This article was written by Udemy instructor Gregory Caremans.

Picture this: You’re putting on running shoes to blow off steam after a particularly stressful day. You haven’t exercised since the last time you felt stressed, about a month ago. After jogging a few miles, you feel refreshed and tell yourself, “I need to do this more often.”

This is called the firefighter approach to managing stress; you wait until you’re stressed out to do something about it. We’ve all been there or at least experienced some version of it. The more sustainable approach to combating stress is to follow through with the “I need to do this more often” mantra. Maintaining stress-relief habits even when you don’t feel stressed builds resilience so when you do face a stressful situation, you won’t be as affected as you would be otherwise.