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Though we don’t have a lot of data about the mechanisms that link stress and aging, we are brought up to believe that stress is correlated with infections. In fact, stress is perhaps the greatest ager of them all. The more you’re stressed, the greater the risk of accidents, infections, and arterial aging. It’s not really the stress we’re worried about, since everyone has it; it’s more your response to stress. It seems that when you’re in high-stress mode—working your tail off at work, for example—you’re cruising along fine. But when you come off that stressor, you get sort of a rebound effect where you’re a lot more prone to infections (your T and B cells go into hiding to avoid a fight and are slow to come back to help you). In terms of stress-reduction techniques, one person may like playing basketball to blow off steam; another may like sitting in steam. Some may like listening to Mozart; others may like listening to Metallica. But there’s at least one thing that everyone can do in the face of stress: Remove yourself from a stressful situation immediately, whether it’s by taking a walk around the block or simply moving to the next room. That momentary time-out gives you a chance to breathe and react rationally. Whatever it is, you need some sort of backup plan—some technique that removes you from the emotions of a stressful situation. It may be taking ten deep breaths, or even scrunching your face up for fifteen seconds. Whatever it is, you can make your RealAge up to six years younger by developing a backup plan for reducing stress when your first lines of defense fail.

You should also change the way you think about some of the nagging stresses in your life—a demanding boss, the broken screen door, the cable company that never seems to get the bill right. Look, few people are trying to be jerks on purpose. What’s stressful is the reaction to the situation or the action. That may not help you get your screen door repaired any faster or correct the cable bill, but when you remember that stress comes with the situation and action, not so much from malice, then you’re better able to have a manageable response to otherwise stressful situations—and that’s a healthier way to deal with them.

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