Craig Melvin Discusses His Techniques For Coping With Stress

Thirty-nine-year-old Craig Melvin lives a very fast-paced lifestyle. His mornings are spent on television, as a daily news anchor for the Today Show. Once he’s finished with that, he goes in for his afternoon gig as an anchor for MSNBC. If this didn’t already keep him on his toes, he’s also the father to young children. He doesn’t have much time to relax, but has found that taking a few minutes every day just to breathe and relax keeps him from getting overly stressed.

Melvin starts his day out right by taking some time to mediate. He uses an app on his phone to control his breathing and tries to stay off of technology as much as possible.

“I find that if I can find just five to ten minutes every day of just quiet, I can be alone with my thoughts. That really helps calm me down. And that calmness leads to happiness,” he said.

The news anchor even utilizes an app to make sure he’s not over checking his phone or wasting too much time scrolling through social media. He has found that taking time away from his phone allows him to enjoy his time with his children even more.

“When I put (the phone) down when I’m around my kids, I can really enjoy them more, which makes me happy. I love spending times with my kids,” he said.

One thing Melvin has had to really focus on is finding a right balance in his busy life. With so many responsibilities it can be easy to become overwhelmed. He’s realized that the time when he is the most stressed and anxious is when the balance has grown out of whack. He might be spending too much energy focused on his professional life and not taking enough time away to simply relax and be with his family. When Melvin gets the balance back on track, he finds himself much happier.

“I realize this is something that everyone struggles with. Balancing work, play, kids, work and wife. It’s hard,” he noted. “I’m generally a happy person, but when I have found myself to be unhappy, it’s because my balance is off. I’m spending too much time doing this, and not enough time doing this.”

Even when he’s having a bad day, he can typically remedy the situation by spending time with his family. If he is not able to be with them at that exact moment, he scrolls through pictures and videos of them on his phone to remind himself of what is really important in his life.