I don’t have bi-polar disorder, but I do have a chronic illness that requires me to keep my stress level low, or minimize the effects of that stress. There are the obvious answers that you mentioned like a regular schedule, exercising, healthy diet, and so on. But, (and I’ll probably catch shit for this), I have found what helps me more than anything is smoking a little bit of pot when I come home after a particularly stressful day at work. I’m not sure how you feel about marijuana, or even how it affects people with bi-polar disorder, but it sure helps me out.