Stress relief made easy(ish)

Stress+relief+made+easy%28ish%29

Natalie Larimer, Online Sub-Editor

The school year has started with a bang, and with that comes some intense homework. I’ve decided to list a few of my stress relief tactics to hopefully reduce the number of mental breakdowns this year.

  1. Deep breaths. I know everyone says this, but they say it for a reason. Deep breaths will help clear your head so you can think, which generally helps.

  2. Clean up. I don’t know about you guys, but if my room or workspace is messy, it just amps up the stress like 20 times more than it should ever be. I always clean my room if I have a lot of homework to do because it just makes everything more efficient.

  3. Exercise. Take your mind off things by focusing on running as far away from your problems as your legs will allow. I will sometimes go on a bike ride if I’m feeling really stressed.

  4. Throw things. Not expensive things, but like a baseball or a shoe. Usually it works better if you throw them against a wall and you can see them break or bounce off wildly.

  5. Prioritize. List out the things you are stressed about and prioritize them. Once they are in order, focus on the thing highest up on the list and work your way down.

  6. Take a break. Spend some time away from whatever is stressing you out and come back to it later. You could find that you were just too close to the problem to be thinking clearly.

  7. Talk it out. Call a friend and just talk about what you’re stressed about. Letting off steam makes it a lot easier to put things in perspective and focus better.

  8. Coffee break. Put everything down and go out to buy coffee or food. Just ten minutes could be some good brainstorming time and it won’t take so long. Whatever it is you are working on will be delayed, because it is good to take a break sometimes.

  9. Treat yourself. Every time you finish a small goal towards the larger goal, get yourself a treat. Whether that be watching a short episode of your favorite TV show, eating an entire bag of Cheese Puffs, or going on Tumblr for 20 minutes, it will work as long as you are disciplined enough to stop after your treat has run out of time.

  10. Realize that you’re human. Whether you reach your goal or not, it’s not the end of the world. You can ask for extensions on assignments and most teachers will be understanding enough to help you out. You can also miss one deadline, as long as it doesn’t become habit.

These are my tactics. I’m not sure if they will be effective for you or not, but if you can’t find one good point out of the ten here, please feel free to let me know that I am ignorant and don’t know what stress even is.