10 Ways to Avoid Stress
Stress is no good. For some kids and adults, I’ve learned, it can be easier for stress to find itself taking over people’s lives, and ultimately, eliminating people’s chances of having a good time. Stress is something that everyone deals with often, and it’s a real shame. For me, stress tends to reach me the most through having an overwhelming amount of homework. When dealing with the stress, you have to try and find ways to get rid of that garbage, because it’s not worth your time. Though I think it’s impossible to completely keep stress out of your life, I do believe there are ways to help give you breathers and solutions. Here are 10 things that have helped me:
1. Do your best to get done whatever it is that’s giving you the most anxiety/stress. Sometimes all it takes to beat your stress it to face the problem head on. For homework, this tends to be possible. For example, if my math and social studies homework is making me uneasy or overwhelmed, I’ll get ‘er done sooner than later. I’m aware that not all things that cause stress are able to be faced right away, but if possible, try and go for it.
2. Listen to some music. Music’s a funny thing, guys. Whatever your taste is, just listen to the songs that you enjoy. Music has an emotional effect on people, depending on how the instruments are played and the meaning being conveyed behind the lyrics that are sung/rapped. I recommend some happy music. Surprisingly, it can give you a little chance to recuperate. Also, if you’re like me, some lo-fi hip hop music can provide some gorgeous white noise when doing whatever it is you’re working on.
3. Get up and do the weirdest shit imaginable. Crazy, right? Nope. There’s most likely no one around when you’re feeling the most stressed, but if there are people around, all the more better. Start dancing. Doesn’t matter if you don’t dance (I know you can). Or, grab a pillow and scream in it. Grab a piece of paper and scribble as hard as you can on it. Make yourself laugh.
4. Unload. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned more recently is that you can’t hold stuff in. There’s nothing dumb, childish or shameful about telling someone about what’s bothering you, whether that be to a therapist, friend, family member, teacher or whoever. Everyone has issues. I guarantee you will find that people can relate to you more than you think. Keeping things in is a mistake. I honestly didn’t realize how much my problems were bothering me until I said them out loud to my mom. It can be nice to feel some reassurement and confidence.
5. Hang with friends or family. Spice things up a little. Don’t keep yourself isolated forever.
6. Have a nice snack or meal. Am I saying it’s a stress reliever to develop an eating disorder? No. Am I saying it’s nice to have a little snack or treat while you’re going through some sad times? Yep.
7. Start planning out fun things to do after you overcome whatever it is that’s stressing you out. Giving yourself things to look forward to goes hand in hand with drive and determination to get ‘er done. Plan to hang with friends, see a movie, treat yourself to a nice little vacation in your bedroom, treat yourself to a nice large vacation in Venice, treat yourself to pizza hut. Whatever it is that excites you or makes you feel the most comfortable and at ease.
8. Find silver linings in whatever it is that’s stressing you out. it’s easy to see all the negatives in stress factors, and in all honesty, some may seem completely deprived of any usefulness whatsoever. However, you can usually find some positives in those stress factors, even the worst of them. The positives in biology notes? I get to learn about how viruses replicate, and come out with a decent grade for the class. Obviously, some things that cause stress can have way more positives. Maybe you’re stressed because you’re thinking about asking somebody out. The stress is probably coming from lack of experience with rejection, dating, or doing relationship-related stuff. That’s cool. What are the positives though? You could potentially fall in love, have someone to unload and relate to, have someone to make great memories with and more. With things that are stressing you out, you have to try and make them seem more attractive (in a metaphorical sense).
9. One thing at a time. People have a tendency of thinking too far into the future. The future can be a pretty stressful thought. You can try and find those silver linings and positives in it too, but don’t linger on it for that long. You’ll go nuts. Take it easy. This one is probably one of the best techniques that I’m still really working on.
10. Try not to overdo it. This isn’t me saying to avoid potentially big opportunities in life, because those can be stressful too, I’m just trying to say that you have to get to know your limitations. A person can only take so much at once. Try and space out the things you want to do.
And with that, those are my 10 ways to help you avoid stress. Every single tip I wrote here are things that I’ve used, use, and will continue to use. I didn’t want to write things that I haven’t tried or have had experience with, as it would feel disingenuous. Hope these can help you out.