Managing Stress
Feeling overloaded with stress from things like work, school and personal matters can take a massive toll on your mental health. I find that most times when I get overly stressed I tend to shut down for a few hours, and sometimes even for days, and I feel like I literally can’t do anything, but then me not doing anything causes me more stress and it never goes away. It’s such a cycle sometimes I think.
From finishing secondary
school and starting college I found it so hard to motivate myself. Considering
how independent college work is compared to secondary school work, I couldn’t handle
the change. I started getting insanely stressed from procrastination and I felt
like I was rewarding myself by not doing anything on my days off to ‘help calm
down the stress’, but in actual fact, I was making it ten times worse. I
started adding little changes to my routine and over time I felt more in
control of myself and I could definitely feel the stress easing.
I know most
solutions to stress seem really basic and some might think they’re ineffective
but if you start trying then gradually bit by bit you might start to see that
it actually has eased your mind without you even realising!
Now I know some people might hate the idea of this, I used to myself, but any form of exercise is a great way of helping to ease stress and if you’re not in the mood to hit the gym, that’s completely fine! You can even go for a short walk alone or with a friend/family member. A simple break from your usual surroundings like your room or your office for example will bring a sense of a fresh start. No worrying, just letting your mind run free like it used to. Sometimes if a walk or exercising doesn’t suit and I’m feeling really overcome with stress, just closing my eyes and focusing on my breathing helps bring me back to a calmer mindset. It’s still giving my mind that break and I’m able to remind myself that I have things under control. I don’t usually go for this method but I have been meaning to get back into it because I think it’s great: meditation. It can be a really nice way to ease your mind and it makes you feel more at peace day by day. If you’re unsure of any effective ways to meditate there are so many resources online: YouTube videos, apps for your phone, etc. My two favourite apps are Mindspace and Calm. They are free to download but they do have in-app purchases if you want to access their full libraries. However, they both have YouTube channels with many videos to help with stress, anxiety and better sleep. I used to watch them just over a year ago when I felt really downhearted and I struggled with sleep, and they really did help me!
Stress will never
fully go away. There’s always going to be things that come about that will
cause you stress, unfortunately. However if you learn how to manage your stress
you’ll find that future you will be powering through and won’t ever let it get
in the way of your health and happiness.
Most importantly
as I’ve said in my past blogs, always tell someone if you’re feeling this way.
They could help you with your stress, and for all you know you could be helping
them too <3 Below are the links to Headspace and Calm’s apps and YouTube
channels! Give them a try even if you don’t think you feel that stressed right
now, you could always do with a bit of relaxation ;)
This is very helpful I need to share this with my friend with anxiety!!!
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