Dealing With Stress

I feel like the word “stress” is being overused nowadays. Late to a class? Stressed. Burnt something when cooking? Stressed. A favourite character just got killed off? Stressed, stressed STRESSED!

Of course, I do this as well (B99 I’m looking at you sending Gina away), but I think it’s important to learn to recognise actual stress from just being upset or angry. The reason why I am writing about this is that as a student I feel like the word stressed has become a default setting on my everyday mood. “How are you feeling?” “Stressed ahhhhh” has become my most common response this month.

Last Saturday I has a (very mild don’t worry) breakdown over school due to my upcoming mocks and for the first time in months, I actually felt stressed. I am what people would call a naturally anxious person, and with that comes the stressing over little things, however, this time I was tearing and heating up. I realised that I had no way of recognising when I was not okay that my body was forced to make me physically stop working. I have decided that mechanisms must be in place in order to prevent this in the future, which is what I am about to share with you all.

1. Try and stay as present as possible. I have found that the moment I begin to dwell on events in the future I start to imagine the negative sides only. When I think of my upcoming mocks I only see me not understanding all the questions, not me crushing them instead. Being grounded is something I am trying to work on myself, but even walking for 15 minutes a day or picking up a book before bed can make a real difference.
2. Plan, plan and then plan when you are going to plan. This might sound counterintuitive as I have just said to not dwell on the future, but the moment you have realised that you have more than enough time to study or complete a project is the moment that your brain will realise that the stress was unnecessary. When I planned out my half term I realised that I would have 4 days off if I completed all the tasks I wanted to in time, which then gives me the motivation to complete everything and take some well needed time off.
3. Set yourself limits. Your mental health is so important, you wouldn’t break your leg and not go to the hospital, therefore, why would you continue working if it is clearly not healthy? A limit could be a certain time you would stop homework on a school night, this is usually around 8pm for me, or the number of tasks you complete in a day. This way your brain is allowed downtime which will help improve your stress.

Thanks for reading, see you in the next one 🙂

Raven xx