Being in university or working a full time job while also having to hand in projects for deadlines can be very stressful. We all know the feeling. Whenever I start to notice I am slowly getting more stressed, I know it’s time for me to take action and to take care of myself. There are a couple of things I do to prevent or relief stress when I feel like that, which I thought I would share in this post today.
Plan ahead of time
One of the biggest things that helps me feel in control and makes me feel somewhat calm, is to plan things ahead of time. Planning tasks, activities and meet-ups with friends is one of the only things that can really help me feel calm. I recently wrote a blog post about how I prepare for my week ahead and on Sundays I like to sit down for a bit to look at my schedule and make realistic weekly to-do lists. One of my downfalls is being a perfectionist in the work I deliver, especially when it comes to uni work. I could easily spend an entire day making an assignment perfect when it’s already good. By making a realistic weekly plan I feel like I can tackle any task I have written down on my to-do list and it feels quite glorious to tick it off once it’s finished. Planning ahead of time is everything to feel more in control of all the things you do and it helps you realise what tasks you need to finish a certain day, week or month.Try to let go of expectations and don’t set them yourself
This second topic is a point I find hardest when I feel stressed. The key to feeling less stressed is to let go of your own and other people’s expectations. This is something I personally find difficult to do, as I set expectations of myself and can be disappointed in myself if I don’t live up to those expectations. This is one of the reasons why I took failing to graduate within 4 years at university quite hard, as it was an unspoken expectation I had set myself. Another disappointment I felt, was when I didn’t get around to handing in my dissertation at the beginning of May, as that was yet another unspoken goal I had set myself. In these situations I am quite hard on myself, which is definitely something I need to work on. I am blessed enough to have people surrounding me who never have any expectations from me aside from trying and doing my best in life. So I am basically my own enemy and I need to work on that. I find that talking about these expectations to people around me helps me put things into perspective. This helps me to let go of the expectations I set myself and is learning to stop setting these expectations in the first place.Focus on your physical health
One of the first things that flies out of the window when I feel stressed is my health. I am not sure if it’s actually proven but whenever I start to feel stressed I want to eat all the unhealthy things and stop going to the gym. It’s one of the reasons I actually stopped going to the gym last year. My friend recently joined my gym which has really helped me to focus on getting somewhat fit again. Since I am still writing my dissertation I can really notice that taking care of my physical health is helping me reduce my stress levels. And as much as I crave to eat junkfood and lots of sweet stuff at the moment I also try to keep eating healthy by getting my fix from eating fruit instead. It sounds lame, but it actually works to keep up with eating healthy and exercising on a regular basis. I find that those two times a week I hit the gym with my friend I can actually fully release on any tension and am motivated to eat healthy too.Focus on your mental health
It’s also super important to focus on your mental health to relieve stress too. I find that I can relieve stress by taking time for my own sort of self-care. I wrote multiple posts about self-care and self-care routines on my blog. So as important as it is that my self-care routine works for me, it’s also super important to find a routine that works for you. If you find that a self-care routine is not doing enough to help with your mental health, then I would suggest trying to talk to someone, whether this is a friend, your parents or a professional. Talking always helps.Get enough sleep
Just like my physical health seems to go out of the window when I feel stressed, I also tend to make super long days when I feel stressed. This leads to me working about 13 to 15 hours a day, which means there’s definitely not enough time to sleep too. I tend to only get around to 4 to 5 hours of sleep when I feel stressed, which is super bad. One of my personal goals I set myself this year is to really focus on getting enough hours of sleep at night. Which is why, even though I might feel a bit overwhelmed by how much work I have left to do, I still try to get at least 7 up to 8 hours of sleep at night. This helps me feel refreshed and ready to tackle all of the tasks I have planned to do the next day.
I hope this blog post was somewhat informative for you on how to relieve stress when you’re feeling like I have felt these past few weeks. This post is not only a reminder to you to take better care of yourself, but also for me to take better care of myself.
As soon as I was starting to feel anxious and stressed I knew I needed to hit the reset-button and take some time for myself, my mental and physical health.
Planning ahead of time is an absolute must for me, it stresses me out so much otherwise! These are all really great tips, thank you x
BeantwoordenVerwijderenShannon | https://shannonmichelle1.blogspot.com
I'm so happy you've found some stress relieving techniques for yourself Laura! ♥︎ It's actually quite scary what stress does to our minds and bodies, and the more we can relieve and manage it the better, I think! Good luck with your dissertation!! xx
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