I'd like to dedicate today's post to this little voice in my head that can ruin my mood in no time: stress.
Now, I have to admit, I am fairly quickly stressed. See, I guess I live life
very intensely. I am super duper excited about the littlest thing but unfortunately that also means stuff quickly gets me down. Luckily for me, and definitely for the people around me, I've learnt to deal with those mood swings. I kept all the good, and got rid of the sad moods I used to have where I could find myself stuck in. I do still get them, but I am still learning to bounce back to my normal mood quicker. I guess the older I get, the more I'm learning to put things in perspective: life is too short to get sad, and sadness doesn't accomplish much in the end.
Lately, putting things in perspective hasn't been working for my latest mood swing: stress. I seem to switch back in to this mood every day at least a few times. I don't feel at peace. It's not only disturbing me and things, but unfortunately I am one of those horrible persons who tend to lash out on their dearest and nearest - sorry BF! :( As a perfectionist, I am already quite worried about little things. So real stress, is not easy to bounce back from. That's why I am on the hunt for some solutions to find my inner peace again! So I made a little list with things that might be useful for me, and you :)
1. Deal with the problem.
If the problem's gone, stress is gone. Unfortunately it's usually not that easy. Heaps of uni work aren't made overnight but that doesn't mean I want to walk around with stress until it's finished!
2. Talk about it
The more you keep the stress in your head, the worse it'll get.. trust me! It feels good to finally tell that thing you've been stressing over to a good friend, or take my example and just write it down. Either way- get it out of your system.
3. Make a plan
Stress for me is usually a problem that I don't know how to deal with. So, make a plan. Instead of stressing about it, give your mind something else to do. Think of the options, write them down, talk about it, and make decisions. In my case, my stress is caused by uni work. So I can drop out, take longer, or work my butt off. Once I realize which decision is the right one - in this case not that hard to be fair ;) - I can start make a planning. To stimulate me I like to involve other people in it. Making plans is one thing, but making plans to study with other people can help as a motivation. The same goes with for example sporting and cooking; if your stress is caused by something like your weight.
4. Reward yourself
First of all: be realistic. Don't make your planning too tight. Make little goals in between to keep your motivation up. In the example of losing weight: don't pin yourself down on wanting to lose 20 kilos in 2 months: be realistic! Don't just think about the end goal, also celebrate every time you've reached another goal and lost 3 kilo's. Basically: don't be too hard on your self.
5. Find a hobby
Stress can take up all your time and energy. Once you are working on your problem, find something that takes your mind of things in your spare time. The important quality that your activity must have is that it
makes you stop thinking. I myself have the habit of spending my free time behind the laptop. I didn't really see what was wrong with watching movies and spending hours on tumblr as hobby until I realized that my brain was literally overloaded. Now I'm trying to find a nice activity that really suits me and could go on for as a hobby.
Do you have any tips to reduce stress?
x Fenna
