COPING WITH STRESS

A few weeks ago I posted a survey asking people to share the ways that they cope with stress. I was surprised because I got a high volume of responses. I wasn't planning on following up, but a lot of people left some great advice, so I tried some of the coping strategies myself over the past few weeks and wanted to share how it went.

First of all, the most frequent piece of advice I saw, was make a to do list. I already do this, but in an unorganized way, filled with many lists for the same thing. People shared many ways of making lists including: sticky notes, color coordinated, and perforated paper lists. I couldn't find any perforated paper that would work for a to do list, so instead I combined the sticky note and color coordination idea and tested it. I picked one color sticky note per class and then one color for life to-do list items. I ended up having 6 different colored sticky notes, which created a lot of color, and made things happier! On each sticky note (p.s. these are small sticky notes, not standard sized) I wrote the assignment or task to complete, then stuck it in an organized fashion on my desk (picture below). I loved seeing all the color in my room!! When I went to complete the task, I would take the sticky note off my desk, if I completed the task, I would recycle the sticky note, and if I didn't complete the task, but it was in progress, I put an arrow sticky note on top of the sticky and put it back.

I really liked this method. I was able to see myself crossing things off, but was able to keep things organized by deadline and topic. I will definitely continue using this method in the future. I did 3 weeks at a time, which I liked because I was able to see what is due now and start on some future things if I had extra time.

Another method most people said was counseling. I don't have the time or money to see a professional, but Forest does a pretty good job. Keeping things bottled up causes more stress, so even just talking about it helps a ton. Another method I have found to relieve stress is writing. Sometimes that is writing something that upset me, then ripping it up and throwing it away or writing a few positive things about the day.

The last piece of advice that many people gave was having "me" time or doing something for yourself. Now being a full time student, working 18 hours a week, and not living with Forest (we switch between houses every other day), there is not a lot of extra time for "me" time. The problem I have ran into since college is what to sacrifice. I always felt like I had to give up my time with Forest or time spent doing homework or even take a day off work in order to have some "me" time.

As I started looking at my schedule, I realized that there actually was some time that I was overlooking that I had some free-time. On Monday and Tuesday, usually Forest gets to my house between an hour and an hour and a half after I get home. In the past, during this time, I would check my social media, sit around, and often times snack, even if I wasn't hungry. This habit alone, I realized caused me a ton of stress. Not only was I sitting around and thinking that I should be doing something productive, but I was also snacking when it was unnecessary, which then caused frustration about my eating habits...... so, this Tuesday, I got home, grabbed a diet coke and took a bath. I took a short bath, but it was incredibly relaxing. I turned off the lights and turned little battery operated candles on and relaxed. I felt like this was the first time I had actually relaxed in a really long time.

These last few weeks I realized that those last 15 minutes of studying doesn't help, getting less sleep so you can check you social media, being unorganized, and not allowing time breathe and relax causes stress and it is NOT worth it. 3 weeks ago, I felt stressed out of my mind. I felt like a jumbled mess, but today, I feel happy and I feel that my life is under control.

Thank you so much for reading and thank you to those who gave me your input and advice. It is greatly appreciated. If you have anymore advice I would love to hear it! :)

Have a happy day!!