Imagine this: You have four hours worth of homework, two meetings back-to-back, a math test to study for and a work shift, all in one night. How on earth is anyone going to be able to do that? To the super-planners who somehow figure everything out and have time to spare, I applaud you. To those of you who don’t know how to deal with it all without having at least one major breakdown, I understand.
I’m one of the latter. If I can’t clearly foresee myself completing all that I have to do, I get overly stressed out. And when I get stressed out, there’s no way I can get anything accomplished because of the stress I put myself under. Once it gets to that point, I feel hopeless...like the glass isn’t just half-empty, there’s nothing left. Nobody can help me out of that frame of mind and I end up sitting like a potato, doing absolutely nothing. It’s a relentless cycle of getting worked up to the point of giving up.
I’ve decided to stop that habit once and for all and, through trial-and-error, I’ve found how to make stress manageable. So I've decided to share those tips with you and hopefully save you from some hair-pulling, stressful nightmares.
1. Breathe.
I know it might sound redundant, but when stress consumes someone, the first thing that has to happen is calming down. Being too stressed out will leave you feeling defeated and giving up hope when you can, in fact, tackle whatever’s in front of you. Something as simple as taking a few deep breaths can clear your mind and put everything into perspective.
2. Gather your materials.
If you have anything and everything you might possibly need at your desk, you don’t have an excuse to keep getting up and pushing your to-do’s off. Making sure that you have them ready before you begin will actually save you some time and keep you from getting distracted. Some basic essentials would probably be a bottle of water, pens, pencils, highlighters, sticky notes, flashcards, textbooks, notes, a laptop and charger, etc.
3. Make a plan.
Once again, it sounds simple, but it’s these little things that we tend to overlook when we aren’t in our normal frame of mind. I tend to make a checklist, always starting with what is the most important to accomplish, then prioritizing what is left and roughly how long each item will take to complete.
4. Focus.
Start with the most important thing on your list and work on it for the estimated timeframe. As hard as it seems, forgetting about everything else and focusing on the task at hand makes the time go by faster and you get much more out of the work. A lot of the time, the resulting product will be of better quality as well. If your timeframe starts to dwindle, take a look at all you have accomplished and determine whether you can finish it within your limit or if you’ll need to do some adjusting.
5. Check it off.
I can honestly say there’s nothing as satisfying as looking at a list and checking something off when it’s done. It gives a rush of pride and an overwhelming sense of accomplishment to be able to say “yes I did this” and “yes it’s completely finished!”
6. Take a break.
When I’m stressed out, all I want to do is finish everything that has to be done as fast as humanly possible. But that can’t always happen because eventually I’ll overwork myself and lose whatever energy I have left. To avoid crashing and burning so close to meeting my goal, I plan in little breaks here and there. The breaks can’t really be too long or else the motivation that you’ve gained will most likely be lost. The easiest way (and my personal favorite) is to set the timer on my phone for five to ten minutes and either walk around or eat a small snack or jam out to a couple of my favorite songs then get right back to work.
7. Believe in yourself!
The final and absolutely most important step is to believe that you can do it! Keeping an upbeat, can-do attitude helps more than you might think! Having a positive outlook on your situation will keep your motivation higher, even if it begins to fade. Not to mention having an open mind and sticking to your plan will absolutely help you see it through from start to finish.
Hopefully following these tips will help you like they’ve helped me, and your future can be more optimistic as you cope with stress. Stressing out is an awful feeling that many of us would love to avoid. But, if you’re anything like me, you always pile things up until it seems like there’s no way to get it all done. The thing to remember is that even when the glass seems half-empty (or completely empty for that matter), at least the glass is refreshing. When it's half-empty then there’s more to drink and fill yourself with a new perspective. If it’s all empty, that means that the only thing left to do is re-fill it. Either way, you’ll leave feeling more refreshed and better prepared to take on whatever’s in front of you.
