Tuesday 22 December 2015

Day 22: How I de-stress

Make sure my surroundings are clean and tidy.
I don't know about you but I always feel 100% better within myself when everything around me looks good. A clean, organised bedroom, a made bed, it all adds up and when everything around me is clean and organised, I feel clean and organised. Which automatically brings my stress levels right down. Unfortunately, my room is almost never tidy. I probably need to work on that.

Make a checklist of everything I have to do.
If I write absolutely everything I have to do down, it means I'm not worrying and wracking my brain in case I've missed something. I make a long, long checklist of everything I want to get done in a day (I even include a reminder to have breakfast and make my bed in the morning) and the more things I get checked of in that day, the better I feel.

Go to bed early.
Sleep is key to healthy and happy lifestyle and it is something that drastically needs improving in my life. I always plan to go to sleep early and usually for whatever reason it doesn't happen. (Example: It is currently 1:08am, this blog post doesn't need writing desperately so why am I up? Who knows.) But When I actually do go to bed early, I'm not stressing about getting up in the morning, or sleeping too late. (Example: Jordan and I slept in until gone 1pm today... I know, that's awful.)

Wake up early.
I know I hardly ever do it unless I have to, but in the end I love being up early. The day feels so gloriously long and I end up getting so much done. My problem is I hate getting up in the mornings, I just find it so difficult. Probably because I stay up until 1am writing blog posts... But I always end the day feeling accomplished and relaxed when I've woken early.

Treat myself.
In the most materialistic way, if I've had a really stressful, day, week, month. I love nothing more than retail therapy. For me a really good shopping session is an amazing way to kill stress, I find it relaxing and fulfilling. Sometimes though, it doesn't even have to be a shopping session, just treating myself to one thing I've had my eye on for a while can do the trick.

Spend time with friends.
This may be an obvious one but I find this is best when I'm stressed about something specific. Spending time with friends is a great way to forget about your worries and just have a laugh, this is usually a temporary fix as I have to face the specific thing sooner or later, but it's a fix all the same.

Read.
Reading can transport you to another world and sometimes this is just what I need when I'm stressed. To lose myself in the adventures of a character and block out life's stresses for a little while. Books can also teach life lessons and every now and again I'll find an inspirational quote or character that will serve as the pick me up I need to get back to reality,

Watch YouTube/TV in bed.
Now this is reserved for a 'today was so stressful and I am so annoyed that I do not want to see or speak to anyone, I do not want to do anything and I want to eat everything' kind of day. This day for me is usually a Wednesday, Wednesday day is News Day (which I highly dislike), and News Day is usually very long, very annoying and very, very tiring. So I will return to my flat, make myself a tea/coffee, lock my door, curl under my blankets and watch YouTube videos with a packet of Jammie Dodgers... for a few hours. This is the ultimate in relaxation to me, just lying there, locked away from everything and every one. Then I'll go to sleep and wake in the morning feeling refreshed. It's always handy with this one to have a subscription list as long as mine, I'm usually never without a video to watch.

Breathe.
Sometimes we can't just leave the situation we're in to go and destress, sometimes we need a super-quick in the moment fix. In these situations the number one way I clear my head of stress so that I can focus on the task at hand is just by breathing. A simple deep breath works wonders for me, it's almost like you're quickly expelling any bad feeling from your body, and the breath back in is like a beautiful clean slate.


P.S. I'm posting this blog pre-movie watching as I'm working until 9pm today, so I'll watch when I come back but I didn't want to leave it that long to get this post up, so there you go!

2 comments:

  1. Waking up early is so important. I find that I can get so much more done during the day if I wake up early. Love this list!

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    1. I totally agree! If only beds weren't so comfy in the mornings!

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