5 Ways To Lower Your Stress

In my personal experience, I have definitely went through times where my level of stress takes over every other aspect of my life. I tend to forget about all the positive things in my life and focus on every little negative detail. I think we can all agree that this can easily take a huge toll on us, and never benefits any of us at the end of the day. Today, I have compiled a list of things that I have come up with in order to take a step back from the pressures of everyday life, and simply de-stress.

1. USE AN AGENDA

For the last four years of high school, there has been a number of times where I have attempted to start using a planner. Though, until six months ago, I could never bring myself to stick to writing in one! As of today, I literally LIVE out of my agenda, and could never go a day without it. The first step is to go out and buy an agenda that you would actually want to use! Now that could mean going to Chapters and purchasing a cute one with flowers on it, or it could simply mean going into Walmart and buying something small and practical for everyday use. Just do whatever works for you! The next step it to write everything down. Now, when I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING. This will simply help you to never forget about any of the tasks that you need to get done, and it will easily keep you on track. If an agenda doesn't work for you, you can always use one of the many agenda apps for your phone that are out there! At the end of the day, the point of this tip is that writing things down will definitely change the way you manage your time.

2. PLAN AHEAD

Planning ahead makes a huge difference when it comes to time management. My advice would be to sit down every Sunday night (or any other day of the week that you wish), and plan out the week ahead. You can even do this at the beginning of the month and plan out the next 30 days! Planning ahead will ultimately help you to manage your time because you can allocate a specific time to complete each task. Once you start doing this, you'll find that instead of doing everything in one day in a matter of hours, you can spread out your work and get it done far before the due date.

3. DON'T FORGET ABOUT "ME" TIME

Every week comes with new tasks, new pressures, and new things to stress about. Though it can be difficult to remember this, living a less stressful life can easily be done by never forgetting about your "me" time. It is important to set aside time for yourself and take a break. After all, I'm sure you deserve it! Find something that relaxes you or that you're passionate about, and simply push your work to the side for some time in order to do those things. Whether that may be watching Netflix in your bed for a few hours, cooking a delicious meal for yourself, going to a yoga class, or taking a bubble bath. Whatever it is, make sure that you take a deep breath and relax after getting caught up in your busy schedule!

4. TAKE IT ONE DAY AT A TIME

I may or may not be a hypocrite for giving this advice, but taking things one day at a time is a huge factor in de-stressing your life. This is obviously much easier said than done, but once you actually start doing it, you will find yourself much more relaxed. Remember that taking a step back and realizing that you can get through each day one at a time is completely possible. Choose something you need to get done, finish it, and simply move to the next one. Eventually you will have everything checked off on your to-do list and endless "me" time!

5. STAY POSITIVE

At the end of the week, staying positive is one of the best things you can do. Get through each day one by one and instead of freaking out about everything going on, tell yourself that you know you can do it. Tell yourself that it's going to be okay. And tell yourself that it will be over before you know it. Continually looking at the negative aspects of your life will do nothing but bring your mood down and make you miserable. So instead, simply keep your head up high and don't let the little things bother you.