5 Ways to Reduce Stress!

Hello everyone!

In this week’s blog post, I’m going to talk about various ways to reduce school-related stress. It’ll be super quick and straight to the point, so make sure you read the whole post to gain all my tips!

Stress is inevitable. School-related stress? It’s almost impossible to not come across. High schoolers around the world experience load of stress when it comes to studying, homework, or doing anything high school-related in general. And it’s understandable. The enormous workload added onto extracurricular activities could even cause an adult to collapse.

I want you all to know that I understand. Even I get extremely anxious around deadlines or test dates, and it’s all a part of going through high school. That being said, I’m sharing 5 different actions you could take to relieve or at least partially reduce your stress.

Note: I’m not an expert in any way, and these are all steps that I personally take to reduce my stress. Note that this isn’t a guarantee that they’ll work for you, since everyone is different. However, they have certainly helped me, and I hope that they will help you reduce stress in any way possible!

1. Take a “Me” Day – This is something I do whenever I’m overwhelmed with school. Essentially, I’ll take a day off and do stuff that I find relaxing. For example, I’ll personally re-organize my room, bake some cookies, and watch a movie or TV show. This is completely customizable, since your “me” day is all about you! It’s important to note that you shouldn’t do this too frequently. Having too many “me” days will just cause you to procrastinate more and not want to do any work. Only do this when you’re completely exhausted and totally stressed out about school. You should be at the point of bursting to be able to have a “me” day. It’s okay if you have one even when you’re not feeling too stressed, but make sure it’s a one-time event. You may get too comfortable with “me” days, and that can result in you not getting anything done.

2. Plan out your week – This is a great way to stop your stress before it even gets uncontrollable. If you know that you have a pretty packed week ahead, take a few moments to sit down and plan out your week. Assign times to do specific assignments or revision tasks, so that you’ll have time to get everything done. I recommend using online planners, since you can still change up your schedule if something changes. There are numerous free online planner apps and planning websites you can utilize to plan out your week. If you prefer planning on paper, feel free to use either a paper-based planner or even a piece of paper to plan out your week. There are so many ways you can plan out your week, and it’s an efficient way of ensuring you don’t feel overwhelmed in the middle of the week.

3. Work out or take a walk – This is another great way to temporarily relieve your stress. Work out whenever you’re feeling stressed or tired. Working out and sweating it out can really help boost your energy and give you that rush of adrenaline to stop procrastinating and start working. Even if you don’t enjoy working out, try to go outside and get some fresh air by taking a walk. Especially in the pandemic, sitting at home all the time isn’t going to do wonders for your mental health. Going outside for a walk and relaxing for a bit is bound to freshen you up so you can start studying efficiently. There’s really not much else to say about this – so go outside!

4. Play music – Try to create a playlist designed to motivate you and get you to start working. Upbeat music can really pump you up, so it’s a great way to relieve stress and stop procrastination. You don’t necessarily have to listen to music while you’re studying, you can just take a quick break and then come back to your schoolwork with much more energy. After a long day of classes, it’s refreshing to just dance it out and listen to positive music. Overall, it’s a great stress reliever!

5. Spend time with friends and family – This goes without saying, but spending time with friends and family is certainly a refreshing activity. Whether it’s going to the mall, or staying in and watching a movie, your loved ones are always there to cheer you up. It’ll feel like an escape, to be able to not worry about anything and enjoy your time spent away from textbooks.

I hope you all find these tips useful! Stress is something thousands of high schoolers come across, so don’t feel like you’re alone! Feel free to contact me with any stress-related questions!

Until next time, bye!

P.S. Stress can be really overwhelming to deal with. I get it, and so does everyone else! If you're experiencing too much stress, and you can't function properly, make sure you reach to a professional! :)