How to Stress a little bit Less

Last week was a stressful one, but it’s so important to keep it together…or at least try. Normally my workweek is a pretty stress-free with minimal bumps, but this week and the next few weeks will be a high-stress environment. When I realized that my environment was changing, I was determined to keep my emotions in check, no matter what. Of course, this isn’t something that just comes naturally and I thought it would be interesting to talk about how to keep your stress levels low when everything is just coming at you. Keep reading if you want to know some ways to remain calm and zen when everything seems to be going a little left.

One of the first things I do when I know that I’m going to have a stressful or busy day is to prepare as much as possible. I don’t mean get some work done ahead of time or buy some binders and folders – I mean I mentally prepare. This could mean just telling myself that I can handle the stress, it won’t be that bad, or doing some type of work out to decompress. Basically, I add a step to my morning/night routine that puts me in a very calm place. I recommend doing this regardless of if you know you’re having a stressful day because sometimes life…well it happens.

I think music can be a cure for anything. Last Friday while I was (physically) preparing for the day, I played some lo-fi/coffee shop music to set the mood and intention of the day. What should have been a day of complete chaos was actually not that bad in the bigger scheme of things. Instead of freaking out and mulling on and on about the situation I found myself in, I just fixed the problem. I don’t know if the music was the cause for this, but it was nice having calming beats playing in my ear when all hell was breaking loose.

Whenever I come home from one of these days I always make sure to decompress and to leave work at work if I can. I’m one of those people that cannot be reached on my days off or over the weekend unless it’s an emergency. I have made exceptions the past week, but the majority of the time I’m pretty much a ghost. Decompressing is going to look different for everyone. For me (lately) I love tending to my plants…it just makes me incredibly happy and at peace. Some days they don’t need tending to but I still like looking at them and making sure they’re okay. I’m sure you’ve noticed an influx of plant pictures on here lately btw. I can’t help it!

In life, there are inevitably going to be stressful days and nights. How we respond to stress is how we overcome it or let it get to us. Think about a time when you’ve had a bad day or got caught in an unpleasant situation…how did you respond? Hopefully, you didn’t let it get to you. I hope this post was insightful and relatable because I want to write a little more about this more often. Leave a comment and tell me what you all think. As always,

ChelsiKay