Dealing with Stress!

Hello Everyone,

Today I wanted to do a blog post about dealing with stress. This is a time of the year that many people in education get quite stressed because of exams. Having been through my GCSE's and just finished my last AS Level exam I know that I personally find this time quite stressful. Therefore, I wanted to do a blog post to try and help some of you find ways of dealing with stress. However, this isn't a blog post just about exam stress, it is about dealing with stress in general.

The first point I want to make is you're not alone. Everybody suffers from stress, obviously everybody also has different levels of stress and different abilities to deal with it but we all get stressed from time to time. Therefore, if you're stressed out don't feel bad about it because everyone feels like it sometime. Try and talk to someone about how you feel because they might be able to help you to feel more clam and sometimes it's nice to just talk about it.

Another thing that I would say about dealing with stress is try to put things in to perspective. By this I mean when you are stressed make yourself realise that whatever you are stressed about probably isn't the end of the world and that there are other options that you can consider to help you to change/ fix the situation. Also, try to focus on the good parts of your life and appreciate what you have to help yourself realise that not everything in your life is stressful.

If it is something that you have to deal with everyday that is causing you stress then change it. For example, if it is your job that causes you stress that you can't deal with you could start looking for a new job that you think would be less stressful. Alternatively, if one of your friends is making you stressed you could try to distance yourself from them without hurting anyone's feelings. You don't have to stay in that situation just because it suits everyone else. Do what is best for you and your health.

Remember to breath. Keeping your breathing steady by taking deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth really helps me to calm down when I am stressed. Maybe when your a bit stressed next you could try taking 10 deep breaths to help you stay calm. I like to do this before going into an exam because it helps me to keep calm and think straight.

Often stress can be caused by feeling unprepared. Therefore, I try to stay as organised as possible in order to avoid any unneeded stress. If you want to get more organised try reading My Top Tips for Organisation. I hope it helps.

Finally, I would say make sure you de-stress. Try to get some time at some point in the day to do something that you find relaxing like having a bath, going for a walk or reading a book. This can help you to forget how stressed you are and help you feel more positive.

If it is exams you are stressed about have a look at my blog post about Tips for Revision as it might help you to feel more calm if you are prepared. 

I am in no way an expert on stress or how to deal with it but these are things that I do to try and reduce any stress that I have in my life. I hope you have found this blog post helpful and have enjoyed reading it. :)