With the summer almost ending, classes starting, and increased work hours, one can easily become discouraged how much energy is sucked out of you on a daily basis. According to the American Psychological Association's 2007 survey of the US, half of Americans say they can't sleep at night due to stress. 30% of Americans also feel like they live under extreme stress on a daily basis. Why so uptight?
Learn to Take Care of Yourself
Everyone knows if you use your car, and never put anything in it, never do anything to the interior, or the exterior, or take care of it that thing is going to be one sorry piece of junk that won't be going anywhere. So if we take good care of our cars, why don't humans stop and refill up our energy stores a lot more often than once or twice a week? A solution de-stressing from a busy schedule is not saying no to everything except doing what it takes to pay the bills. It's the concept of not over committing yourself. Cutting back on unneeded areas in your life that just add more baggage or dead weight. And learning the use of time management is a very necessary tool.
Start with Just One Hour
If you have a crammed life, start with just one hour a week. If you think you can manage an hour a day, good. In that hour, pick up a magazine, pour yourself a glass of something cold, and sit down. Yes, please take a seat. See how long you can stay that way within the hour without answering the door, the phone, your recent Facebook notifications (Farmville can seriously wait, I promise), or even the dog. What you are attempting to do right then is called something very weird but wonderful--it's called relaxing. As strange a concept as it seems, simply sitting down and breathing is actually really healthy for you. No TV though. TV can actually raise your blood pressure.
Grab your favorite piece of literature, sip your drink, play some music in the background and repeat this at least three times a week. You'll find yourself not only looking forward to your hour of "me time" and also find yourself de-stressing a fraction more and more every time.
Be Able To Just Say, "No, thanks."
Everything may seem like a good idea, but you're not Superman. So don't "super commit" to even recreational activities. Keep your schedule basic. If you work long hours, don't plan on long nights out or elaborate plans. Even if you feel like time is crucial to keeping your social life interesting, keeping your body going is a lot more important. Physical fatigue isn't the only symptom from "stressing too hard." Mental fatigue, which drains you much more than physical, is very demanding on your brain, your body, and your mind. As long as you keep in mind that you can say "no" to friends and still be friends, you will definitely thank yourself later when you're feet and head are throbbing after work or class.
Find Something to Do That's Satisfying
Americans are restless. We flit like butterflies from place to event to home to games to hobbies in a heartbeat, not realizing it only fuels our impatient fast-paced lifestyle habits all the more. Whatever happened to relaxation? Find something simple that you like doing, (such as a basic inexpensive hobby or exercise class) and try your hardest to practice it twice a week. With your "me hours" and your "satisfaction times", you'll need to sift out somethings your life doesn't need. Even if it's volunteer work or going to every single church or school event (yes, that's admirable but one must be realistic) or volunteering to take another shift when your body is already screaming no, you must let it go. Learn to say no, take some time for yourself, and do something you enjoy.
Life is a beautiful thing. As long as we don't let the clock rule our lives (to a certain extent), it can always stay that way. Even through the ups and downs we will be better able to enjoy our lives in the long run.
Elizabeth Hottenstein - Part of the younger generation of online journalists, Elizabeth writes and blogs from wherever her travels across the USA may take her.
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