Study Smart:School Tool Box

Tips for Dealing With Stress

The Stress-busters List

• Relax. Take breaks.
  
  
• Breathe. Stop and take deep breaths.
  
  
• Get lots of sleep.
  
  
• Eat good food. Get exercise.
  
• Accept what you can't change. The test is tomorrow? Deal.
  
  
• Watch your thoughts. If you're saying "could, would, should", change your thinking to "can, will, want to."
  
  
• Get organized.
  
  
• Manage your time.
  
  
• Don't compete 24 hours a day. Do your best, but don't always have to be the best.
  
  
• Be quiet once in a while.
  
  
• Be nice to yourself.
  
  
• Don't forget to have fun.
  
  

More Stress Buster Tips

Stress is as stress does. Huh? Stress is something all of us deal with. As young children we feel it in family sadness, in abuse and in hard homework. When we're older it's teen anxiety, AP classes, boyfriend/friend relationships, peer pressure and major homework. We feel it in family problems, death and in hard days at school. But what can we do about it, before it does something to us?

Stress is a major problem and it effects many people. It can cause illness and pain in severe cases, and depression and unhappiness in other cases. Sometimes stress can be good like when we get adrenaline in a gymnastics competition or a race, but a lot of stress we could do without! Here's some things we can do about stress.

1. Meditation and Yoga. It may sound funny but these relaxing techniques can help you come to grips with your feelings and let go of painful emotions.

2. Reflection at the end of the day about your day can also help to release stress from your body giving you a good sleep and a fresh mind when you wake up.

3. Often stress comes from family feuds and the so-called teenage-rebellion issue. Although teenagers are expected to become independent human beings it is not always necessary to get into fights about everything with your parents while defending yourself with the "teenage rebellion" factor. Face it, the world does not revolve around you and the sooner you realize this the sooner you can mend it with your parents and just learn that you shouldn't question everything they say. Having a peaceful relationship with your parents can save you and your family a lot of trouble. If you're not a teen, it still pertains to you. Avoiding fights with your parents and your family makes life a whole lot easier.

4. If you're getting a lot of stress and peer pressure from your boyfriend or just your friends sometimes you should take a time-out from a boyfriend- girlfriend relationship, or when it's your friends talk to a counselor or just your parents about life in general. Sometimes just talking can ease the frustration and pain, and lots of times others outside of the situation have good ideas to help you.

5. If a big test, or school projects and homework are major stressors sometimes it's a good idea to find out why. Sometimes you just have a lot of homework, but other times it may be because you have to many extracurricular activities or are spending to much time with friends and getting behind. If that's the reason then think about taking some time off your activities and allowing yourself more time to work on your homework and catch up.

6. Some people just get stress from the buzz of everyday life. In today's world things move fast and sometimes you just need time, by yourself, to relax, take a good bubble bath, read a book, walk your dog.. Or just sleep!

7. Watching TV, I would say, doesn't really relieve stress, it's just as fast paced as regular life and quite loud as well. Computers aren't a great idea either when trying to relieve stress. Save your Internet time for later, your email-pals can wait.

8. If you're having a particularly stressful day something nice to do is just go home, prepare yourself a steaming bubble bath and slip in. Turn on some classical or alternative music...just don't fall asleep in the bath! Then cook yourself something nice like a chocolate dessert - no, now is not the time to go on an eating spree, just time to relax in the beauty and comfort of today's world. If chocolate sounds too sweet, and too long of a cooking chore make yourself some tea (decaf) and have some. If you want to relax on your bed for a while that's fine too.

9. Meditation and yoga at this point might be fun to try, but don't neglect your homework. If you're having a particularly hard month or week, or whatever, try setting aside about an hour a day for yourself for relaxation purposes.

Contributed by -- Melody d.

Stress happens when you get too mad, and when everything is hard on you. So take away your stress. Do things like, breathe in and breathe out. Make yourself calm. Have fun. That takes away all your stress. --Monica.m

Do something for fun once in a while to get your mind off of school. Just don't do anything you'll regret. I mean, go outside, shoot some hoops, walk around the park, whatever! --Umbro

Here is one thing that I do to keep me relaxed and away from stress: Take things in strides and plan ahead! Especially the first couple of weeks of school. You're just trying to get back in the groove of things and you don't need to get stressed out with all that homework, right?! For instance, you have a big game coming up on Wednesday and you're just being piled up with homework. What do you do?

Well, the smart thing to do would be to calm down and don't get stressed. That doesn't help the matter at all. Now, you have all this homework to do and not enough time to do it. The thing I do is this: As soon as I get home I start on homework, then if I start to get stressed I take a 5 minute break and just relax and listen to my favorite singer or group. I don't go out with friends or anything because getting an education is a lot more important than friends. You can always go out with you friends on the weekend but school is your future. Therefore you should watch your grades and take it very seriously. Just remember, everything you need is right in your head, if you choose to use it! Good luck! -- Lindsey B., 14 Indiana

Put the problem into perspective - is it really worth getting stressed over? Never forget to smile. By smiling, the muscles in and around you mouth change and send signals to your brain that calm you. Talk to your friends or family - everyone has been through stress and would love to help you.--Bree M.

Always eat a sensible meal. Get a good night's sleep also. Rest is very important. --Tierney H.