Stress 101

It’s that time of year again where those dreaded exams come round for people my age. We all hate this time of year, and we’ve been waiting for it all year and now it’s eventually here.

This post is my stress tips shall we say for now. I want to write about all of the things that I do to de-stress or just things that I do to avoid stressing out, in the hope that it will help at least one of you out in some way!

Teachers will pile on work like there’s no tomorrow. Each and every teacher will treat their subject as the be all and end all, and that’s what makes it so stressful for us. They often forget that we have 6 or 7 subjects that are equally important and we have just as much work, if not more for. Prioritising is the most important thing at the time of GCSEs and A Levels because you know how you should prioritise things to suit you so do that, not what someone else tells you.

I’m in no way saying don’t listen to your teachers, because you should always listen to them! Just make sure you take yourself into consideration!

THINGS TO DO TO AVOID STRESS

Be organised

I’m probably one of the most organised people when it comes to my school work. I have a folder for everything and a notebook for everything and if anything is in the wrong place I will know about it. I think I’ve really pushed organisation upon myself lately because of how stressful I have found high school, but it’s helped me out a lot. If you stay organised, you know where everything is and you know what needs to be done first and what can wait. This way, you can feel less pressure on yourself and you will be able to get on with things easily rather than not being able to find something or forgetting the due date for a piece of work.

Break

It is so easy to sit and force yourself to work for hours on end because you think that will stop you from getting distracted. This will not work I can promise you that! Take a break because if you sit for hours, you’ll start thinking about what else you have left to do and then you’ll stress yourself out. Take a break and stop your mind from thinking about anything related to exams and revision! This way, when you do go back to your work, you will feel refreshed and ready to work again, hopefully feeling much less stressed.

Have time to yourself to do what you want

I thought that when this time of year came round, I wasn’t allowed to do anything social with my friends at all. I had to be revising all the time. That is not the case, yes you do need to spend a substantial amount of time revising so that you do well in your exams, but you need time to spend with your friends and family too. I have been out on day trips with my family and friends and I have a Sunday Dinner with my family every week where we sit and just chat for 2-3 hours. You can even revise in a social situation. Me and my friends have gone to our local library to revise multiple times and myself and Matt have also had revision days together. So what I’m trying to say here is, don’t be unsociable for months until your exams are over, you need time to completely free your mind of exams and revision, so spend that time wisely.

HOW YOU CAN DE-STRESS

Pamper night/day

I actually did this today. I sat and did 2 hours of revision then I decided I was going to go in the shower. My shower involved various cleansers and a face scrub as well as some nice hair treatment from my Paul Mitchell sample I received in my Pink Parcel last month. When I got out the shower, I put on a face mask and a nose pore strip and just sat and chilled for 15 minutes while those products did their thing. It’s honestly amazing how refreshed you can feel after giving yourself a bit of a pamper! After I’d done this, I went straight back into my revision and did another 4 hours, with breaks of course! I did a similar thing the other day, I took an hour out of my revision to paint my nails which also made me feel much better about going back to my revision and gave me time to clear my mind for a while.

Talk

Sometimes stress gets a little bit too much for some of us. It’s never really got to this point too much for me but I would imagine talking to someone would help. We are always told at school, as I imagine you are, that if you are getting so stressed you don’t know what to do anymore, the teachers are always there for you to talk to. Even if it’s not your teachers, your friends and your family are also always there for you to offload things onto. I offload things onto people all the time when things get too much for me, not always stress related, but it always feels so much better to get it out and have someone tell you that everything is going to be okay, because it will.

Go for a walk

It’s amazing what a bit of fresh air can do. Go walk your dog, go for a walk with your friend who lives round the corner, go sit in the garden for a while. Even do a bit of exercise if you’d prefer to! Burning off a little energy and getting some fresh air allows your brain a chance to stop and just breathe for a while. The fresh air will also make you feel much more refreshed and ready to go. The message is, do something that makes you feel good. If exercise isn’t your thing, maybe you could read your favourite book or watch a bit of YouTube for a while just to give your brain a chance to relax.

That’s all the tips I have for you today guys! I hope you enjoyed the post and I will see you all very soon for another one!

This post is part of a little blogger series I'm taking part in called the "Secret Blogger Project 2015" run by teen bloggers Emily, Rebekka and Charlotte. About 30 of us will be writing twice a week on selected little lifestyle topics and you can also go onto the Twitter and Instagram hashtag "#secretbp2015" to have a little chat and view everyone's posts. If you would like to join or know more (we'd love to have you!) Instagram DM @theperks0fbeingemily or if you don't have Instagram, send a quick email torebekkarosebeautyxo@gmail.com.

Love, Becca

-xoxo