Stress Management
Stress is a feeling of physical or emotional tension that is caused by events or happenings called stressors. Stressors often cause stress by making on feel anxious, angry, frustrated, and nervous, which makes one’s body react to the demand or level up to the challenge. Stress can be both positive and negative; stress that causes one to live up to the problem makes one more focused and therefore achieving the set goal. Stress that, however, poses a threat can cause distraction and break down of an individual. While doing this project, I had to do a couple of things to create and execute a plan to reduce stress in my life, which gave me a pleasant experience. First, I had to assess my life to get a clear overview of what causes significant stress in my life. I also had to ask my friends for their opinions to gauge where I lie and come up with ways to avoid or eliminate stress.
As an individual, and being young, I am faced with stress which I have to work around and reduce or better yet get rid of. First, I am met by stress caused by a lack of adequate money. Money is a constant cause of stress due to many responsibilities and bills, especially at the end of the month, when I have to offset all the bills. To deal with the inadequate money to be able to offset some bills, I decided to apply for student loans. With the student loans, I can cater to the academic charges. Then, I decided to get a part-time job at the library where I can get extra money to help settle my bills. With my bills settled and my academic fees settled, I can have some cash to spare for myself. Also, to reduce financial stress, I am learning how to manage my finances better and to work with a budget.
Another cause of stress, especially this time we are staying in the house, is dealing with relationships both with friends and family. Dealing with people might be challenging to me sometimes since I am moody and can snap at people unintentionally. Also, without my friends and support system, I am left with no one to talk to when something is bothering me. Having no one to talk to is a cause of stress as a lot of things are pent up and not worked through, which can later explode and cause one’s mental health to deteriorate. To reduce this stress, I try to exercise whenever I feel moody to help my muscles relax and avoid snapping at people. I also try to keep myself busy by reading books, doing some cleaning around the house, or take a walk to take things out of my head and think through. I also make sure I call my friends as often as possible to talk things through and feel the connection. All these measures help me to reduce stress and keep my emotions in check.
Lastly, another cause of stress in my life is mostly exams. During the exams period, the anxiety and pressure to do well get to me, especially when I am not well prepared. Being a temporary cause of stress, I have time to prepare adequately to avoid stress during the semester altogether. I, therefore, try to cover a lot of course work during revision so that I am ready for the exams.