Stress. It's become a bit of a buzz word hasn't it? Or, is it just that we live in a crazy busy world and rarely stop to refuel, refresh and de-stress so we genuinely all are feeling a little stressed. I know I'm not just speaking for myself when I say I'm pretty rubbish at chilling out, doing nothing and, putting my phone down. I'm working on organising my schedule/life in the most efficient way in order to reduce stress this year. Over Christmas, I took a few days off and it felt incredible, I recharged my mind, recharged my body, got back into my gym routine (David Lloyd gym, I love you, you make my mind and body feel epic) and now I thought it was about time I share some of my top stress-busting tips with you. I hope you'll enjoy this post.
1. Why Are You Stressed? - First and foremost, ask yourself why you are stressed? Find the cause. Is it because you haven't had enough sleep? Is it because you are hangry? Is it because you've taken too much work on? Then come up with a plan. How are you going to tackle this work? Do you need someone to help? Are you adding things onto your to do list which aren't really priorities? Are the things you're stressing over a little mundane and actually, things that don't need stressing over? I find I get myself stressed because I don't use my time efficiently. Since Christmas, I've been a lot more efficient with my time and because of that, have been feeling less stressed and more on top of life.
2. Sleep, Move + Eat - Wellbeing plays a massive part when it comes to stress. I'm sure most of you will have read my fitness section by now but if you haven't, I often talk about just how important wellbeing is. My mind gets stressed and then I instantly feel horrendous, mentally and physically. The three 'pillars' let's call it, for a happy mind and soul (in my opinion anyway) are 1. sleeping enough, 2. moving more and 3. eating better, not less. It took me a long time to realise just how important sleep is. It used to be really cool to stay up late and I do often stay up into the early hours working. It's unnecessary. Yes I work better then but it's not good for your mind or body. Sleeping is important so I'm working on getting into a better sleep routine so my body can repair itself and refresh. When it comes to moving more, nothing busts my stress like heading to the gym. If I can't get to the gym, I'll go outside and clear my head. There's something about moving my body that releases the best endorphins, I can walk into the gym with the weight of the world on my shoulders and walk out feeling epic. I then get myself stressed because sometimes I just cannot fit the gym in, just do what works for you and try and come up with a routine. At the moment, I feel like I'm in a good routine, popping into local David Lloyd gyms wherever I am (it's honestly my happy place) but the stress hits me when I lose my routine. I'm trying to ensure I'm booking hotels with gyms so that I can continue to bust that stress. Sometimes though, we are just too busy. Don't beat yourself up about it. Get back on it come Monday. When it comes to eating better, not less... this is something I talk about a lot. I'm not a nutritionist but I do a lot of research on this topic. Your body needs fuel in its engine to work efficiently. Eating good food is so important. Deprivation isn't what works. Good nutrition works. Read more on these topics indepth on my fitness section
3. Prioritise - Prioritising is really important. I find I am way less stressed and way more productive with a good to-do list in front of me, separated into 'priorities' eg, I NEED to do this today, I should do this and I could do that. It's often better to get all the annoying little things that build up out of the way and blast them out in an hour, then spend your time and energy on bigger, longer tasks. I like the idea of setting a timer and only allowing say an hour on emails and pressuring myself into being quick rather than letting tasks mount up and small tasks taking too long. I also always go over my to do list before bed and ensure it's fresh and concise ready for the morning ahead.
4. Put Your Phone Down - One thing that makes me incredibly productive is putting my phone down, it then means my tasks are getting done quicker and because of that, I'm less stressed. I often pass hours just sat, scrolling. This is totally fine for some down time but not when I have a list of things to do. Procrastination at it's finest is me, sat scrolling and before you know it, I've figured out who's brother's, son owns a dog in Chicago and where to find it. Seriously. It's addictive, scrolling scrolling scrolling. Sometimes my phone can make me feel quite stressed, constantly reading other peoples statuses for example, they can instantly dampen my mood. I know that sounds kind of selfish, it's really important for people to share negative experiences in some cases because we must use our voices and no-ones life is perfect, this isn't really what I mean. I'm talking about the many people on social media who use it as a way to troll, rant and cause arguments, it's those kinds of people I'm not interested in, the people who will literally pick an argument over anything and everything. They make me feel anxious/stressed/down when I have real life things to be dealing with and getting on with, I hate this phrase but 'you do you' is really important here. Sometimes you have to be selfish and surround yourself with people who uplift you, motivate you and inspire you. We are all allowed bad days but being unnecessarily nasty/attacking someone/causing arguments just isn't want I want to see on my feeds (definitely not on a Monday morning). Click the mute button, click the unfollow button or just stop aimlessly scrolling, don't ever let anyone ruin your mood and dictate your day. Read: online trolling, judgement and hate online.
5. You Are Allowed Time Off - Don't be so hard on yourself. So often, we are made to feel as if we are meant to be working 24/7. Our world seems to be incredibly work focused. I get it, I'm that way, I am so incredibly motivated to prove people wrong/be successful that often I run myself into the ground. We feel guilty for taking a day off but actually, you need to take time off so you can enjoy and live your life and also, refresh your mind. Again, it's taken me a long time to realise this. Sometimes it's good to take a step away and relax. I wrote a blog post about freelance life and actually want to write a few more, discussing just how important it is sometimes to step back from your work and then see it from a fresh pair of eyes the morning after. This applies to everything though, whether you work in a bank or you're studying for your exams, it's important to take a break. My break is going to the gym for an hour, phone down, mind off work and just doing something that makes me feel great. I also love having a steamy bath on a Sunday evening once I've ticked off my to do list, Jo Malone candle lit, mind switched off. Try and do something for you, whether it's running a bath, promising yourself you'll shut your laptop down at 7pm so you can actually watch some TV or read a book, or, head out shopping on a Saturday. I wrote a blog post all about how I am a workaholic, I've sacrificed friends and boyfriends for work in the past and you know what? You can be incredibly passionate and hard working without killing yourself by running into the ground. It's okay to take time off. You are not a bad person for it. I've been in situations where everyone around me has been working hard on holidays so I've felt guilty for relaxing even though I deliberately did the work before I left so I could relax. It's a vicious cycle. We are told that 'to be a girl boss' you've gotta 'grind' all day every day and actually, it's about working efficiently in the time you do have, rather than working flat out all hours. I've been 'diagnosed' with exhaustion twice by my doctor and it can be detrimental to our health, don't suffer burn out like I have done before. Never be so busy making a living that you forget to make a life. You can't enjoy your life if you're in bed burnt out can you? Rest, rejuvenate, refresh your body and mind and just don't be so harsh on yourself. You missed the gym? Big deal. You sent something off 30 mins late? Just be polite, explain, honest and apologise. It's not worth getting ill over.
So there we have it, do leave a comment and let me know what you think about this topic. Thanks so much for reading. P.S, I've been covering more personal topics on my YouTube (alongside my fashion, beauty and travel content) with my new EM UNCUT series, do have a watch and let me know what you think!
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Lots of love, Em x
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