How does one cope with stress?

So I get stressed easily, especially where college work is concerned and I go through a short cycle that just amplifies my stress:
1) I get stressed over something
2) I get discourage to do said thing or find ways to ignore it
3) Deadline for cause is coming closer or I'm seeing the cause more often
4) I realize that I need to do it.
5) I get stressed more.

Then the cycle repeats. Usually, writing stories is my coping mechanism, but I don't have time for it at the moment, so I'm looking at other methods to handle stress and/or panic. I've heard of methods where people make it so it's a separate being from yourself and you calm it down, but I can't really try that until I over come this week of stress.

What do you lot tend to do when you get stressed? Any particular music you listen too that calms you down? Any hobbies you do?

u just need to break the cycle dude

and stay away from cycling threads

I destress by playing with kittens, purring is supposed to be one of the best relaxers/ destressers XD

Sounds like you just need to get through this tough week, and soon it will be over and you will be able to move onto the next. Especially for deadlines what has helped me is thinking in one step at a time, not looking at the big, stressful picture, but rather the small tasks that I can accomplish.

When I get stressed out, I usually take a walk or just think about my actions and try to reason with myself. Lol, it's weird...

Try progressive muscle relaxaton:

http://www.anxietybc.com/sites/default/files/MuscleRelaxation.pdf

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HFwCKKa--18

Hope it helps!

I have similar problems, since I'm a bad procrastinator. I'm hesitant to say I've improved, though I know I have, at least a little.

One thing that's really helped me out is to break things down into smaller, more manageable tasks, and write them down as such. Even when doing a little at a time, I can cross out something on my to-do list and feel like I've accomplished something (because hey, I did. Sometimes I'll feel so proud I'll want to start getting ahead and I make a bit of extra progress. Then there are the days I don't do squat, and that makes my anxiety kick up.

I know you may be busy now, but when you have some time to yourself, grab yourself a notebook or planner, and get things organized. Set some time aside for organizing your day or week, or month, and then follow it. You may overestimate what you can do in a day initially, as I did. Don't beat yourself up about that. Just figure out what you do have time for and learn to start planning accordingly.

In terms of coping with my anxiety...It used to be so bad that I could get dizzy crossing the street based on the fact that I'd gotten anxious doing that before, and that had been burned into my head. Medication never really helped me either.

As silly as it sounds to some, I had to remind myself that I wasn't going to die.Sometimes one has to start grand and tone the reminders down from there. My very first panic attack was years ago, and I thought I really was going to die. But I didn't. Then it happened again, and again, and again, and I'm still here. I stuck through it and I'm fine. I don't get them nearly as often, now, but if I do, I remind myself, I've been through this, and I can get through it.

I've rambled a bit but the point is that no matter how extreme or tame the anxiety, it can be dealt with. It's good to have outside things to help calm you down when you need a bit of help, but a lot of it is getting into the right sort of mindset. It takes a bit of work, but it's certainly possible. As for my outside sources, sometimes I listen to calming music, other times, I listen to music that pumps me up to get things done, if I'm especially anxious and feel like I need a while to calm down, I'll watch a show or movie I've already seen that doesn't have a lot of suspense, at low to medium volume. I'll also play games if they don't require a lot of thinking or platforming, since anxiety affects concentration, which will affect the results, which will just frustrate me more.

I usually take a nap. I've been taking afternoon naps for years and I've become more tolerant to stress. Just taking a break can do wonders.

I took a class on Meditation last semester and it is extremely beneficial to do. It only takes 15+ minutes per day and it helps you focus and have a more mindful approach to life. Jon Kabat-Zinn is a great teacher to start but my personal preference is just to pull open a tab of ocean sounds or rainfall and focus on it with my eyes closed for a good amount of time. Hope this helps! College stress is the worst and I need to be taking my own advice as well haha.

Take a break, go for a walk. Look outside and just relax yourself, and try to forget about your stress for just a minute. It usually helps me unstress a bit

Take a walk, it's really good. The second best thing is probably meditation

Thanks for all the advice guys! I think I'll be trying some of these methods. Already, I'm actually getting on top of my work bit by bit, so hopefully once I get a spare minute, I'll actually organize myself. ^_^" For the moment, it seems calming music is working best for me and being near my friends so they can lessen the stress on me, but not distract me.

Thanks for all the help everyone. Hopefully I'll learn not to be such a terrible procrastinator. XD

Getting used to it time management is also important too

I'm actually one of those weird procrastinators that works best under pressure. Like if I procrastinate and do something last minute, I actually do a far better job on it than I would if I started working on it in advance. For example, let's say I had a school report that I had 2 weeks to do. If I started it on the day it was assigned, I'd keep editing it and editing it and second guessing myself. And I'd end up getting a C on it. But if I did that same report the night before, I'd somehow do it really well and get an A. This has not changed now that I'm an adult and have work and other responsibilities.

It's not any less stressful knowing this about myself. In fact, when I procrastinate too much, sometimes it makes me unable to sleep, sometimes I lose my appetite, etc. All because of stress. :/

There's lot of quick things you can do to de-stress yourself. I work in a cinema so when it get's busy it's very easy to get stressed when customers are all hollering to get served and you're trying your best to give them a great customer experience quickly and still managing to be friendly etc. So I can relate to what you're going through. Also that cycle basically sounds like my life.

Anyway, for school work here's what I would do.

-Plan your work around your most productive times. Do you find that you get a better quality of work done in the morning, evening or afternoon? Decide on a time frame of 4/5 hours that you can work. E.g. I work better at night time so I mostly try to do my work from 6pm to 10pm and then I have a few hours to unwind before going to bed.

-Make sure you plan EVERYTHING. If you don't have a job or you know the hours that you work then you can make yourself a schedule that breaks everything down into small and easier to handle tasks (as dapperlace said) so you aren't overwhelmed by doing it all at once and putting it off. Buying a planner and writing everything down is a good way to make sure you're always organised.

-Sometimes it's good to take a break. If you have been looking at your phone or distracting yourself then it's a good idea to take a break. Spend this break wisely. I would recommend using music and exercise to make the most of your break to help you feel less restless. Take a walk, listen to music while doing sit ups, jumping jacks or whatever you want. I promise you will feel better after your break if you do this rather than just lie on your bed looking at your phone. Also about music, I find "aggressive" music such as heavy rock or even pop music with a good beat is good music to listen to whilst exercising as it can motivate me to perform better and I will feel like I have got all the stress out of my system because I'm using all the nervous energy.

-A good night's sleep makes all the difference. Did you know, for the first 3 seconds after you wake up, you won't remember anything? Getting enough rest is just generally a good idea so I don't need to explain why this is beneficial.

Well if the stress is caused by 'deadlines', I barely get any stress from that since I try to get things done right away rather than putting it off (when possible).


Other than that:

- Playing and/or writing music.
Just playing a few badass riffs and shredding out the guitar is often enough. Tinkering about and creating an entire song with multiple instruments is often therapeutic (though highly time consuming)

- Drawing and/or writing.
I like to draw and write characters, plots etc. that I may/may not one day do something with. I probably won't do anything with it to be honest, I just like doing it 'for me.
Hell, between me and my friend (who somehow got in on it) we've got a bunch of stuff we haven't 'taken further' just because we enjoy it.

- Play video games.
Like, actually 'play' them. None of this '90% cutscenes' nonsense that's waaaaay to prominent in in gaming. Just sitting down and playing them is often great stress relief.


- Kick back, lay down and listen to heavy metal.
The heavy and aggressive stuff is the best for this. Despite it's nature, I always end up feeling better overall.

Well I just have a panic attack, then shake for awlie (due to panic attack) then drug myself.
Sorry I could not help.

Tao said:

Kick back, lay down and listen to heavy metal.
The heavy and aggressive stuff is the best for this. Despite it's nature, I always end up feeling better overall.

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Now that's something I can relate to!

Exercise really helps for stress. I go running when I need a break from the world and it seriously helps. Sometimes I even envision the pain I feel from running as me causing pain to the stuff thats stressing me, kind of like I'm fighting back or something. Doing push ups or something would also help, mostly anything that can get endorphins coursing through your body.

But for me, running does that, plus removes me from the stressful environment, so thats what I do. Hope this helps

Izzy Reincarnated said:

Take a walk, it's really good. The second best thing is probably meditation

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This.