Heyyoooo, it’s Sydney! The blonde, tall, tap dancing, animal loving, open minded, stressed?, overwhelmed? girl.
Thats right, I get stressed. If you're anything like me, sometimes you feel like the world is not on your side and that you may have bitten off more than you can chew. As much as we all do our best to hide our stress, and anxiety, sometimes it gets the best of us and it can affect our daily lives. Speaking for myself, between work, rehearsals, and the twists and turns life throws at us, it can get a little overwhelming. I have to remind myself how important it is to practice self-care; to hit the pause button, take a breath, and tell myself that “it’s a stressful day, not a stressful life”.
Now I know everyone is different, so this may or may not help you ease the load, but here are four tips that have helped me keep a level head and keep me working through life's craziness.
#1 Use your lunch break as a BREAK!
When theres a lot of work to be done, sometimes we use every minute we have to work, brainstorm, or research. Taking times such as your lunch break or travel time to stop what your doing, and take advantage of the break you have to rest, and think of or do something that makes you happy. This break doesn’t have to mean taking a nap or shutting yourself off completely. It could mean simply switching your thought process onto something that can calm your mind. You can, call a friend or family member, take a walk outside, but I like to turn on my favorite music at the time and eat a snack:)
#2 Getting a Good Nights Sleep
They say it’s important to get AT LEAST 7 hours of sleep a night. I don’t know about you, but sometimes this is difficult to do. Our bodies need it to function and it can affect our moods including anxiety and stress levels. Try putting your phone down, turning off the tv, computer or anything else that would cause outside noise or be a distraction to your sleep. It might take some practice but after a few times of doing so it should start to become a habit!
#3 Eating Breakfast
Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day! Breakfast gives our bodies the nutrition it needs and is proven to improve your mood, and productivity levels. Even just waking up 15 minutes earlier to scramble some eggs or make a smoothie will have such a high pay off. My personal favorite is avocado toast and a cup of coffee!
#4 Planning out your Day, Week, Month
I use a planner to plan my life as far in advance as I can. My planner runs for a year so I write in all details of my schedule that I know of that way I can see in advance what I have to prepare for and nothing comes as a surprise. I try not to plan too many things for one day or week because I know I will get overwhelmed. Keeping a planner that is on the smaller side to keep in your purse or keep in your car makes it easy to always have with you. Sometimes in my planner I write myself little reminders in advance to take a minute to breath. I find them when I’m writing and by that time I have forgotten that I wrote it.
Everyone gets stressed and busy at some point or another and on different scales. It’s okay to feel that way just remember to use some of these tips, do your best to give yourself time to unwind and think of the strength you will gain from getting through the stressful times!
Hugs
Sydney xo