Wednesday/Weekend Assignment #303: Stress Relief

Karen‘s topic this week is one that’s probably universally relatable:

Weekend Assignment #303: How do you de-stress when you’re feeling frazzled?

I don’t have a single, all-purposes stress-relief technique – does anyone? But I do have several things I might try, depending on the context – where I am at the time, and what seems to be triggering the majority of the stress (because if I’m truly frazzled and overwhelmed, it’s probably not just due to one thing). One of my stress relievers is actually productive, while others are more about avoidance.

Clean something: I’m not talking about a top-to-bottom scrubbing, but even a small task like picking up around the living area or wiping the counters can help settle me down. It requires focus, but not necessarily thought, so it helps clear my head; it makes me get up and move around; and it provides a relatively quick, visible reward and small sense of accomplishment.

Procrastinate until it bugs me: If I’m stressing over something I just don’t feel like doing, occupying myself with something else for a little while can help – up to a point. Google Reader is definitely my favorite place to procrastinate these days (oh, don’t act surprised!). Still, it usually doesn’t take too much time there before I’m more stressed about procrastinating than I was about the thing I was originally trying to avoid. Since the first thing is now less stress-inducing, it’s time to go and get it done. This is surprisingly effective, actually.

Crank up the car stereo and sing along: This is probably the best way for me to unwind from a difficult day at work. There actually are some days I appreciate my long commute – it provides a buffer zone between the office and home. I appreciate it even more now that I have a car that accommodates my iPod, and I’m not at the mercy of local radio. For some reason, listening to music at home doesn’t seem to affect me the same way.

Watch some engaging, but not too thought-provoking, TV
: I need something with a plot that will keep me interested but not confuse me too much, and dialogue that makes me laugh (even unintentionally) helps too. This would not be the time to watch Lost, but Psych or Smallville would be good for this sort of thing.

“Starbucks Hour:” This is becoming one of my favorite parts of the weekend, although it doesn’t happen every weekend. I’ll buy myself coffee and breakfast, and I bring the book I’m currently reading (no laptop or other gadgets). Even if it’s closer to forty-five minutes than an hour, time alone reading, eating, and drinking at my own pace does a lot to relax me (yes, even when the coffee is caffeinated!).

Overall, though, the only thing that really helps is taking care of the actual source of the stress – getting those things off the to-do list, one way or another. That may mean just buckling down and getting it done, getting it done after getting away from it for a little while, or realizing that it’s not something I really have to get done – or that it’s actually not up to me to do it – and letting go of it. What do you do to de-stress?

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9 comments

  1. I've always wanted to be one of those people at S'bux that's lost in a book! I love picturing you that way.
    Music. Music is the best de-stressor ever.

  2. I switch gears. If I've been quiet, I turn on some music. If I've been working on something I can't solve, I put it aside and do something else, at least for a minute. If I've been all alert, like at the end of my teaching and commuting days, I have a glass of wine!

  3. April – You can see it for yourself pretty often at the Starbucks in Wood Ranch :-).

    And music definitely helps.

    Jeanne – In some respects, I guess a few of the things I do could be considered "switching gears" too.

  4. Karen – Getting something useful done, even if it's a small task, really does help me, especially if it gives me some momentum to get something else done :-).

  5. All good ideas. I don't do enough to de-stress. I tend to think about stuff too much and can't concentrate on doing else to keep my mind off of what is stressing me out. Got that? 🙂