Friday, February 22, 2013

The Keys to Living Stress Free

By Jocelyn Wallen, red belt

Stress it one of those things that is inescapable.  It follows you wherever you go, school, work, even home.  Too much homework, late hours, distractions, distractions, and more distractions.  It seems like stress won’t ever go away, that you won’t ever have more time, or more fun, but there are a few key ideas to help those of us who can sometimes feel hopeless in the balance.


Key number 1: Sleep.  Getting sleep is probably the easiest stress relieving activity.  It seems kind of obvious, but even an extra hour of sleep can change your entire day from a slump to a day full smiles.

Sleep is also a key factor in preventing sickness.  When a person misses out on their recommended hours of sleep they become 26% more likely to come down with a cold (according to mayoclinic.com), and being sick is stressful.


Key number 2: Time management. Sounds easy right?  Sure it is, if you actually do it.  It’s really hard to stay on top of everyday life, homework and chores are so much less fun than television or friends, but they have to be done.  Work out a schedule that is easy for you to follow that doesn’t bunch up all of your work in one place.  Allow some time for fun stuff, and brain breaks, and stick to it!  When you spread the work out it becomes easier and doesn’t seem like nearly as much.  Making it much less stressful.


Key number 3: Mindset. Every bad thought you think will lead to another, but the same does apply to good thoughts too.  Thinking about how happy or not stressed you are will make it better, and little by little you can chill out.   You think happy, you’ll be happy.

As an all honors student, who also does marching band and Moo Sul Kwan Taekwondo at the Colorado Taekwondo Institute, I’ve dealt with stress, and the occasional freak out, but everything passes eventually - all you have to do is get through it.  Breathe.  Take a step back and remember the three keys. These keys will help you unlock a stress free life.

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