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Looking back to this week, one of the biggest stressors I had was planning my little sister’s 5th birthday. Since it was a last minute thing, I felt a bit of pressure trying to pull everything together, especially the invitations. I’ve noticed that when I’m under stress, I get tense and my patience is shorter. I didn’t want to let that show around my sister since it was her special day, so I tried to stay calm by taking deep breaths and speaking gently. On top of that, I had other things on my mind besides the party, which made it harder to stay focused. That left me feeling distracted and overwhelmed. Psychologically, I felt anxious. Physically, I noticed tension in my body. Behavior wise, I kept things to myself but made an effort to really listen and respond calmly. To cope, I spent time talking to my family and friends, which helped a lot since I hadn’t seen them in a while. It gave me a chance to relax and take my mind off the stress. After the party, I went to my mom’s and laid down with her on the couch. I ended up falling asleep there and got a really good night’s rest, which made a big difference. Looking back, the relaxation techniques I used, deep breathing, spending time with loved ones, and getting rest, were helpful. If anything, I think I could’ve handled it better by giving myself short breaks earlier in the day instead of bottling it all up, but overall, it turned out okay and I felt recharged.

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This week I encountered many stressors, and I’ve realized that much of it comes from not having a consistent routine for productivity. I often forget to complete homework assignments, which frustrates me because they’re not difficult. When I miss them and see my grades drop, I become very annoyed with myself. I experienced anxiety when I realized I had overlooked assignments or was running behind schedule. I noticed a faster heart rate, especially when deadlines were close. I became irritable, took more pauses than necessary. I decided to download a planner app on my phone. I had used a physical planner before, but digital tracking makes it easier to check off tasks immediately and feel a sense of relief. I also tried reaching out to friends when I felt overwhelmed, which gave me some comfort but didn’t always improve my productivity. Upon reflection, I think I could have managed better by sticking to shorter, timed study sessions rather than taking long breaks that left me unproductive. I used old usual techniques to calm myself, like listening to worship music for stress relief, which helped me slow down and refocus (there’s actually a worship song called Slow Me Down by Charles Weems that I really like). Listening to worship music was the most effective for me, again, because it shifted my mindset from stress to peace. Deep breathing worked in the moment but didn’t always last. Using the planner gave me a sense of structure, though I still need to practice consistency. Overall, the techniques helped reduce my stress, but I know I can improve by being more disciplined.

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This week I felt anxious most of the time because I am still trying to get used to my new routine. Having schoolwork and personal responsibilities made me feel a little overwhelmed. I noticed the stress in different ways. In my mind, I felt worried, distracted, and sometimes confused. In my body, I felt tense and restless, especially at night when I was trying to sleep. In my behavior, I was more irritable than usual and put things off even when I knew I needed to do them.

To deal with my stress, I used different methods to help myself calm down. I used positive self-talk to remind myself that I could handle things. I also wrote out a to-do list so I could see what needed to be done instead of keeping it all in my head. These methods helped, but I think I could have done better by breaking big tasks into smaller ones instead of worrying about everything at once.

I also used some relaxation strategies. Deep breathing helped me calm down quickly when I felt my heart racing. I tried mindfulness meditation, which was a little hard to stay focused on, but it did slow my thoughts down. I also did some light exercise and stretching, which helped the most because it relieved my tension and made me feel better overall.

Since I am a Christian, I also turned to prayer and reading the verse of the day as a way to calm myself and focus on God instead of my stress. This gave me peace and reminded me that I am not handling everything on my own. On top of that, I listened to worship music, which lifted my mood and helped me relax even more (I included a picture above of my repeats). Even though I still felt stress, using these techniques showed me that I can manage it better if I keep using these methods.