BrainChocolate

[Read Time (Total): 5 minutes]

It’s pretty much programed in the human race that we usually don’t fix the things that are bothering us until we’ve been overwhelmed by them. Problem is, by the time it comes, we’ve put up with the stress of the thing for so long that by the time we can’t stand it anymore, it’s usually too late and something bad has happened. The hard part, it often seems, is telling the difference between what needs to be dealt with now and what just isn’t going to cause a problem. This post will help you stay on track without having to re-examine your entire life.

Here are my top five things you can do to stop yourself from being overrun by forces that feel like they’re out of your control. They relate to life in general and might seem random, but they will strengthen your immunity against stress and help prevent you from feeling overwhelmed.

5. Create a Ritual

Most people like having a daily routine to follow to give their life structure but for many people, a full on routine doesn’t allow the freedom they enjoy. A ritual is something you do in the exact same way everyday and that serves some constructive purpose– unlike some routines, however, it still lets you have that freedom you enjoy throughout the day. I recommend rituals because they help you get in the mindset you need to be in for whatever it is you need to do and it works every time.

One ritual I have, since I exercise everyday, is to walk to the gym the same way every time, rent a lock and towel, and do the exact same stretching warm up every time. There is about a 2 week conditioning period during which your ritual gradually becomes second nature. After that, you’ll start doing it automatically and it becomes a time when you zone out while the actions you’ve trained yourself to do get you in the mindset for whatever’s next.

4. De-Stress

As I’ve mentioned, I have a whole post on dealing with stress in the works, but it needs to be mentioned here. Performing a ritual is actually a great way to de-stress because you can just zone out and not think about anything.

Exercise: The absolute best thing you can do to reduce stress–nothing else even comes close. Exercise has pulled me through the hardest and most stressful times in my life and I really don’t know what would have happened if I hadn’t made it a top priority. If you’re skeptical, try it for just a week or two. Give it a fair chance, really do it with a positive and hopeful attitude, and I promise that both your energy level and general happiness will significantly increase–yes, somehow using more energy by working out actually increases the amount of energy you have overall.  Another plus is that after you work out you get to (and should) eat a bunch of carbs…

Music: Take 10 minutes and put together a playlist or two of music that lifts your mood. Play it during breaks from studying, when getting ready in the morning, or when you’re eating. Music has an amazing ability to make you happier without you even doing anything, even if it’s just playing in the background. Make a new playlist after you get tired of that one–I’ve found that a pretty big playlist will last me at least a few months on shuffle.

3. Take a Break

Breaks are very important. As a general rule, don’t study for more than 45 minutes without at least a 5 minute break. I’ll often extend this to 10 minutes or study for an hour then mess around for half an hour. Just because you’re doing what you feel like doing doesn’t mean you’re wasting time. The quality of your work and your mental efficiency decrease the longer you concentrate, so taking breaks to reset your mind increase your overall quality of work and productivity. (Exceptions include large projects that involve very complex mental tasks over longer periods of time)

2. Sleep Optimization

There’s a reason this is number two: it’s extremely, extremely important that you get enough sleep every single night. I’ve experimented with all kinds of sleep habits from sleeping 4-5 hours per night to sleeping 10-12 hours per night.

The problem with too little sleep is that although you can go through the motions of the tasks you need to do (with or without caffeine) it is impossible to do quality work in a sleep-deprived state. It feels like you’re getting a lot done despite your lack of sleep but when you go back and look once you’ve rested, the results are almost always very disappointing.

The problem with too much sleep is that it makes it difficult for you to motivate yourself and you end up getting very little done. Your body just wants to keep resting even though it’s already over-rested and lying down just feels good.  Sleep for 7-8 hours per night and if you have to go as low as 6 hours one night, make up for it immediately and avoid repeating. This is a rule I don’t break even if I have a big test I’m not ready for or an important task I didn’t get done–I have yet to regret it and I don’t think I ever will. If you have one rule for yourself that you refuse to ever violate, it should be to get 7-8 hours of sleep per night.

1. Prioritize Your Day

Prioritization is the breakfast, lunch, and dinner of champions. Though I would highly recommend creating a productivity system for yourself, the benefits you receive from minimal-effort prioritization will change your life in a relatively short amount of time. Chose only one thing each day as the priority for that day–it should be the one thing you absolutely need to get done no matter what, period. Write it on something and keep it in your pocket until it’s done.

Now obviously you can get more than one thing done in a day, and you almost always need to–and of course I would strongly suggest doing more than one thing in a day. But this method is helpful because it will help you show yourself what’s most important to you. This is especially helpful if you’re trying to figure out a sense of direction for your life. You’ll start to see patterns in what you pick as the one most important thing and you’ll begin to realize why that kind of thing is most important. Also, I don’t want to understate that you really do get so much more done by doing this. It helps you make sure you get at least one meaningful thing done each day. After just a week and a half, you’ve completed 10 meaningful tasks and that’s more than a lot of people do in a month–and there’s no reason not to.

If getting that one thing done means you sacrifice a few less important tasks that day, it’s well worth it and is a great exercise in not sweating the small stuff. It’s not the end of the world if you’re late in emailing someone back or running to the store if it means you finally get around to organizing your workspace like you’ve been meaning to for ages. A small apology to someone else for an unimportant task doesn’t really compare to keeping a promise to yourself to better your life, even if it seems as small as one simple task.

If there are some things you do to keep your life together, I’d like to hear about them in the comments–it doesn’t matter how trite or weird they seems. If it works, it’s worth talking about.

Written by Nathan Schmitt