7 Tips for De-stressing without Technology
Whether you’re a student like me or living an adult life, we all can agree that life gets stressful sometimes. You come home from a long day of work, school, whatever it is and you just need to destress for a bit.
1. Read a book
The feeling when you can just curl up in bed or on the couch with a comfy blanket and a good book after a long stress-filled day is a great way to relax.
I find it hard to commit to reading new books sometimes and maybe you’re the same, but don’t let that stop you from venturing into a world away from here.
I will sometimes grab out a book I have read more times than I’d care to admit and just start reading. Who cares how many times you have read the first ten chapters of a book?
Comfort books are the ones we pick up to escape where we are and to jump back into our favorite characters’ land where the problems and to-do lists we have here are nonexistent.
Grab a snack and a warm drink with your blanket and just curl up and read to relax. You can come back from your trip in a bit. 🙂
2. Write about your day/week
Writing down your thought process about anything and everything going on in your life can be unbelievably therapeutic.
You could write down about your day in a journal you have or just on a loose-leaf piece of paper, but getting the thoughts that are clouding your brain out onto paper can help so much in clearing your head so you can just think about the important things that need to get done.
That project you have due in a week? Take a minute and just write out the steps you need to take to get it done and it may look a lot less intimidating if you take it one step at a time.
3. Play a game
Board games and card games are an awesome way to relax with friends while having some fun at the same time!
In college, there isn’t a ton of time to teach everyone really difficult and high-brain-power games. But hey! We all love the basics!
Uno, Sorry, Go Fish, Hate-Your-Neighbor/Skip Bo, etc. The list goes on!
By the way, if you haven’t heard of any of those, I highly recommend them. They are awesome games and you can really get competitive with them without ruining any relationships.
**cough cough** Monopoly **cough cough**
4. Yoga/Workout/Get Active!
Working out makes the body feel good. And when your body feels good, the brain will follow.
Moving the body helps keep the blood flowing and I am sure you have been told that sitting for long periods of time is not good for your health.
Go take a walk around the block or around your campus. If you’re feeling up to it, add a light jog and get those feet moving.
So many people think they’ll start working out and being active as students but a large number of them don’t make the time for it or won’t give themselves a reason that really motivates them to go be active.
Being active and working out could include intramural sports with your friends or joining a sports club on your campus where you meet a couple times a week and there is low commitment so it is really on you to go.
There are plenty of reasons for you to say that you shouldn’t or don’t need to go or workout, so find a reason that motivates you to put on some gym shoes and play tennis or basketball or just run with some friends.
You could go run on the treadmill at the gym or get on the elliptical or a bike, but there are plenty of exercises you can do just at home in your dorm or apartment too and you can click the button below to find those!
5. Drawing/coloring
Coloring books are a great way to de-stress.
You may not be great at sketching or drawing but the thing that’s awesome about coloring books is that the hard part is already done for you! All that’s left for you to do is just fill in between the lines with whatever color you see fit.
A small bonus you can get out of coloring books is that once you have finished coloring in, say, some flowers, you can pull that page out or copy it and use it as a decoration for your room!
Sometimes I’ll copy pages from my coloring books so I can use them multiple times and then cut out whatever I colored so that I can add it to my journal or decorate my binders with them.
Makes for a much prettier set of school materials.
6. Playtime with pets
Not everyone can have pets in college or right out of college depending on what your living situation may be but perhaps on the off chance you do, spend time with them!
Take your dog to the park and throw a ball for them, lay on the couch with your cat (if they let you of course).
The level of happiness I reach when I am holding my puppy in my lap just makes my day so much better.
Sure people say puppies can be very naughty sometimes but the moments you get together where you’re just cuddling them in your arms and they fall asleep on your lap or next to you on the couch are just perfect.
Dogs are too good for us. Can you tell I’m a dog person? Not that I have anything against cats of course! But if I were to choose, I’m picking the canine.
So grab a squeak toy and throw it across the room for them to chase and pounce on before they, hopefully, bring it back to you.
7. Work with your hands
Yarn crafts are a lifesaver! Most of them are not too hard to start or learn how to do and there is no obligation for you to indulge in the complex patterns.
In my opinion, crocheting is the easiest one to learn because it's just one hook and the single crochet stitches are so easy to do. You just poke the needle through the hole, yarn over and pull through, and yarn over again and pull through.
The only slightly frustrating thing when it comes to working on yarn crafts is figuring out what kind of project to start.
I have crocheted hats and scarves. I attempted to knit socks but that is a little bit more difficult and time consuming than just crocheting a blanket.
This is a blanket project I have been working on for the last year (ish) on and off when I had time or made time because of just being so burnt out from school.
I had found the pattern on youtube and it was so easy to learn and remember after not working on it for 3 months at one point.
I am sure many of you have seen the temperature blankets on TikTok or Pinterest. Those are very easy projects to start and as you are working on them, they allow you to just focus on a small project a little bit each day and in doing so, clear your head.
Relaxing is crucial to getting anything done. You have to have a healthy balance between just work, work, work and time for yourself.
Of course you should procrastinate but breaks are important!
You are a busy person! Take a minute to breathe every once in a while!
Everything you have to do will still be there in an hour. Step away and find something to do that will help you relax a bit.