It is already September. Homecoming has already happened. I’ve take tests in every class already.

A month ago, I was sleeping until noon and staying up until two in the morning watching Criminal Minds.

When I think about how my lifestyle has evolved in the past month, I am shocked. And I’m sure I’m not alone in this shock.

Some of you may have noticed that I missed my post last week. The reason? I have been drowning in school work. I’m the Editor-in-Chief of my school newspaper and my staff and I are just emerging from our office and seeing sunlight for the first time in weeks.

Thus, I have come to see that the only thing preventing myself from crumbling under the weight of the world is my ability to cope. I know I’m not alone in this struggle, and I know others can not only relate to my coping strategies, but could also be benefitted from hearing them. So, I have decided to make a go-to list of how to cope when you’re drowning in stress:

Make a list: When you’re stressed out, the most difficult thing to do is decide what to do first. Often, I find myself attempting to multitask, which is scientifically proven not to work. You see, when I have what feels like a million things to do, I enter into a frenzy. I freak out and worry about how I am going to accomplish it all, I'll end up (sometimes) quite literally spazzing. Making a list of things to do has honestly changed my life. Now, instead of worrying, I can visually see everything that is stressing me out and I am better prepared to handle it one step at a time. (Bonus: I recommend making check boxes because nothing feels better than physically checking off something that has been difficult for you to accomplish!)

Breathing box: This one has saved me many panic attacks. Personally, I use this when I am in large groups of people, in chaotic situations, or when I get a big homework assignment. A couple weeks ago, I went to a lake house with some friends. I was very nervous about the weekend and as soon as I arrived, I began panicking, an interior monologue of “Lexi they hate you they don’t want you here” running through my head. Rather than let myself continue to escalate, I did my breathing box. This can be adapted into many different ways, but I usually do it as such: breathe in up the box for six seconds, hold your breath to the left of the box for seven seconds, breathe out down the box for six seconds and once again hold your breath as you travel right to the beginning of the box for seven seconds. This simple exercise regulates your breathing and grounds you. It is difficult for you mind to panic when you are overriding its “panic” button with deep breaths.

Worry time: If you’re ready to be more stressed out for five minutes but calm down afterwards, worry time works wonders. My therapist recommended this for me and it helps a ton. When you are stressed out, your mind goes crazy trying to worry about everything at once while still functioning in society. Rather than suppress your anxiety, let it all flow out. Take five or ten minutes and just worry about every single thing on your mind. Allow yourself to feel and to be scared. Usually, after about two minutes, you run out of things to worry about. Since you’re devoting 100 percent of your energy towards stressing, you are actually being brought back to Earth as you realize that there isn’t as much stress as you thought. Afterwards, I usually do some introspection and come to the logical conclusion that my feelings were a tad irrational.

Be present: Okay this is MY FAVORITE calming method. The best part? It has a wide berth. So yes, I use it for grounding but I also love it for when I am genuinely happy and want to remember a moment. It goes like this:

List five things you see.

1. 1. List four things you hear.
   2. List three things you smell.
   3. List two things you touch.
   4. List one thing you taste.
      1. We are so often caught up in the hype of a moment and forget to take it all in. This exercise forces you to confront your stressors and and worries and tell them to go away. Instead, you welcome in presentness and acknowledge the moment for all it is. You don’t overthink, you just feel. I use this a lot when I either want to appreciate a moment (I used it as the lake house a LOT) and when I feel overwhelmed with school. Often, it helps me come to the conclusion that I am reacting to life more than living in it. I recommend keeping a diary of sorts of all your presentness exercises so you can look back and truly relive significant life events.
2. Accept imperfections: I am a perfectionist. I will admit. When the teacher says there’s reading over break, I’m the kid that is so terrified of disappointing the teacher that I read the passage six times. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating, but you get the point. One of my biggest struggles in life is accepting imperfections. This sounds ironic, but my therapist and I celebrated when I got a B on a test because I had valued my sleep over working myself to death. I’m currently still fighting the perfectionist battle, and what a hard battle it is. As an Editor-in-Chief, I totally have an urge to tell everyone to just let me do it. The hardest part about leading is being hands off and allowing people to take control. I have had to work really hard at this because my type A personality wants to do everything so it can be perfect. And yes, I do realize, logically, that this is ridiculous. Nonetheless, I think a consistent reminder of “Hey it’s okay not to be perfect,” goes above and beyond in helping cope with stress.
3. Make a schedule: This goes hand-in-hand with making a list. My dad always told me that when I was cleaning a room to break it down into quadrants. This way, you make a big project small. Similarly, this can be applied to school. When I have fifteen assignments to do and feel overwhelmed, scheduling out specific time for each assignment is beneficial. This way, a large project gets smaller and I can process everything without feeling overwhelmed. (Eventually, my type A personality jumps in and I end up planning assignments minute to minute and this adds more stress, so yes there is a happy medium that should be achieved with making a schedule.)
4. Guilty pleasures: Another name for this is self care, but I personally feel that guilty pleasures is a more fun name. Personally, I become so consumed by work that I forget about myself. I get into this vicious cycle of work, sleep, work, sleep and all of a sudden I wake up and I’m sick. One way to combat this, as I have found, is to allow even thirty minutes a day to doing something that makes me happy. It may not be big, sometimes it’s just scrolling through Twitter or playing a game on my phone, but it has an impact. In this event, I have discovered personal hobbies. I have learned that although I am not artistic, I enjoy coloring and making those friendship bracelets everyone made in third grade. You see, these are simple, mindless activities that keep me busy and make me happy. It may not be a “productive” thirty minutes for academics, but it definitely is a productive thirty minutes when I’m feeling overwhelmed.
5. Grab your cat: If you own a pet, take heed of this. Personally, I live in a zoo with three cats (Nala, Belle and Jazz) and a dog (Daisy). My friends will tell you, I am literally obsessed with my animals. They are my best friends. They are constant. Regardless of my own chaotic life, animals are always there. Every night since I was five, Nala has been by my side as I’ve fallen asleep. She has been by my side through sickness and in health and yes, I know this sounds like a marriage vow. But that is the special part about animals. Like a spouse, they are ALWAYS there. They will ALWAYS love you even if you fail a math test. There’s a reason why they bring dogs to hospitals, animals have a sixth sense about comforting people. Don’t disregard the significance of this for the normal human. You don’t have to be “sick” to get comfort from an animal. When available, spending time with animals is the best way to alleviate stress.
6. Sleep: Yes, I know. You see this and your immediate reaction is “BUT THE AMERICAN SCHOOL SYSTEM WON’T LET ME SLEEP.” And yes, I agree with you, but right now you look ridiculous so just hear me out. I’m not going to go on about how you need “eight hours of sleep a night.” Blah. Blah. Blah. Yes, this is important, but I’m talking about sleep in the fact that you need to be conscious of your body. Listen to it. When your vision is getting blurry and you’re not sure if it’s Tuesday or Thursday, it’s time to care for yourself. Do not lose yourself in your stress. Obviously, there is an occasional necessary all-nighter and yes, I have pulled one, too. Sporadically, all-nighters are fine, as long as you take time to prioritize yourself. This may sound stupid, but you are more important than than math homework. If you get one bad grade, it will be okay. It has taken me a long time to accept this, but now that I have I am shocked at the difference it has made in my life. Just remember that sleep is important because you, your body and your mental health rely on it. Just listen to your body, it will tell you what it needs. And if you need to say no to doing something to get that extra sleep, then so be it. It is worth it.
7. Ask for help: One of my favorite movies is Inside Out. It’s my boyfriend and my favorite movie, but beyond that, it also has a wonderful message. At the end of the movie when Riley finally admits she isn’t okay and breaks down, she receives help. To me, this message is immensely powerful. For a long time, I personally tried to brush off my pain with a mindset of “okay, just keep moving. It’ll get better.” Well, from personal experience, I have discovered that sometimes it doesn’t get better. And it sucks. You reach a low point. What you do next determines your future happiness. Some people trod forward, dealing with their stress alone. They continue on a cycle of becoming a little happy, then really down on themselves. They feel alone. On the other side of the coin, there are people who stop and ask for help. These people reach out to their family and friends and more often than not, they receive support. These people eventually are lifted out of their depression with the help of those who are close. This is what I did in the summer of 2014 and it has changed my life. Sometimes it is hard to admit you’re not okay but I encourage you to do it. When you’re feeling overwhelmed with school or work or life, tell someone. Confide in them. Trust them. I guarantee you’ll be amazed at the result and the difference it makes to not be alone facing your stress. (There is a reason we have an entire military and not just one person versus an entire country right?)

As school and life continues, there will be ups and downs. We are all riding a sin graph of life and the only guarantee is that life will NOT always be awesome. So rather than just hope for the bad times to cease, do what I did. Make a decision to increase your happiness and learn coping strategies. School can try to drag you down into its anxiety-ridden, perfectionist maw, but you are in control of your own life. It’s all about controlling what you can control.

It’s all about coping.