Lauren Nicolella
Staff Writer
As all students know, high school can be super stressful. I know that my amount of stress may not compare to others, but recently I have felt that I am stuck in some kind of weird rut, both mentally and emotionally. It’s gotten to a point where I break down and lose a significant amount of motivation to perform well in school.
This breakdown tends to happen for me in the third quarter due to the due to the rising workload. At SLA, students will do anything to be 100% on our work grind in order to finish benchmarks in a timely manner.
It’s not all bad news, though. I’ve been trying out different things that have allowed me to relax. Although some of these strategies are pretty self-explanatory, I think it’s good to be reminded of or learn about new tips on relaxing during stressful times. This is what I know works for me– but I can only hope that it can help at least one person out too.
- Listening to music.
Music has become such a vital part of my life and I absolutely love diving into different genres and artists. There’s no better feeling than discovering someone new, and really putting your time and effort into focusing on what each song means and sounds like. A few months ago I was fortunate enough to get Spotify Premium, which opened up a whole new unlimited access to songs that I never had before. Some artists that have been able to help me relax have been Pink Floyd, Niall Horan, and Billie Eilish. Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon which has become one of my favorite albums so far this year. Spotify also provides a cool feature where curated playlists are created to give new musicians a broader audience, as well as new songs that may come out that you’ve probably never listened to before.
- Having a paper planner.
I’ll be honest, it’s been tough for me to keep up with filling out my assignments in a planner each day, but it’s worth it in the long run. Coming to SLA had the benefit of being able to use one booklet that had a daily schedule in it, with each subject listed. If you are forgetful, coming home with a completed planner of a set amount of duties may save you if an assignment isn’t shown on Canvas. I’ve never done this, but you could also customize your planner in a way that you want, to make it more personal and interesting.
- Using the reminder app on your phone.
This is quite simple, but it has definitely saved small things I had on my mind earlier in a day. It is especially useful when you did not have a chance to write your idea down somewhere, and it’s almost guaranteed that your phone is always with you. I constantly make reminders for myself to ask people questions. For example, last week I wanted to go out driving, so I made it a point to remind myself to ask my dad to go out, using the app. It is a couple of clicks away, and it has the potential to make a lot more things easier for you while you deal with stress and work that has been piling up.
- Surrounding yourself with productive and supportive people.
It is crucial for people to realize that you need others who are willing to support you no matter what you are going through. Cutting out toxic friendships will be the most important decision you have ever made. There’s no point to add extra stress on your shoulders, and having someone there who can help you rather than hurt you is needed in stressful situations.Even though I do like my alone time to recover from being so social, encouragement and motivation from your friends and having positive energy flying around can be very uplifting.
This is just a small list of things that I think are the most essential when it comes down to dealing with school and stress. We as students have a massive amount of pressure, anxiety, worry, and difficulties daily. You name it, we’ve done it, we’ve been through it.
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