Stress and Priorities

Stress is stifling. Before I've even recognized that I'm feeling it, I begin to shut down. I procrastinate some, then procrastinate some more, all the while feeding my mind the lie that I'm accomplishing something. (For example, if I'm stressed about a paper I have to write, I'll type the heading and then play around with a title for an hour and half before settling on what was given on the rubric in the first place: "Reflection Paper"). I divert my attention to something else so I am not preoccupying myself with whatever it is that I am stressed about; but as we all know, stress tends to permeate into everything else too. 

Sometimes stress is accompanied with a kind of adrenaline or high that, if stressed long enough, can get you motivated and doing some of the best work of your life (however, this of course comes with the cost of immense douleur beforehand). So, before I get to the point of crawling into bed for hours on end, I make the effort to trivialize what it is that I'm stressed about, to find another context. I typically become stressed about assignments or presentations, things that hold a lot of weight in an academic sense. I become crippled with the thought of "what if I can't do this", even if it's not entirely difficult, even if I wholly know it's possible to do. This stress stems from the notion that this one grade will affect me for years to come, that it'll somehow be responsible for this or that or whatever. This is when other people (i.e. friends) become helpful.

When I become stressed and overwhelmed, I instinctively isolate myself, thinking I can alleviate the stress by removing all distractions and just getting to work on whatever it is that I need to get done. Unfortunately, you yourself are your biggest distraction, so nothing gets done in this scenario, and the stress multiplies. Meeting up with friends or simply conversing with others, however, (although also distracting) is better for managing stress because others distract the stress away from you. Often times everyone else has their own worries too, and your stresses can't be compared, and you realize what you're stressing about often times isn't a big deal. 

Until then, I'll do things like make a list and stare at it, but chocolate helps too.