de-stress

Like the start of a new season, a change up of location is the perfect way to relax.

During the year what with school and other things it is so hard to find time to come up to the beach house; now that it’s the summer holidays, although I know this place like the back of my hand, it is a refreshing spot for my mind to relax and rejuvenate.

Leaving all the small every day stresses (cleaning rooms, the same stairs every day, boredom) behind in Melbourne to come to a different home with different setting and less clutter makes even the prospect of holiday homework seem like a relaxing task (don’t quote me on that).

As we approach the end of January, with 20 pages of a 365 page book already turned (a book I like to imagine multi-faceted and fascinating), being the stress-prone to-do list lover that I am, I have spent a lot of time planning my year, making goals and attempting to slowly de-clutter my cluttered mind.

If you are feeling behind with your new year resolutions, stressed about your life or generally restless and are not sure what do to, here is my guide as a fellow stress-head.

• Take a break. Just have a week where you don’t do any work or have any pressure put on you, where you can spend the day sunbathing or reading, catching up with some TV or cooking, anything you like. Go to sleep early and wake up early to make sure you have the full day ahead of you, giving you more time. • Plan your days for structure. Give yourself some commitments other than work or school to organise your life around and to create a sense of consistency and comfort. I love to write a to-do list at the beginning of each day just because it is good to know what’s coming and to tick everything off at the end. • Drink plenty of water, be active and move around during the day and try to get more than 8 hours of sleep each night. • Don’t put things off. This is one of the biggest things that I struggle with; if you need to do something, get it out of the way so that you can kick back and relax afterwards with the peace of mind that you have got nothing left to do. • Have a clean house. I don’t know if it’s just me, but looking at my newly neat desk is one of the most satisfying things in the world. • Don’t overthink and overanalyse everything that you do; this will make you draw conclusions or think things which aren’t true and clutter your brain with panic. Making a mountain out of a molehill is very tiring and unnecessary. • If you don’t have time for something, don’t take it on; it won’t reflect on you badly and you won’t miss out on an opportunity for good, it will just give you more to do, later nights and eye bags. • Don’t always compare yourself to others. A bit of healthy competition is always good, but constant observation and comparison to your friends causes more distress.

I hope that this helps; just take a breath and be calm and always know what you want to do next.

Love, Ingrid