I’m an OCD type A creative with a tendency to become stressed out about…well…anything. If you were creative and had that pesky type A need for perfection, you’d get stressed out too.
Someone used to tell me that I was wound tighter than an 8-day clock…and maybe I was…am…I mean…little things really get to me. Like when a fellow writer makes the presumption that I’m going to butcher their content. And tells me as such. In no kinder words.
But instead of rambling on about being stressed out, I thought I’d offer my wisdom and tell you how I handle stress in my life.
Things that help me unwind
- 2019 edit: Reading.
- 2019 edit: Writing.
- 2019 edit: Cooking and making cheese plates.
- 2019 edit: Disney
- Quiet time is really important. Meditation. Snuggling. Napping. Any of these things can help calm me down. Brian’s really good at dragging me over to the couch and just…sitting with me until I’m less frazzled.
- Mindless activity. I used to play stupid games like Angry Birds or Bejeweled or long ago-Snood. Then I spent some time on Pinterest. I would scroll through pages and pages of images, quotes, comics and more and pin or not. It doesn’t really matter to me.
- 2019 edit: My mindless activities of choice are watching movies and TV shows I’ve seen a dozen times. Or coloring in adult coloring books.
- Drink a bottle of wine. Without a glass. Sometimes with crying. Sometimes with angry rants. Sometimes quietly.
- 2019 edit: Not nearly as much. And that’s okay.
- List-making. I am a list-maker through and through. If I can plan it out on a list, I feel instantly better about it. If I make the list 7 more times, even better.
- Think happy thoughts. What’s coming? What’s good? What’s exciting? I often imagine my life as a famous Chrissy. (But not those other famous Chrissys. They kind of suck. Famous ME Chrissy. Quirks and all.)
- Take a bath. A delightful bubble bath with colorful bubbles from LUSH. Because 2013 Chrissy was obsessed.
- Plot my revenge. Did you really think that I wouldn’t have this on my de-stress list? Really? Because I’m the nice girl? Just because I’m nice doesn’t mean I can’t dream evil dreams. About revenge.
There are more things on my list, but I want to know what you did when you’re stressed out. What truly calms you down?
19 Responses
I putter around when I’m stressed. Tidying, organizing, folding. You name it.
This doesn’t surprise me at all.
I do that too! I clean best angry or stressed.
Totally. When I have insomnia I also tend to clean and putter. I once dumped my entire sock drawer out on my bed at like 2 am and proceeded to re-fold the entire drawer.
One time (and I still get shit for this) in college, I was stressed and woke up at 4 am to rearrange our entire kitchen. But in my defense, they had put glasses with pots and plastic cups in a different cabinet with plates and it was just a giant disaster.
Dude. I once baked muffins at like 4am because I couldn’t sleep.
You can bake muffins at any time, if I can eat some.
Turning my brain off with Netflix. Comfort food. Neither of which is the healthiest of options.
Yes! Those! I may have “forgotten” to add binge snacking. Whoops!
When I am stressed I like to go on a walk by myself and just stomp it out. I also like to drive with the windows down and the music blaring.
I’ve been walking at lunch time. It totally helps!
Talking to yourself and cussing while helps as well. It keeps people from talking to you as well.
Ha! That’s what my boss does!
Ice cream. or sweets in general. i’m REALLY trying to curb that, or at least pretend excersize is just as good (it’s not, BTW. Really) I also like to curl up in a room by myself and read. Mindless activities like face book games are also good. And, lastly, I like to bitch. A LOT.
Yes. Me too! All of those things.
I sing the Paul Thorn song “It’s A Great Day, To Whoop Somebody’s Ass.” Besides that, I meditate tracking arising of hear, see, and feel and note/label them inside my little head. I walk around and look at nature. I call up a friend and tell them “I’m mad as hell and ain’t gonna take it anymore” or something like that. Then we start talking about women lol.
Lol. Music is definitely a help!
I work. A lot. I have to be doing something. I do everything on your list too.
Also, just for the record, I would totally trust you with my content.
Awww thanks Lily! I really truly appreciate that. You’re the best!