Hello again beautifuls!! I hope you're all enjoying your week - even if you are bombarded with exams at the moment! This time last year I was struggling to keep up with revision and exams, as well as life outside of school, and I know I would have benefited from a few tips on how to reduce stress. If you're feeling the same way, hopefully I can rescue you!
Keeping stress free means keeping happy. This means that doing activities you enjoy will make a huge difference and will make your day 10x better! Some of the hobbies I have which I find are relaxing or fun include...
Sketchbooks - Not everybody has the time or patience to start doing a sketchbook, but for me I find it is a good way to take my mind off of things for a little while and pass the time. Right now, I am studying fashion retail at college so a lot of my work is displayed in sketchbooks. I love being able to draw, paint and use materials to make something look pretty, and make it my own. Looking back at a sketchbook when it's finished and won't fully close makes me feel really proud that I've put so much effort into something, and something that gives you a sense of achievement is worth doing!! When you have a little bit of spare time, get a book or even just a piece of paper, and build it up with drawings, photos and little bits of text. If you make it personal, it could really help you to release your thoughts and feelings!
Sorry for the low quality, but here is a photo of a page in my fashion design sketchbook!
Blogging - There is nothing I love doing more than getting stuck into writing and reading a good blog post! Being able to write about the things you love and sharing it with people with the same interests makes me happy, and again this gives me a sense of achievement! Blogging can take you out of your everyday life for an hour or so and allows you to focus on something else you enjoy. Reading other bloggers' posts or looking through their Instagram gives me a lot of inspiration and motivates me to get writing. If you haven't already, I would encourage you to set up a blog - it could be about absolutely anything!
Magazines - Vogue, Elle, Company - you name it! I love to sit down with a hot cuppa and read for hours. Sometimes, I like to rip little bits out of a magazine that I love and keep them to use in my sketchbook or to take inspiration from in my illustrations. Even cute pieces of text in a beautiful font will catch my eye, and I will cut them out to keep for later! Reading is a good way to relax, and if you're not a 'book person', magazines could be a good way of unwinding at any time of the day!
Phone calls - I'm not really a good speaker, but I really do love picking up the phone and having hour long chats with my friends or family members I haven't talked to for a while. If I'm having a bad day, I go up to my room and sit chatting to my friend Sophie for hours on end about anything and everything!! It really helps to share any problems you have, and your friends will probably have a good solution for them! I've been really happy this week, as my dad is finally home from Iraq, and I have finally been able to speak on the phone with him for a couple of hours, which has taken away so many worries I had!
Twitter - Although social media often doesn't relax you, I love logging into twitter and see what's happening with my online friends. I love messaging my twitter friends who live at the other end of country, or sometimes even in different countries! From twitter, I have made so many close friends, and I have plans to meet a few of the this summer, which I am super excited about!
Concerts and Gigs - I know you can't just turn up to a gig whenever you're having a bad night, but I love having concerts to look forward to! There is no better feeling than seeing the bands and artists you love and that influence you live - and possibly even meeting them! If I'm ever having a bad day, I will always look at my countdown and see that I only have a certain number of days until my next concert. My next concert is to see 5 Seconds Of Summer, and I am suuuuper excited!!
Exercise - I'm not very good at all when it comes to working out, but even just doing ten minutes of exercise will make you feel really good about yourself! I like to use the quick workout videos I can find on YouTube, and do one of those each night. It's only a small workout, but I can do it from the comfort of my own home without feeling judged, and I feel so proud of myself after I've done it. Exercising leaves you feeling motivated and determined.
It is also so important to keep organised, especially if you are in the middle of exams or have a load of work to get through. Take ten minutes out of your day to just sit down and make a list of task you need to complete and maybe even a list of the things which are worrying you. From here, I like to make a little timetable of when I'm going to complete each task (usually a piece of work) and then tick them off after I've done each one. This helps me to see how much I am getting done and motivates me to do more! If you write down your worries and problems, you can go through them, and realise that most (if not all) can be solved and aren't as big a deal as you originally thought they were!
Remember that if things are getting too much and the stress begins to get on top of you, you should tell somebody. It can really help to share your problems, as other people's words and advice can really put your mind at rest!
Thank you so much for reading, I hope this helped some of you a little bit! xx
Good luck to all of you who are currently doing exams - remember that your exam results aren't everything and they won't affect your life dramatically! As long as you try your hardest, that's all that matters, right?
If you ever need anybody to speak to, you can contact me and I will be hear to listen at all times...
Twitter - SimpScribbles
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Email - laurapixie97@gmail.com
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