The 5 R's

If you know me well, you know that just about everything stresses me out. School, work, confrontation, crowds, parties, people, money, cashiers, new places, etc. I'm a bit of a nervous wreck all the time. So, to help myself out, (because it was getting out of control,) I took a Stress Management class this semester in school. It helped a little as I have found a few new ways to cope, but I still get stresssed more than I should so I am going to continue working on it.

We had to do a project at the end of the semester about the 5 R's. The 5 R's are rethink, reduce, relax, release, and reorganize. We had to come up with two techniques we can use in our daily lives for each R. I found this to be extemely helpful for me as putting something like this on paper really helped my motivation to actually try to reduce my stress level instead of thinking it's not possible and giving up.

To help me remember my Stress Management plan, because we all know I'm going to lose my paper eventually and if I don't record this somewhere I'll forget it, I'm going to share my plan on here. Right down there. . . .

RETHINK

          1. Positive Thinking: I am going to let this secret out; I am one of the most negative people you could ever meet. If I say something positive, it's probably a lie. I don't like being negative, but it's really hard for me to see the good in anything. So my first technique to become stress free is to force myself to be optimistic. This may be the hardest thing for me, but if I can get myself to do this, I know that I'll be a less stressed and happier person.

         2. Pacing: I am a fast walker. I am a multi tasker. I am a busy bee. I am a time waster. I do a lot of things all the time, and if I'm not doing something, my mind is racing 100mph. I never can get myself to just relax and not think about a billion things or even take my time on the little things. I am going to work on enjoying the little things in life; good weather, compliments, no traffic. . . and quit trying to go go go.

REDUCE

          1. Time Management: I procrastinate. I mean, I get a lot done, but it's never the things I need to do, it's always things that don't matter. I love drawing, I love movies, and I love playing online, (horrible! I know.) I am going to work on finding ways to manage my time better so that I can get the have to do's finished first, and then maybe if I have free time, do the time wasting things that I love doing so much.

          2. Saying No: I'm a butt kissing people pleaser, I admit it. I hate saying no to anything and I really can't do confrontation. (Why cause conflict when it's so much easier to just say yes?) I always thought saying yes to everyone and everything was good for me because it makes everyone like me, but I recently learned that it doesn't matter how many people like you, and really it's impossible to get everybody to like you, so why sacrifice your time and well being to please someone who it actually may not be pleasing at all? Saying yes does nothing but cause stress and turn you into a push over. It's going to be hard to start saying no to people. . . . but the more you practice it, the easier it gets, right? (I hope so anyway. . . .)

RELAX

          1. Coloring: I discovered when I was 17 years old that a really good Therapeutic way of coping with things for me is to color. I don't know what it is about coloring, but it helps. A lot. After taking Stress Management though I realized I don't color enough. I never color actually. Maybe that's why things have been difficult lately? I want to get back into this as it seems to be really good for me. First thing on my shopping list: Coloring book.

          2. Music: Whether it's listening to music or singing along to music, it helps. It's actually called sound meditation. . . and it's amazing. Listening to music helps distract me for a few minutes about daily tasks or events that have caused me too much stress. I want to do this more often to help me relax more and reduce my stress. . . .I just need to buy a new Ipod first, dang it.

RELEASE

          1. Driving: I love driving far distances. Driving is my time to think about whatever I want, sing as loud as I can, or solve problems outloud. When I drive I usually am doing one of three things: singing, talking to myself, or praying. It sounds a little odd I know, but that's the only time I really do those things, and it's a huge stress reliever. I drive to Bountiful and Eagle Mountain often for my job, and those drives have really helped me with some things I've had to deal with. I love it.

          2. Zumba: Along with Stress Management, I took a Zumba class this semester. I found the days that I had Zumba I was feeling better, working harder, and smiling more. I felt better about myself and was able to problem solve easier. I always thought it was a lie when someone said exercise makes you happy, because I'd never found any exercise that I really enjoyed doing, but then I discovered Zumba. It really is so much fun and so good for you! Now that the semester is over, I'm not in Zumba anymore, but I am planning on going to a class they have by my house twice a week. We'll see how that goes, (I'm excited!)

REORGANIZE

          1. ACT List: The ACT list is a list of daily tasks you write up for yourself everyday. You divide the list into three categories; A, C, and T. The A section are the ones you have to do. The ones that you ABSOLUTELY need to get done. The C section are the ones you COULD do, but it's not the end of the world if you don't accomplish them. And the T section are the ones you can TRY to do if you want, but they're more the fun things and the wants, so it's ok to not even touch this section if you don't have time. I did this list for a week as an assignment and it was awesome.  I'm hoping to make it habitual to this list everyday. Hopefully it happens, I'm crossing my fingers!

          2. My Plan: Really this is just putting my Stress Management plan into action. I worked really hard on this plan and coming up with techniques that really do seem to help reduce my stress level and anxiety. I feel like if I can get this plan going and make steady and continual progress, then my life will completely flip around.

Woo! Here's to having a stress free life one day! (Hopefully.)

I used this to help me present my project.
(I'm proud, it's all free hand.)