How to De-Stress The Sane Way

Its that time of our college experiences where we want to pull our hair out even more than usual. With thoughts ranging from “How do I get this all done?” to “What does sleep mean?” running through our heads, we are forced to overcome the elephant tons of stress placed onto our backs. As I type this blog, my hands are shaking just thinking about how much work I’ve gotta get done – and I’m positive that you guys have been feeling a little bit of the same recently. (And if you aren’t, you are a wizard and wizards don’t go to college.)

So, how do we relax? How do we even justify relaxing to ourselves when there is so much to be done? There are very small, non-time consuming ways to make life a little easier when there’s a line for the printer and your fonts didn’t package correctly.

1. Set Up Your ~Ideal~ Workspace.

Before getting to work, setting up your dream space will help you stay comfortable and stress-free as you accomplish your design goals for the day. For me, it’s all about being surrounded by multiple varieties of snacks, having a groovy soundtrack cued up, a water bottle or hot coffee, and a blanket nearby if I’m at home. The more you get comfortable, the less stressed you’ll be / the less excuses you have to leave your desk for chocolate-covered almonds. If you have a puppy or a kitten they should probably be included within the dream workspace.

2. Go For A 15 Minute Walk (and walking to the palette doesn’t count).

Going on a walk not only wakes up your whole body, but allows you to look at thousands of other things besides pixels for a little bit. Giving your mind a break also allows all the thinking you did previously to simmer in your subconscious. An idea may just pop up when you aren’t even trying, just because you gave your mind a minute to process all those awesome things you were thinking before.

3. Slack Off On A Schedule.

If it’s too cold for a walk, bring your favorite vehicle for slacking-off to the studio for 15 minute slacking sessions. When you take that iPad Pinterest break, or a read a chapter of that book, or doodle 50 cats, it’s like eating the little ginger pieces that come with your sushi to cleanse your palette in between tuna and tamago. You’ll find that when you come back from your break, your mind will be windex-clean, and your soul will be a little less stressed.

4. Call Your Favorite Person.

Have you ever been in the lab with your headphones in for so long that you realized you haven’t talked to someone in like 4 hours? Call up a buddy and shoot the sh*t. Talking about your life outside of design gives you a little nudge of perspective, and having someone to talk to when you’re buggin’ out besides yourself is always comforting. If you do choose to talk about your projects, you may find that you’re buddy is also working their butt off on something and is in the same boat as you.

5. Make A Big Ol’ List.

Make a giant list of everything you have to do, and make each task specific. For example, instead of just writing “work on thesis,” write “figure out dimensions, sketch layouts, mockup in computer, print.” You will end up with a large list, but when you see yourself crossing off an item at a swift pace, you’ll feel like a rockstar and also be sure that you’ve covered all of your tracks in terms of what you needed to get done.

These are some really simple things I do to relax; hopefully they work for you too!