December 11, 2009
Day #5- Making Stress Tangible (can actually help!)
I feel the need to start this off by admitting that somehow writing this blog never made it on to my “list.”
Hi! My name is Taekia, I am the New Staff Manager at the HPA and today I’m going to be talking about organizing to relieve stress.
There are so many things in life that I need to do and keep track of that I sometimes feel like Hermione must have before heading out to search for the Horcruxes. (I pick Hermione, b/c I imagine Harry was more stoic about the whole thing). I have classes, an internship, running the STAND chapter at my school, my HPA work, and nowadays family stuff and Christmas shopping and it can get overwhelming especially when my room is messy, or I don’t have a clear picture of what needs to be done, or I’m thinking about each individual thing too much. Like Hermione, I have to carefully plan and organize everything I might need on my journey.
I find that cleaning the spaces around me (specifically my room or the bathroom) helps me relieve stress because when I’m cleaning and figuring out where things go it’s the only thing I can focus on. I’m not thinking of the 100 other things I have to do so much as where the matching shoe to the one in my hand is. There’s also something to be said about cleaning the tangible clutter in your room helping to clean the clutter in your mind. In a life full of long-term stressors cleaning is something I can do… and finish… and feel accomplished about. Not to mention, if the lemon-fresh scent of clean linoleum doesn’t help clear your mind, I’m not sure what will!
If you couldn’t tell from the above, I think that the sense of accomplishment that comes with completing tasks is a natural high that makes you feel better, makes everything more manageable and less stressful. This is why I love making lists of what I need to do. It’s another way of creating a tangible link to stressors. AND… It allows you to cross them off! Occasionally, I’ll create lists that have a two things on them that I’ve already completed or are well on my way to completing so I know there’s something to cross off and I can see that no matter how hectic things may feel, I am getting things done.
I hope this helps guys, if you have any other suggestions or questions leave them in the comments or take the conversation over to the Common Room!
Vanessa
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Taekia, great blog! Although, the thought of cleaning actually stresses me out more! To relax I knit and weave,it gives me the same sense of accomplishment that you described. I completely agree, however, that having a clean space helps with relaxing and feeling in control.
Marie
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Cleaning is sooo good for relieving stress! Thanks for this post! Right now I’m sitting in a disaster zone, aka my room, and I think after this I may take the time to clean it…
And I love writing stuff down that I’ve already done, just to get to cross it off! And my mom does that too!
It’s so satisfying.
Tita
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I hate cleaning, but seeing it from your perspective might actually get me to do it sometimes. Maybe I should organize my desk at work one of these days. I have a dangerous leaning tower of paperwork I have to go through and the fact that everything is everywhere stresses me out more than said pile.
Jess
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Great blog, Taekia! My sadly uncleaned house thanks you for writing this–I might actually, y’know, “dust” or something… :p
Enjoy your holiday break!