Laughter's the Best Medicine

Sometimes, laughter really is the best medicine, so this week I thought I'd share a funny post, The 25 Most Ridiculous Stress Relief Products. The article shares everything from Adult Milk, endless bubble wrap, a hand pillow and a robot chicken. Its a great source for some stress-free giggles, so check it out! See you in the New Year!

The Christmas Season of Stress

Schools off, the weathers cold, and trees are up. It's almost Christmas!
If you're like me, Christmas is your favorite holiday; the yummy treats, the family, the lights, the presents, what's not to like? But as great as Christmas is, like any holiday, it can be extremely stressful. But not to worry, cause luckily there are lots of things you can do to limit stress. You can sit by a fire and drink egg nog, or you can bake cookies and roll out all your tension. However, one area that never ceases to stress people out during the holidays are gifts. People stress about finding the perfect gifts, how much to spend, if they can find it in time, and so forth. So for my post for Christmas, I wanted to address this issue.  Starting with price: People always stress about how much to spend, but from personal experience I can tell you price doesn't matter. One of my favorite gifts I've ever received were hand made letters from my best friend. She probably made them for under 10 dollars, but they still hang on my wall today. How much you spend doesn't matter, its just the thought that you were on someone's mind during this season that counts.  Second, don't worry about finding the perfect gift. Yes, we'd all love to find that one magical gift that someone absolutely adores. But, most be are just as happy to receive a gift card or something else that they know they will actually use. And lastly, if you're on a time crunch for finding a gift, I like to suggest to easy and fail prove methods: Go DIY or a theme. With little time left, home made cookies are always a great gift. They're easy, cheap, and fast, but also meaningful. For a more craftier person, checkout Pinterest for some great ideas. You can do DIY letters, hand soap, PJ pants, all sorts of cute things that are super quick to make at the last minute. If your not so crafty, but your still on a time crunch, go for a theme. If someone likes makeup, do a cute makeup gift basket, throw in some gloss, polish, blush, and your done. If they like a good spa day, get them a mask, some bath salts, a good book, and a candle. For the handy man, a basket of tools. For the sweet tooth, a basket of candy. The options are endless and best of all its quick and easy.
Hope everyone has a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!
                             

Finals

As the first semester of the year wraps up, and christmas break approach, I, like many other students, have been preparing for finals.  Finals are every students nightmare. Just a series of tests after test after test and endless hours of studying. Even worse, these test can constitute anywhere from 10, 30, or even 50 percent of your grade. Talk about nerve racking. While the only preparation one really can do for finals is study, getting enough sleep, eating right, and taking breaks can help too. It's hard not to stress and freak out over them, but just remember, there only one week and you can make it through it. Wishing everyone luck! And lots of studying!

OVERWHELMED

The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas just always seems to fly by to me! There's school, finals, work, gift shopping, trip planning, and parties to attend, and little time left for anything else. With a schedule like that its hard not to feel overwhelmed, so this week I thought I'd share some of the tips I found here to help with that feeling overwhelming-ness.
Tip 1: Set realistic goals. As much as you try, you probably couldn't be able to finish your english research paper and attend your aunt's Christmas party all in one day.  So understand it's okay to say no; though you will be missed, your aunt should understand.
Tip 2: Organize and Prioritize tasks. Sounds simple and it is, but sometimes just writing down what you need to do and ordering them in order of importance can help you visualize and achieve what you need to do.
Tip 3: Delegate. Don't  be afraid to ask friends or family for help.

For the rest, check the link, but those were my top ones :) Hope it helps, and stay stress-free!

Turkey Day

Holidays are great. Time off from work, fattening food, no alarms, whats not to like? But as relaxing as holidays can be, being home and around family can also be overwhelming. Scrambling to try and finish dishes, the shouting over the game, the bickering between siblings, and the overall jumble of family can defiantly take away from your "relaxing" break.
But in order to stay stress-free during the holidays, all you need to do it is PLAN AHEAD.
1. Plan to have breaks. Run to the store to get something, set aside time to finish some work, whatever gets you out of the commotion for a little bit.
2. Plan to have relatives do some tasks. If you know your Aunt Sue and Uncle Joe don't get along, assign Aunt Sue to work on stuffing while Joe watches the game. Or send Joe to the store, while Sue chats with Aunt Cathy. Problem solved.
3. Invite so friends. People who aren't family and can buffer between relatives while also giving you someone to break and laugh with.
4. Keep your phone charged. Worst comes to worst, get lost in your phone. Sit and play candy crush or call a friend. Distract yourself.

But most of all, just enjoy yourself. Holidays only come once a year! Happy Gobble Day!

"Seven Ways to De-stress in a Minute or Less"

This week's post is taken form Huffington's Post Seven Ways to De-stress in a Minute or Less. I just loved the idea and was eager to share it here. So be sure to check out their site!
1. Take a deep, relaxing breathe
2. Let it out (Scream in a pillow :) )
3. Visualize a calming place
4. Listen to your favorite music
5. Peel an Orange
6. Pet your puppy
7. Clean your desk
Short and sweet, but none the less helpful!

Apps That Can Help You De-Stress!

While technology can be a source of stress, with its constant twitter fights or depressing tumblr posts, it can also be a source of relieve. And what better way to de-stress your self then in the mist of everything? With apps it's easy, you can just pop out your phone and BOOM instant stress relieve! But trying to find the best apps and can tedious, so I thought I'd share some good (and FREE) ones:

1. The Worry App
When your feeling anxious, this app is great. Just type your problem into the box, and it will either offer ways to cope or potential ways to deal with your source of stress.


2. Healing Music Radio
Kinda self-explanatory, but none the less a great one.



3. Buddha Board
An app that just lets you draw, doodle or scribble, its a great way to distract yourself for a few minutes without any stress.

4. Calm
An app that guides you through some quick relaxation techniques.


5.  Relaxing Sounds of Nature Lite
An app that plays relaxing sounds of nature, it can help you escape the distracting sounds around you and let you escape. While maybe not as good as the real thing, it is defiantly better then the annoying sounds of chatter or busy streets.