As midterms are approaching shortly in just three weeks I would like to talk about stress. We’ve all experienced it at some point whether it’s been so much stress and we begin to break down or just so stressed and you’re needing to scream, stress can get to the best of us. So in honor of midterm week coming along with stress just from homework, I would like to give some stress reliving tips and methods that work for me and hopefully can help you as well. 

1. Coloring, they often say coloring is for little kids. However, coloring can be for anyone! Did you know that there are adult coloring books that are more advanced? Well the advantage to coloring is you can choose what you want to design and how you want to design it along with using an extremely hard design or a super easy one.  
2. Taking a nap, by taking a nap it allows your brain and body to mellow down. Taking a 20-minute nap will allow you to feel energized and ready to do homework.
3. Taking a hot shower, by taking a nice hot shower it allows your sinuses to clear along with your muscles to relax. This is a great way to let loose and feel revived. 
4. Hanging out with friends, letting loose and having a fun time with your friends is one of the easiest ways to get things off your mind.If something is so stressful and you need to just talk it out, that’s a benefit of having friends by your side. Do something fun with them, try something new or take an adventure, get whatever is on your mind off of it.
5. Get organized, be sure that you are not coming into doing homework with no idea what to do. Organize your night so that you have managed your time and you’re not stressed out about going full speed ahead into an assignment with a blank page.
6. Exercise, this allows you to get any anger or frustration out and relax your body. Whether its yoga, lifting or running. Exercise is great for both the body and mind.
7. Call your parents and vent, if you’re away at college then you know how hard it can be to be separated from your parents. Give them a call and tell them what’s going on and allow them to give you advice on how to tackle whatever comes in your way. 
8. Write out how you’re feeling, by journaling you will be able to express what is going on in your mind. Frustration, anger, happiness whatever it is jot it down, crumble up the paper and then throw it! This allows you to say how you’re feeling and then get rid of it.
9. Find ways to laugh, whether it’s reading a funny article or watching a video try to make yourself happy. Happiness is the key to living life and this will reduce your stress levels at least for a short time. 
10. Reduce caffeine intake, by reducing caffeine you will be able to get better sleep. This will allow your brain to focus better when it comes to working on something rather than relying on something. 
11. Learn to say no if you cannot handle another thing on your plate, by taking on more than you can handle this will easily increase the amount of stress. By taking on a smaller amount of tasks you will be able to have a greater amount of motivation to complete a smaller list of to-do’s rather than a longer one. 

Don’t be shy and give these tips a try! If you’re feeling stressed it’s important to first recognize that you are stressed, second identify how you’re reacting to the stress whether it’s by crying or screaming and lastly find a way to relieve your stress. Everyone is different but these are some neutral ways that work for me and hopefully they can help you too! Good luck to everyone on finals and to those who just need to get rid of stress!