Sciencing Your Stress Away

Right now, our stressors seem to be at an all time high. From national politics to international politics, our stress is skyrocketing. The uncertainty, the worry over new policies, and the toxicity of social media, is causing our stress to rise like the price of eggs.

There are plenty of books out there discussing scientific studies regarding ways to reduce stress.

When we are stressed, cardio exercise can release some of our stress. Find a cardio dance video or head outside for a power walk.

Long hugs (20 seconds or more) with people we care about can relieve some of our stress. Give that someone (with their consent) a long hug until you both relax.

A long smooch (6 seconds or more) with our significant other can reduce our stress levels. Give that someone (with their consent) a long kiss until you both relax.

Watching something that makes us truly and deeply laugh can vent off some of our stress. Find a video online or check out a comedy from your local library.

Journaling and counseling can help us manage our stress better. Writing and discussing stressors with a counselor can help us process our feelings and also see possible solutions.

Taking Time to Disconnect to Reconnect

 I do love technology. It allows me to connect with family far away. It allows me to bring books, audiobooks, and music with me wherever I go. It entertains me and keeps my schedule in the palm of my hand.

But too much technology is not good for us.

Too much time on social media and news is bad for our mental health.

Too much time with games and entertainment can negatively impact our to do list.

Too much entertainment can leave us unable to entertain ourselves when our technology dies or must be set aside.

My phone has a setting called Digital Wellbeing and Parental Controls. 

It tells me helpful data, like how many times I unlock my phone, to how much time I spend on specific websites or apps.

What's more, it allows me to set app and site limits, so I can intentionally decide how long I am wanting to spend on my phone. 

It allows me to set times when I won't be disturbed by notifications when I'm working or sleeping. In fact, these boundaries sometimes make it hard to get in touch with me, but do we need to be always reachable by phone or text? 

Taking time to disconnect, to focus on a craft or a book or the person in front of me, is essential to my well-being.

Being present with a person, and not checking my notifications, shows their importance to me. 

Having my phone silenced during my work hours allows me to do my job instead of constantly checking my phone. In fact, my phone doesn't show me incoming text messages when I'm working!

Putting my phone on do not disturb at night allows me to sleep better without worrying about getting woken up by a late night text from a night owl friend. 

Putting my phone down when I'm visiting with friends or when I'm watching a show or reading a book stretches my attention span to keep focusing on just one thing.

What sorts of limits and curbs do you want on technology in order to better connect to those around you?

Looking Back at 2024

 As 2025 has started with a storm and a snow day, I wanted to take some time to reflect on 2024.

As I counted the books I read, as recorded through my e-reader history and record of the library reading challenges, I was surprised to realize that I had read 50 books in 2024. I had also listened to 29 audiobooks. 

My favorite audiobook author is Melanie Cellier, with her the Four Kingdoms series, Beyond the Four Kingdoms series, and Return to the Four Kingdoms series taking up 17 of my audiobook completions. 

I volunteer at my favorite local farm a total of a dozen times. I would have volunteered more, but a bathroom remodel project kept me at home waiting for workers during most of the summer.

I spent spring break at 3 local state parks with my dad.

Looking at the games I played, I ended up play 124 different games in 2024, but between those games, I played 375 different games. 

There's a lot that happened that I didn't track: how many times I hiked at a state park, how many dates I had with my husband, family meet-ups and gatherings, etc. 

2024 had its ups and its downs, its stressors and its successes, but overall, it was an enjoyable year.