How to de-stress after a long week

Okay so lately I have been super stressed with all of the things I have been juggling in this thing we call life and I think a lot of people tend to do this around this time of year because you are trying new things because of the new year, you want to do everything that comes your way, and life just sometimes gets overwhelming.

So today I am going to go through what I do to de-stress!

1 First things first, I take a second to sit down and just breathe. This is such an important thing to do because as you go along doing everything you need to get done you sometimes forget to give yourself a good five minutes to sit down and just breathe. Taking time for yourself is sometimes hard because of situations and time but trust me if you are ever feeling overwhelmed the first thing to do to get yourself relaxed is to just breathe. While taking those few precious minutes also remember to count your blessings. This helps me tremendously because I then am focusing on all of the good energy and things I have going on in my life and can focus less on the bad/daunting things that are the cause of my stresses.

2 The next thing I do is decide where the stress is coming from. For me, when I have a lot of stuff on my plate but don't have it written down anywhere or on a to-do check list it makes me anxious because I can't see in front of me the list of what I need to accomplish. So, I will normally take a second and sort out my priorities based on a few factors such as  the amount of time I have, the effort each will take, the date on which it needs to be done by, and generally just prioritize. After this I like to look at the size of each project I have. I think it really helps me to take big projects that will take significant effort and break them up into smaller chunks. This helps to alleviate stress because when you have small bits to do at a time it makes the task seem less daunting. After that I then like to jot it all down on my to-do list and give myself a rough timeline for each thing and when I want it done by.

3 The third thing I do is plan in a few hours to just relax and take some time for myself. Whether this is at 10 in the morning or 5 in the afternoon I try and build in a few hours each week to refind my center and spend some time with good ole me. 

3A The next few things go along with the third thing. Once I have found time when that time arrives there are a variety of things I enjoy doing that help me de-stress so it just depends on my mood. Normally I will go for a nice hot bath with a relaxing bath bomb. This gives me time to let my body relax as well as my mind. When I get a bath I usually like to take along whatever recreational book I am reading and enjoy an hour or so of diving into someone else's world and it generally helps to calm me down. 

3B Another thing I like to do if I am not at home to take a bath is get a coffee. Whether it be in the work room or at Starbucks I like to take some time to sit down with a nice big cup of coffee and just relax that way. Normally when I am enjoying my coffee I like to also spend that time away from my phone and social media. Those things tend to remind me of everything I need to do or put me in a place where I am not relaxed and calm. I again normally like to dive into a good book or even just sit and enjoy the hustle and bustle around me in the coffee shop or wherever I might be.

4 Yet another thing that I like to do to help relax is do a beauty cleaning regime. This means give myself a proper pampering. This includes taking time to exfoliate my body and moisturize it properly and get into some comfy pajamas and then cleanse my face. I like to start by gently holding a warm cloth over my face for a few minutes to wake up my pores and then I usually put on a face mask first. It depends on what I might want at the time but any face mask will do! After that I like to use an undereye de-puffing solution. I have pads that you place and leave for 10 minutes and they are pretty great but again it is personal preference. After that I like to then moisturize my face and neck and apply any sort of special face creams that I don't include in my normal makeup routine. 

After I have had my time of relaxation to re-focus my mind I like to take some time to meditate on everything coming up that I need to get done and feed myself positive energy by thinking about how I am going to accomplish everything and how I have everything set up in a list so I won't forget anything and just generally gear myself up to complete the tasks at hand. 

Then of course I hit the ground running and go! 

Everyone needs time to re-center themselves when there is a lot going on and I hope this advice helps you if you are feeling overwhelmed at the moment!

Leave some comments about what you do to de-stress yourself!

xoxo Jess