A Semi-Serious Guide to Handling Stress

Last week I mentioned that when it rains, it pours... and holy cow, did it pour this week. We may've had a day off work on Monday, but I spent most of the day worrying about how I was going to survive Tuesday. Most of the week followed in an equally as stressful fashion, and I staggered home from work on Friday waving the white flag. Nonetheless, I managed to survive without crying, puking, passing out, having a heart attack or giving myself a stress ulcer, which I consider a major win. Here's how I did it, for the next time stress makes you want to crawl into a hole.

1. Get stuff off of your plate. I was planning on writing a blog post on Monday evening, but by the time I got to that point, my heart was going a mile a minute and I was full-on freaking out about the next day. So instead of killing myself for my blog, I made myself tea and curled up under a blanket on the couch. Your mental health is more important than pretty much anything.

2. Trust yourself (and other people). If you've prepared to the best of your abilities, that's really all you can do. Don't worry about stuff that's out of your control, and concentrate on the fact that you can handle whatever the situation is. And stop thinking of all the worst-case scenarios, honestly.

3. Treat yo self. In the middle of my monster Tuesday, I bought myself Chipotle for lunch. I normally bring my own food for lunch, but a burrito bowl is far more enjoyable and it gave me a happy boost going into the afternoon.

4. Book a trip to Lake Placid. Uh, I mean, what? ;) The 35th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice is coming up, and the team is reuniting in Lake Placid on my 24th birthday... and I'm going to be there. I'm pretty excited about it. (And by "pretty excited" I mean that while booking tickets I was basically incoherent with joy and will be absolutely beside myself for the next month.)

BESIDE MYSELF.

But in the event that you can't go to Lake Placid or book a trip elsewhere, give yourself something to look forward to. A light at the end of the tunnel is infinitely helpful. (As in, I must survive this week so I can die happy in Lake Placid. There's no better motivation.)

5. Go to sleep. Last week I went to sleep WAY too late on WAY too many days, and it was miserable. But on Wednesday I decided to change things up and went to bed at 9:30. AMAZING.

6. Get a change of scenery. On Wednesday night, the roads were a snowy, icy mess, so on Thursday I decided to work from home. I was also just feeling sluggish and un-motivated in the office, so I thought having some space to just work would do me good. And it was the most productive day I had all week! (And then on Friday I found out that the internet in the office had been down all day on Thursday. Again, AMAZING. [praise hands emoji])

7. Shake up your schedule. I had a bunch of really enjoyable meetings on Friday, and it was so good to spend some time away from my computer and the frustration that comes from sitting in front of it.

8. TREAT YO SELF. Normally I don't buy food even once a week, let alone twice, but I stopped by Chick-fil-A and grabbed myself dinner after work on Friday. I've watched The Biggest Loser for long enough now to know that this is a CARDINAL SIN, but I'd been craving French fries for like two weeks. Sue me. (And leaving Chick-fil-A, I managed to completely forget the drink I'd ordered. So the poor guy behind the register literally ran out after me, calling my name and holding my Cherry Coke. It was that kind of day.)

And now it's Saturday afternoon, I'm still in my pajamas, and I'm flipping between the X-Games and U.S. figure skating national championships on TV. This, my friends, is what survival looks like.