Stress relief ideas for a busy testing season

Stress relief ideas for a busy testing season

Demi Quach, Reporter

This school year has been rough for many students due to the global pandemic, but that doesn’t mean that we can push away the inevitable, like SAT and AP testing. SAT testing has just passed for our juniors and seniors. Some AP tests may be online, while others may be on paper in person. 

With all of these important tests coming up, students are bound to feel stressed and pressured to do well. In order to relieve some of that stress, here are some fun and easy methods to relieve stress.

A good method to relieve stress is to draw or color something. There are plenty of free coloring pages online from websites like Crayola where you can print it and color to your heart’s content. If you don’t have a printer, there are many apps where you can color digitally. An app I suggest is Color by Number. You can upload your own photos to color or use the free templates that the app provides. 

Another activity I recommend doing to relieve stress is to do some origami. Origami is super fun and can be easy to do with some practice. To find some paper, many shopping websites like Amazon sell a variety of origami paper such as this one. You can find video tutorials of whatever you want to create on YouTube. Although it depends on what you want to make, origami can be time-consuming, but having time to yourself to calm down and destress is good for your mental and physical health. 

One of the best ways to relieve stress is to change your environment. An easy way to do so is to go on a walk. Taking a walk outside can help you get some fresh air all while clearing up your mind. An even better way is to go on a bike ride. Feeling the breeze as you ride can definitely feel liberating and take your mind off things. Plus, it’s better than staying all cramped up in your room. If you don’t have time for a walk, move to a different part of your house such as the living room or dinner table. Another option is going out into places such as Starbucks or any small dine-in cafe that allows indoor seating. However, please remember to mask up and social distance.

A simple and easy way to destress is to exercise. Some of the best exercises you can do to reduce stress is brisk walking, jogging, or cycling. Exercising can help pump up your endorphins to make you feel good, which can bring you more motivation to continue working hard. 

A more elaborate way of destressing is to have a self-care day, do some face masks, take a bubble bath, and just relax. Treat yourself, whether it’s something your craving, something you want to buy, or giving in to a guilty pleasure. Remind yourself that life is supposed to be good and that you deserve to just sit back and relax. 

Lastly, one of the more funny methods to relieve stress is to talk to yourself. Although it sounds weird and kind of insane, talking to yourself can help vent out your worries and organize your thoughts. Give yourself a pep talk or just talk about whatever in life to get your mind off of things. In doing so, maybe you can find and release all of the negative thoughts and worries. 

This school year sure was difficult, but after getting through all those tests, you have three months to yourself. Three months to relax and just have fun in life, so let’s focus and work hard now.