Focusing on Something Else for a Change

Written by: Ashley George

As I researched stress-less tactics, the one that came up the most was mediation. Some potential benefits to meditation are stress reduction, control over anxiety, and the enhancement of self-awareness. Overall, practicing mindfulness allows people to clear their heads and more effectively tackle the different tasks that they must complete. In a study done of 1,300 adults, most reported that meditation helped them decrease their stress, and they felt more ready to work. I decided to try out this trick to see if it worked for me.

I looked up meditation videos on YouTube and found one that was short and relatively easy to follow. Because I don’t often have a lot of time in the morning, I decided it would be best to meditate after school, right before I start my homework. At first, taking the time to sit down and meditate was difficult because I was thinking about all the other things that I needed to get done. It was hard for me to take time for myself and truly relax.

However, as I continued to meditate every day, it became easier to focus on being mindful of myself and my surroundings. Instead of allowing intrusive thoughts to remind me of everything that I needed to accomplish, I was able to put my attention to my own mental and emotional well-being. I started to look forward to meditating, because it allowed me to focus only on myself instead of worrying about deadlines and assignments for school. I had forgotten to take time for myself and give myself a break every now and then instead of working so much. After a long day of school, I always felt better after meditating.

Overall, meditating every day worked well for me. I felt less stressed out and more ready to work after doing it. However, in the future, I don’t think that I will continue to do it every day. It can be time-consuming, which is not helpful when I am extremely busy after school. Instead, I try to remember to meditate whenever I feel more stressed out than I normally am. This stress-less tactic might work for you if you have some free time in your schedule to do it, but it may not be as helpful unless you can fully commit to giving five or ten minutes to doing it. To get the best results, you must not allow your thoughts to wander to all of the tasks that you need to complete or accomplish. Focusing on yourself will allow you to reduce stress and feel more energized.

My rating out of five stars:

★★★★★