No one can deny that high school is a stressful time for all. It’s a period when people are figuring out who they are, and where they stand in the world. It can be frustrating when the world is changing, and things are happening that you have no control over. Or when you really want to succeed but the world seems against you. Different from when you were younger, now you can understand why things are happening but don’t necessarily have the power to change anything.

When this happens, you might try to play it off like it’s cool, like things aren’t a big deal when they really are. While this might convince people around you, the strain of the emotions will have an effect on you in the form of stress. You might be thinking that this sounds like a cliché warning but learning how to deal with stress is a vital skill today. The world is becoming more and more complicated, so utilizing stress-reduction techniques now can teach you how to deal with it for the rest of your life.

1: Come up with an action plan; Many times, stress is felt when you know you should be acting on something, but are instead pushing it to the side and procrastinating. While this reduces the amount of work you have currently, there is always a faint voice in your head reminding you that you should have been productive but weren’t. A way to battle this is by creating an action plan/schedule detailing which days to do what specific steps to meet your goals. Even if you don’t end up acting on the goal right this instance, you are being intentional with your break time rather than relaxing until the last minute.

2: Express yourself; Withholding emotions, like we talked about at the start, is a sure-fire way of building up a sense of helplessness that channels into stress. Expressing yourself can be done in a variety of different ways, so you’re sure to find a tactic that suits you.

• Express feelings to family/friends
• Set up meetings with a therapist/counselor
• Make voice memos of you talking about your feelings (they don’t have to be sent to anyone, but it will feel as if you have released the negative emotions)
• Journal/brain dump everything you’ve been feeling the past week
• Draw your emotions; translate your anger/sadness/etc. into art

These tactics will work to make you feel better about your situation and should definitely be used alongside other tactics such as physical exercise, good sleeping habits, and a healthy diet. Remember, stress is a normal emotion that affects everyone. Try not to let your stress exaggerate your problems and trick you into thinking that there is no way around them. After the darkest storm comes the brightest hour.