Calm Your Thoughts

If you need to distract yourself fast, try counting to 10. Depending on how upset you are, you might have to count to 100, count backward from 10, etc. There are lots of different ways to do it!

Another cool trick is to count all of the objects of a certain color in the room. If you're getting really frustrated and you're about to say or do something that you'll regret later, distracting yourself by counting all of the orange objects in the room is a much better choice.

If you have the time and space, focus your attention on imagining you're in a calming place. Imagine the sounds, smells, and look of this place. It can help to close your eyes and sit down or lie down while you do this.

Working on a coloring sheet won't solve the problems that are triggering your stress, but focusing your attention on coloring can provide a little relief for a bit to help your mind relax. Then you start thinking about the problem again but with a calmer mind and a different perspective.

You could also clean part of your home, doodle, play a musical instrument, bake, etc. So many options! Any kind of familiar task can help you to temporarily take your attention off of a stressful problem.

Focus your attention on a calming or funny video to help calm your mind and lower your stress level. By the time the video is over, you will feel more calm and you will be better prepared to solve the problem that triggered your stress.

Our thoughts—i.e., "self-talk"—control how we feel about ourselves and the world around us. Positive self-talk leads us to feeling good, and negative self-talk can put us down. Sometimes our self-talk happens so quickly that we fail to notice negative thoughts, but they can still affect our mood. These are called automatic thoughts. Often, our automatic thoughts are negative and they don't make sense. Identifying these negative automatic thoughts and replacing them with new, more sensible thoughts can improve our mood.

Try to notice what kinds of websites, videos, articles, etc. tend to spike your stress level. Try to control your exposure to those things or avoid them entirely. Many people report that social media websites/apps like Facebook and Instagram raise their stress level by giving them F.O.M.O. ("Fear Of Missing Out"). News media can be another stress trigger, especially during times of crisis.

This is a little bit like distracting yourself (see above). "Mindfulness" means intentionally focusing your attention on what you're feeling, hearing, smelling, seeing, and/or tasting in the present moment instead of thinking about the past or the future.

You may notice that you're getting too stressed out because there's a tornado of negative thoughts in your head. Maybe you're going over and over memories of mistakes that you made. Maybe you're thinking about all the ways that something in the future could go wrong.

Practicing mindfulness is a good way to take the wind out of that tornado. By changing what you're thinking, you can change what you're feeling.

A great way to improve your mood is to focus on the things in life that you're grateful for instead of dwelling on things you want that you don't have. Consider starting or ending each day by listing 3 things you are thankful for.