Change Your Space

In the moment, when we feel ourselves getting more and more upset and we're starting to lose control of our behavior, sometimes the best option is to walk away, take a break, and then come back to the situation.

You might only step a few feat away and ask for a moment so you can use one of your other calming tools like counting or deep breathing. You might need to leave the room and go to a calming room (at school) or your bedroom (at home).

Depending on the situation you're in, you might have to ask someone for permission before taking a break. For example, in the classroom, we need to ask permission from our teacher before we leave the room.

Background noise can raise our stress level quite a bit without us even noticing. If this is happening to you, there are a few different way to handle it. Popping in some earbuds and listening to music is one. Using nature sounds (i.e., wave sounds, rain sounds, etc.) can help your brain to not get as distracted or stressed by background noises in your environment. Noise cancelling headphones can help by quieting most of the background noise in your environment.

An important point here is figuring out which of these tools is appropriate for your situation. For example, music is usually not appropriate in the classroom because we need to be able to listen to the teacher's instructions. A white noise generator is only appropriate if you're in a private space where you can play sounds without distracting or bothering others.

This really depends on how much control you have over a space. At school, for example, you can't control how clean and pleasant to look at your whole classroom is; however, you can keep your desk clean and do your part to keep the rest of the room clean and nice. At home, keeping your room clean and taking time to decorate it can do a lot to improve your mood. When we're in a messy space with clothes on the floor, dishes in the sink, and the smell of both floating around, it usually has an effect on our mood and how we feel, even if we don't always notice.

It helps to form good cleaning habits. If you always push off cleaning tasks until they build up into 1-2 hours of chores, it's going to feel like a much bigger deal than doing these tasks in 10-15 minute chunks here and there. Just do it, don't wait.