Flash
exercise contributed by Michael Diener and
Dr. Brad Hokanson, Interactive Media (DHA 4384)
School of Design, University of Minnesota.
Managing
stress (text summary from Flash piece, above)
First, recognize
stress:
Stress symptoms include mental, social, and
physical manifestations. These include exhaustion, loss of/increased
appetite, headaches, crying, sleeplessness, and oversleeping. Escape
through alcohol, drugs, or other compulsive behavior are often
indications. Feelings of alarm, frustration, or apathy may accompany
stress.
If you feel that stress is affecting
your studies,
a first option is to seek help through your educational counseling center.
Stress Management
is the ability to maintain control when situations, people, and
events make excessive demands. What you can do to manage your stress?
What are some strategies?
Look around
See if there really is something you can change or control
in the situation |
Set realistic goals for
yourself
Reduce the number of events going on in your
life and you may reduce the circuit overload |
|
Exercise in stress reduction through
project management/prioritizing |
Remove yourself from the
stressful situation
Give yourself a break if only for a few
moments daily |
Don't overwhelm
yourself
by fretting about your entire workload.
Handle each task as it comes, or selectively deal with
matters in some priority |
Don't sweat the small
stuff
Try to prioritize a few truly important things and
let the rest slide |
Learn how to best relax
yourself
Meditation and breathing exercises have been
proven to be very effective in controlling stress. Practice
clearing your mind of disturbing thoughts. |
Selectively
change the way you react,
but not too much at one time. Focus on
one troublesome thing and manage your reactions to
it/him/her |
Change the way
you see your situation; seek alternative
viewpoints
Stress is a reaction
to events and problems, and you can lock yourself in
to one way of viewing your situation. Seek an
outside perspective of the situation, compare it
with yours. and perhaps lessen your reaction to
these conditions. |
Avoid extreme
reactions;
Why hate when a little dislike will do? Why
generate anxiety when you can be nervous? Why rage
when anger will do the job? Why be depressed when
you can just be sad? |
Do something
for others
to help get your mind off your
self |
Get
enough sleep
Lack of rest just aggravates stress |
Work off
stress
with physical activity,
whether it's jogging, tennis, gardening |
Avoid
self-medication or escape
Alcohol and drugs can mask stress.
They don't help deal with the problems |
Begin to manage
the effects of stress
This is a long range strategy of
adapting to your situation, and the effects of
stress in your life. Try to isolate and work
with one "effect" at a time. Don't overwhelm
yourself. for example, if you are not sleeping
well, seek help on this one problem. |
Try to "use" stress
If you can't remedy, nor escape from,
what is bothering you,
flow with it and try to
use it in a productive way
|
Try to be positive
Give yourself messages
as to how well you can cope
rather than how horrible
everything is going to be.
"Stress can actually help
memory, provided it is
short-term and not too severe.
Stress causes more glucose to
be delivered to the brain,
which makes more energy
available to neurons.
This, in turn, enhances memory
formation and retrieval.
On the other hand, if stress
is prolonged, it can impede
the glucose delivery and
disrupt memory."
All Stressed Up,
St. Paul Pioneer Press
Dispatch, p. 8B, Monday,
November 30, 1998
|
Most importantly,
if
stress is putting you
in an unmanageable
state or interfering
with your schoolwork,
social and/or work
life,
seek
professional help at
your school counseling
center
|
Stress in a
testing situation
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