Hey it's KJ here, back with another video.
In my last video, I said that I had a lot going on last quarter from managing a start-up,
navigating my first quarter virtually at Stanford, and continuing to post videos on this channel.
I am someone who is now able to handle a ton of stressful things all at once, but this
wasn't always the case.
Last year, you may even remember me having to go to MIT mental health because I had previously
tried handling all this stress alone.
I've learned a ton about how my mind and body work since then, and in this video, I want
to give you my quick 10 tips on how I manage my stress.
Huge shoutout to Goodwall for sponsoring this video, and let's get right into it.
First of all, connect with people.
You aren't in this alone, and you should never feel like you are.
I was someone who hated adding stress to my loved ones, so I would just bottle things
in and not mention anything going on in my life.
But just as I would want my loved ones to tell me if something was bogging them down,
there are people around you who would love to be able to help you out in times of need.
This whole pandemic, especially, is making it very easy to just isolate from the world.
But even an occasional FaceTime or Zoom call can change your whole outlook on a situation.
Your loved ones will keep you grounded on what's actually important, and in general,
their unconditional support can help a ton during a time like this.
In a time of seemingly complete isolation, maintaining quality connections could prove
to be the difference between a stressful and non-stressful time.
And this gives me a nice segue into the app Goodwall, which has a community of over 1.6
million students and young professionals spanning over 150 countries.
It's a mobile-first, social networking app, which is completely free and available to
download on both Android and iOS.
Goodwall hosts challenges and programs for students and professionals to better themselves,
better our world, and win prizes.
By building your own unique profile on Goodwall, you're able to showcase your skills to universities,
employers, and the rest of the world!
Here's my profile showing my achievements, skills, and ideas.
Then this tab let's you find details on how to participate in the weekly challenges to
develop skills and win prizes.
In connection with Computer Science Education Week, Goodwall is hosting an exciting #codingstory
challenge until December 13 supported by IBM Z, where you can win big!
This challenge is all about inspiring students to learn CS and advocate for equity in computer
science education.
So go ahead and download Goodwall, and just submit a short selfie video showing the story
of how you first became interested in coding and CS.
By posting it on Goodwall with the #codingstory, you will inspire others and even have the
chance to win the $1000 cash prize from IBM Z!
I want to reiterate that it's completely free to participate, and good luck!
I'm looking forward to seeing all of your submissions!
My second tip is to put things in perspective.
Something I forget to do a lot is just take a step back and take a broader look at the
situation at hand.
By looking at the bigger picture, you'll get a better idea of why you are feeling the way
you do.
Instead of getting into that terrible cycle of getting stressed by your stress, take the
moment to realize what's going on.
For example, we are still dealing with a global pandemic, which involves lockdowns, virtual
classes, and quarantines.
You can acknowledge that these times are no where near normal, so why would you expect
yourself to feel and have normal productivity in these instances?
That just isn't reasonable, and if you took that step back, you'd realize this.
And so an easy mental way of reducing stress is to dynamically manage your own expectations
of yourself.
There are many stressors in the world, so I focus on not letting myself add unnecessary
stress.
An interesting thing that I also do is set my phone up with reminders that notify me
3 times a day, and simply remind me to remember how capable and strong I am.
I even went ahead and wrote more encouraging words and questions that I can ask myself
to just remind me how blessed I am.
Sometimes its best to listen to your own advice and encouragement, and in these ways I'm able
to kind of remind myself throughout the day.
And these little pick-me-ups could prove to be the difference between a happy and stressful
day.
My next tip is to use calendars.
I'm a huge calendar guy, and have tried various degrees-- from scheduling every minute of
my day to only putting critical things on my calendar.
For me, using a calendar, is less of a strict guideline, but more of a reminder that I do
have the time in the day to do the tasks at hand.
If I hadn't sort of sectioned off everything into my calendar, I may have thought that
there was no way I would be able to do the tasks I wanted to.
And a lot of times, when it feels like there's no way I can finish a set of tasks, it starts
this terrible cycle where you're overwhelmed by the number of tasks so you don't start
the tasks, which ultimately makes things worse.
Something that I've done recently that also helped a ton is the use of physical calendars.
Now I have this weekly and monthly dry-erase calendar on my fridge.
So I'm always up to date with my bigger deadlines, and also know what I'm going to be doing with
any given day in the week.
Again, this helps put everything I need to do in perspective, and makes everything seem
a lot more manageable when there's just maybe 1-3 things that I need to focus on for any
given day.
Guided meditations are something that I honestly didn't believe in for the longest times.
But recently, my consistency with meditation actually changed my thoughts on it.
I personally use the Calm app, and just do 10 minute guided meditations.
But in those 10 minutes, I'm able to not think about anything else going on.
This basically allows myself to reset my mind for the day, minimizing any extra baggage
I had been carrying in from the previous day.
If you're someone who is skeptical of meditation, I recommend just doing it everyday for 2 weeks,
and see if you find any reduction in stress.
My bet would be that it would help a decent amount, but I do admit that it's hit or miss,
so meditation is definitely something you'd just have to see for yourself.
While meditation helps maintain a healthy mind, working out is a way to maintain a healthy
body.
Working out actually chemically removes stress from your body through sweat, so it's actually
a sure-fire way to reduce stress.
But beyond that, maintaining a healthy body will have a positive impact on many aspects
of your life.
By working out consistently, your body will inevitably begin to transform.
Things like walking up stairs will feel easier, you will begin to feel stronger, and ultimately
you will have more energy and confidence.
These physical pick-me-ups could prove to be the extra push that gets you through the
day.
And as your body continues to improve, you'll actually be able to see physical progress
when you wake up and look at the mirror in the morning.
And especially during these times, any forward progress is very welcomed, and will allow
yourself to appreciate yourself a bit more.
My next tip is to set bite-sized goals.
When I was talking about calendars, I kind of got into the advantages of having these
palatable objectives.
And I just wanted to make sure to emphasize why this is the case.
We all know that procrastinating makes things more stressful in the end, but we all keep
doing it.
But a good way to curve procrastinating is to challenge yourself to complete bite-sized
tasks along the way.
These tasks can't be too easy where you think you can do them anytime, but also can't be
too hard where you're intimidated.
For example, instead of just scheduling out a time to make a video, I will set smaller
goals like outline a video, then write what I want to say, then setup my sets, and then
film, then edit.
This makes everything a lot more reasonable and actionable than just make a video.
My next two tips may be the most important ones on here for basically overnight stress-reduction.
The first one is to take rest days.
I know that the way I work is these larger sprints of intense productivity.
This means that I may do all my work for a week over a three or four day span, where
these days are 12 hour+ work days.
But I also know that those really long work days aren't sustainable up to a point.
If I don't take at least one day out of a week to just unwind, then I won't be able
to maintain that same level of productivity for the next week.
And through talking about these different points, I'm realizing how coupled productivity
and stress are.
When I don't feel productive, I get more stressed, and vice-versa.
And I think taking days to be unproductive can prove to actually be productive in the
grand scheme of things.
You'll give yourself the head space to deal with the upcoming stressors that will come
your way.
And speaking of rest, sleep is another sure-fire way of managing your stress.
Different people need different amounts of sleep to be functional, but there's numerous
studies that prove how detrimental it can be for someone to sleep less than their body
needs.
You may think that you can salvage a couple more hours in a day by sleeping less, but
the overall impact on your day and stress will most likely be negative.
With less sleep, you will be in a worse mood, your body won't function at peak levels, and
your mind won't be at full capacity either.
So sleeping goes hand-in-hand with taking care of your mind and body through stressful
times.
I recommend having as many days in a week as you can to just let your body sleep until
it naturally wakes up, and I think that will have a bigger impact on your overall stress
levels than you may have thought.
My next tip is to talk to people.
This is something that sounds so simple, but is so easy to overlook as you're dealing with
the stresses of everyday.
Something that I had a terrible habit of doing was just letting everything bottle up inside
of me.
When you let your thoughts run in circles in your own head, you only make your stress
worse.
Even if the other person you're telling your issues to doesn’t have nay real solutions,
just voicing your problems will make you feel not as bad as you previously were.
And in general, just talking to people lets you get a better idea of other perspectives
on the same situation.
For all you know, they may have gone through similar things, or share your sentiment on
the topic.
And these are all just avenues to help you alleviate your own stress.
The less you feel alone on the issue, the better you will feel.
Lastly, I recommend you make time for the things that you enjoy.
Many people have this false sense of time where they feel as if there's only time for
productive things and sleep.
However, it could prove to be very productive to do some things that simply give you joy.
No matter what people say to me, I know that people have that spare hour everyday to do
something.
For me, I enjoy playing video games with my friends.
Most of the time, I could actually care less what the actual game is, but just having the
opportunity to feel carefree for a bit with my friends could make my day so much less
stressful.
This last tip encapsulates a lot of other tips, but I thought it was important to just
mention.
Something else I also do for my enjoyment is make videos like this.
I enjoy sharing my insight and experiences with the world, and hopefully they have a
positive impact on your lives.
Let me know in the comments what tips resonated with you, and feel free to share your own
tips so that people can read them and learn even more.
I want to stress that you're not alone during these times, so make sure to stay connected.
Make sure to subscribe to my channel and follow me on instagram and twitter to see what I'm
up to.
As always, thanks for watching, and I will see you in the next video.