I’ve had one of the worst weeks for a very long time. Cue all the stress and duvet cocoons because lol no it’s also been raining all week and that really doesn’t help. Why can’t my reading week be calm and filled only with uni work. 

Because life can be a massive bellend, often. 

But this week, and last, actually, got me thinking about the fact that, well, while this week has been terribad, it’s not the worst I’ve been through, and I had to give myself a little pep talk with ‘we made it through that so we’ll make it through this by following the same steps’. 

So here’s my guide on how not to drown when the sea of life gets really really rough. Or, as it says up there: how to keep going when everything is shit. 

1: TALK TO SOMEONE. 

Anyone. I’ve called my dad over 40 times this week and I’m not even mildly ashamed. Be it a group chat or a phone call, tell someone that you’re having issues. They may be able to see things from a different angle that isn’t apparent to you right now. So please, talk to someone!!!

2: ASSESS THE SITUATION

How shit is shit? Where is it all coming from? Are you worrying over things that aren’t actually all that important in the grand scheme of things? Sometimes things can seem incredibly intense and wholly terrible because you’re caught in a cycle of something and it just… builds. So try and take a step back if you can and work out exactly where you are. 

3: MAKE A PLAN OF ACTION

Because nothing gets shit done better than writing up exactly how you are gonna get shit done. Little goals are the way forward to avoid falling back into the black hole of woe because tackling the Really Big Things head on can be really daunting. 

Like I sort of forgot to do my washing-up this week so my first order of business (after getting up, sometimes even that’s a goal) was to do that. And then I felt OK and human and adult enough to tackle phone calls. Little things. 

4: CUT YOURSELF SOME SLACK

As much as I’d like to be, I’m not a Magic Girl with a super cute otherwordly sidekick (yet). And therefore I’m not in some pretty pastel anime with a thought out story board and the ability to make everything instantly right. AND THAT’S OK. It’s perfectly normal to feel overwhelmed occasionally and I’ve already got a plan of action that’s going to get sorted so taking a second to breathe is fine.  Giving yourself a break is half the battle sometimes. 

5: COMPARTMENTALISE

Brain boxes. It’s hard and I’m still learning how not to let completely separate issues affect one another or how I deal with things in general, but comparmentalising and focusing on one thing at a time and sorting that to a degree, then moving on is probably one of the best ways to keep going. At least for me. Crossed wires and fuzzy lines between quite clearly unrelated issues are not something that my brain enjoys coping with, and I go into shut down mode. Which is basically the exact opposite. So having mental (and actual physical) boxes to put to one side is great. 

6: YOU CAN (AND WILL) GET THROUGH THIS. 

It may take time, but: THIS TOO SHALL PASS. 

(P.s: check out the comments for more tips! If this helped at all, or your looking for other ‘how to: posts then you may enjoy ‘how to change your outlook on life‘.)

Hopefully next week will be more of the action, less of the stress. Because that’d be lovely. I hope you’ve all had a good week, if not, how have you dealt with it?? (oh and all the hugs). If you have any more tips toss ’em at me because I need all the ways to cope. All of them.

♥

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