There are times you look back on and think, how on earth did I get through that. For me it was one of those weeks that tipped into a month, when everything seemed to land at once. Work was full on, life was messy, and the unexpected extras kept showing up whether I liked it or not. By the end I was brittle and running on fumes, the kind of tired that no early night or strong coffee will fix.
I told myself I was coping, because that is what most of us do. I pressed on, ticked the boxes, smiled in the right places, but inside I knew I was one more bad day away from unraveling. The surprising part was what actually helped. It was not some grand reset or a shiny new plan. It was the smallest things, the kind you barely notice at the time but which quietly keep you steady enough to take another step.
The first was structure. On the days I was too tired to think, I scribbled down just three things to do. Not thirty. Not everything that had been hanging over me. Just three. It meant I could let the other jobs slide until later, which gave me permission to breathe. It did not solve the chaos, but it gave me a foothold and that was enough.
The second was pause. A chapter of a book even when I thought I was too busy. A proper cup of tea with my phone flipped face down. A walk around the block that felt pointless until I came back calmer. At first I treated them like stolen moments, guilty and indulgent. Then I realised they were maintenance, not luxury. Without them everything blurred together and felt worse.
The third was honesty. I am very good at saying “I’m fine” when I am not, and most people take that answer and move on. That time, someone asked at the right moment, and I admitted I was not fine. Not all the detail, just enough. The relief was instant. The support that followed was not dramatic, but it was real, and it reminded me that you do not always have to hold everything on your own.
Nothing magically fixed itself. It was a hard time, and I would not pretend otherwise. But I came out of it knowing more about what helps me when life piles on. Structure. Pause. Honesty. None of them glamorous, but they worked.
The truth is, the hardest weeks will come, whether we like it or not. What matters is not whether we sail through them looking like we have it all together, but whether we can find enough small anchors to stop ourselves sinking. Sometimes that really is all it takes.
Ten Small Ways to Help with Stress
That stretch taught me a lot, but it also made me think more generally about what helps when life is heavy. Stress never disappears completely, but there are small things that take the edge off. Here are the ten I keep coming back to.
- Three things, not thirty. Write down the three jobs that matter most today. Ignore the rest until tomorrow.
- Step away on purpose. Read a chapter, put the kettle on, walk around the block. It is a reset, not a waste.
- Say it out loud. Admitting you are not fine can be the difference between carrying a weight and sharing it.
- Sleep without guilt. A proper night’s rest makes everything easier, but it is always the first thing we sacrifice.
- Eat something decent. Not perfect, but decent. A proper meal steadies you far more than another handful of biscuits.
- Move your body. Not a gym session if that feels impossible, but stretch, walk, stand, anything. Movement works.
- Protect your headspace. Put your phone down, mute the pings, close the door if you can. Noise fuels stress.
- Notice small good things. A laugh, a hot coffee, a song you like. They remind you the stress is not the whole story.
- Be curious, not cruel. Ask yourself “why am I feeling this” instead of “why can’t I cope.” Curiosity opens space, criticism shuts it down.
- Remember it passes. Even the worst week ends. Holding on to that can be enough to keep moving.
None of this is ground-breaking. None of it is glamorous. But it is real, and it works.
When I look back on that worst week now, I do not think about the detail of what went wrong. I remember the anchors that got me through: a scrap of paper with three words on it, a cup of tea in peace, one honest sentence spoken at the right moment. Stress will always find its way in, but steadiness can too.
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