How do I keep my stress down

Mia,

Are you stressed over performing/playing, time management, or what? Two of the things I found that help with stress overall is avoiding caffeine and staying well-hydrated. If it has to do with performance, then, with time, and practice, you gain self-confidence. You will come to know, and believe, that you will do well. So, when you have those moments of self-doubt, you will be able to remind yourself of those previous games when you played well. There will ALWAYS be missed plays, so do NOT focus on them! Accept them for what they are - human imperfection. All you can do is your best, which, unfortunately, will never be perfect. As to time-management, I think that is your other question, if I recall correctly, so hopefully you will get some feedback on that.

Good luck in the games!

Hi Mia,

A great question and obviously one that everyone deals with. I try to monitor my stress all the time. What I would recommend is attempting to compartmentalize things. I have often described my priorities as a box. Family on one side, friends on one side, work on one side, and then life stress on the other. Deal with each individually and pay no mind to the stress until you need to. I've also found that setting a schedule for yourself to normalize your day to day can significantly help as it makes your life a bit more routine, with a solid foundation. We all juggle several priorities but it's the time you spend on each, and how often you spend reflecting on each, that makes it a stress or not. Ultimately, give yourself a break and know that things have a tendency to work out.

Thanks!

Mike