When I get so caught up with school and extracurricular work, I easily get consumed by the anxiety of pending tasks and deadlines, which loom over my head.

My friends can attest to this when I go AWOL with my online presence and disappear on text message for periods at a time.

I go into resource and time-saving mode, squirreling away any breathing space and a spare moment, whether that be mornings before school starts, limited free time in my classes, my advisories, and my early releases to pack in and cram any task I can as a desperate attempt to reduce my workload (which actually does work quite well for me in my case to those reading this with an understandable amount of judgment).

I’ve become an excellent user, if I do say so myself, of Google Docs and the G Suite in scheduling, prioritizing, and organizing my workload and the events and activities of my life around each other.

Nonetheless, I do get stressed, frazzled, and worried as much as the next guy, so much so that I can sit glued at my laptop for hours at a stretch, frantically typing away, my fingers numb and my brain drained.

It’s almost an act of hypnosis, though, if you will. When I hit a certain level of momentum and productivity during particularly critical stretches of the week, I almost refuse to give up my stride and instead keep pushing myself to accomplish more. It’s all self-imposed.

And I’m sure many of you have felt this rigorous routine at some point in your high school career.

When I get to this point, however, I sound the alarm on my self-reflective and introspective sides of me, knowing that the stress I’m putting on my body and mind can be detrimental and cause me to spiral and be even more unproductive.

Essentially, there is a danger of pushing myself to burnout.

Though this exertion can yield me a lot of work output, it’s not healthy. And I have come to recognize this. As such, I’ve been highly focused on self-care and being attentive to my needs.

No, not everyone can afford to squeeze in a Treat Yo’self Day in their calendar as popularized by the characters Tom Haverford and Donna Meagle of the NBC sitcom, Parks and Recreation.

What I do mean, though, is taking care of yourself through small or big stress relievers and making it routine for yourself.

For me, the little things seem to add up. I make a significant effort to go for morning jogs on the weekends or squeeze runs in right after school. Physical exercise is known to release endorphins, which can combat stress since it is responsible for the feelings of “euphoria and general well-being.”

Sometimes when I’m even too busy to listen to music, which can get extremely disconcerting to me, I attempt to incorporate it as part of my day-to-day routine by blasting it during the shower or during my break times. (This is truly a pro tip for me in still getting my music fix in a day because oftentimes, depending on the subject, I can’t listen to music and pay attention to the lyrics and my work at the same time).

Furthermore, when I get into a certain groove of working, I put timers for every one hour or just monitor the time myself, so I can get up out of my seat and take a physical exercise break of fifteen minutes as recommended by health professionals.

Apart from this, I also make sure to eat healthy and allocate time for snack breaks. Little things like my routine of taking my vitamins and having a standard skincare routine at night also bring some order and relief, grounding my chaotic weekday and weekend schedules.

In a state of constant rush, it’s nice to follow through on taking care of yourself and having some order.

From my experiences, I highly recommend adopting self-care routines into your own life. They may seem tedious but going the extra mile and prioritizing your well-being is the best investment in the long run.

You are after all the most important person in your life.