BY MELEK CANSU PETEK (ELIT/III)
petek@ug.bilkent.edu.tr
It feels ironic to prescribe remedies for busyness, especially when thinking right after I typed the title how little time I had to complete everything I needed to do. And that is exactly why I should be writing this article. After all, that’s what I’ve been doing with you, the poor reader, for the last two years: talking to myself and trying to find remedies for my own ailments, hoping that some of you might benefit from them as well. This week’s ailment, or perhaps a lifelong struggle, is busyness.
As the end of the semester is fast approaching, I’m having daily fights with my to-do lists, with said lists constantly nagging at me and saying, “You don’t have time to sit down and relax.” I usually yell back at them simply not to be outdone, but unfortunately, deep down I feel guilty, thinking that I should work harder, and that I really don’t have time. Then life starts draining out of me, and I end up with no energy or motivation to do anything, swinging back and forth between panic and despair. And I know I’m not the only one, not after one of our professors asked why we were looking so miserable, and the class answered in unison: So much work to do in so little time.
Times being desperate, I started to wonder: What can I do when I’m overloaded with stress and work? How do I find mental and physical relief in the midst of this busyness? I even assumed the role of an investigative journalist and asked the same questions to a few other people. Although the answers varied, I managed to put together an outline of how we act (or should act) in times of extreme stress and busyness, which is almost always.
First things first: if you think you need a stress release, you actually need to stay away from the source of the stress. It’s not an escape, or an act of cowardice, but on the contrary, a crucial step. If your stress is rooted in the phone calls you keep getting, keeping your phone near you all the time will not solve the problem. For me, stress is usually school and work related, and I associate it with my desk and computer. Guess what I do when I try to unwind? Yes, that’s right, I stay well clear of my desk, and turn off my computer. But this is only the first step. Once you identify the source of your stress and run away from it, you need to find something to run toward, which is almost as important.
When it comes to coping mechanisms, there are a few basic things most of us know—the essentials, if you will. Working out, or being physically active, is one of those essentials. A friend of mine loves running and says it helps her release the tension, whereas I usually lock my door and start dancing crazily. Yes, I just revealed a humiliating fact about myself—but it works wonders! If you don’t feel like running, or if you’re too dignified for crazy dancing sessions, walking might help clear your mind. You can also try finding comfort in music and books, and going back to them every time things get rough. Nothing beats the feeling of being under a blanket, sitting with a book you’ve read ever so many times and become friends with, or listening to an album and singing your lungs out—especially when no one is around. Lately, I’ve found another diversion for myself: reading Wodehouse’s brilliant comic fiction and laughing out loud. It’s hard to say no to a man who can write sentences like this: “He had the look of one who had drunk the cup of life and found a dead beetle at the bottom.”
Whether you decide to pick up an instrument, dance or draw isn’t all that significant—the important thing is to slow down and let it all go sometimes. It’s hard to live under constant stress, and the yoke of busyness only gets heavier, unless we learn how to deal with it. Often I find myself thinking that I was born into the wrong century, and wish things were simpler and slower, so that I wouldn’t feel time pressing upon me. Then again, who says it was that much easier before? Gandalf tells Frodo, “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us,” and I agree, wholeheartedly. Once we realize that it is our decision to fill our time with things that matter to us, time becomes slower and life gets less stressful and more meaningful—and that is the best remedy I can offer you right now.