[CHAT] Relaxing vs distracting: How do we actually switch off?
We all know that relaxing is important in so many ways. From the physical health benefits to the usefulness of relaxation for our mental health, relaxation is practically necessary for our lives. It’s definitely necessary when you have a lot of responsibilities to juggle during the week, like school, work, volunteering or chores. But even if you’re having a rough day, and only managed to do a few things, relaxing is still important to unwind after all that stress.
What do we actually mean by relaxation though? For a long time I thought I knew what it was – if something stressful was happening or about to happen, you took a break and did something else. For most of my final year of school, that meant hours at a time on Tumblr or Youtube, reblogging post after post or watching one video after another. Except that once I decided I was bored of that, I didn’t feel relaxed afterwards. Instead, all of the responsibilities I’d tried to forget came rushing back into my memory, along with even more stress and anxiety.
I’m sure I’m not the only person who has been in this situation: sometimes, instead of facing up to our responsibilities, we avoid them. While sometimes avoiding our responsibilities for a time can help us recharge and come back to them with even more energy, at other times it can just feel like a cop-out, and once the time to finally face the music comes, we’re overwhelmed. Sometimes it can depend on the situation, and at other times on the way we decide to switch off, but learning to relax can be more than just teaching ourselves to let go of our stresses: it can also mean knowing when to do so, and how to go about it.
So how do we switch off, without switching back on and becoming giant piles of stress? Join us on Monday the 2nd May at 8pm AEST, where we’ll learn the difference between relaxing and distracting.
Thank you for running the show @safari93 @stonepixie
And thank you for your amazing insights and contributions @redhead @FootyFan26 @j95 @N1ghtW1ng!
Have a most excellent snooze y'all!
We all have plenty of different ways to take a break. Reading, watching TV, listening to music, physical activity like walking and exercise, catching up with friends, sleeping, even being on the forums!
All these activities that we do (apart from making us feel great) can be relaxing, distracting, or even both! The same activity can be a form of relaxation in one situation and a distraction in the other, or perhaps the reason why we do them could determine whether an activity is distracting or relaxing
So how do you tell the difference? It seems to be partly due to the situation – why are you doing this activity? Are you unwinding after a stressful event? Are you trying to avoid something stressful? Do you need time to process some intense feelings? In short, are you recovering from something, or escaping? You may also be able to tell by how you feel afterwards – do you feel relaxed and energised? Or do you still feel sort of the same way?
Regardless of why you might be relaxing, it’s still incredibly important just as a way of providing self-care and rest for yourself. Trying to just deal with stress or overwhelming emotion can put us in a situation where you burn yourself out, and don’t have energy to look after yourself and cope in a healthy way.
So when it comes to relaxing vs distracting, is it easy to tell? Not always, and it doesn’t help that the two can be part of the same activity. You might also start out distracted and move into relaxation, just because you’re not being productive at all. And then you have procrastination, which can sometimes be mistaken for distraction. So perhaps we all have plenty to learn about the differences between relaxation and distraction (and procrastination!)
When it comes to techniques, just distracting ourselves is the tip of the iceberg. Distraction can be useful for taking our minds off something stressful and giving us a little breathing space. They can be useful for coping with intense feelings, especially of self-harm or suicide. They can also be great to stay calm before a stressful event.
It is definitely possible to relax or distract too much though, and it often comes down to using relaxation as an avoidance strategy, without actually thinking about how to approach a problem. In the end, you just become even more stressed than you were before! How to tell when you’re procrastinating? Answer: it takes time. Taking time out to reflect on how you use relaxation and distraction, and when you tend to procrastinate can give you the tools to figure out which situation is which, and how to cope in a healthier way.
So let’s review: self-understanding can go a long way to help us relax and distract in a healthy way. Give yourself time to work, time to relax, and time left over for anything else that crops up unexpectedly.
Thanks so much to everyone who came out, and to the excellent @stonepixie and @Ben-RO!! Hope you enjoyed this discussion as I did, and have a great night!!
To everyone else, you are equally as awesome! Hope you guys have an amazing week and I'll catch y'all when I'm next online.
As I mentioned in the previous question, know yourself. Allow yourself time to relax and distract, and give yourself time to focus on what you need to do. Be mindful and bring balance.
So how do we get the rest and relaxation we need to keep our brains ticking over while also tackling the tricky stuff that life throws our way?
I think we've sort of answered it by saying that understanding yourself can go a long way. For someone like me who tends to overcommit, scheduling can be really useful, as well as understanding which activities tend to be more relaxation-focused and which are more distraction-focused. And of course, when to use them
So how do we get the rest and relaxation we need to keep our brains ticking over while also tackling the tricky stuff that life throws our way?
Know yourself and your limits. Don't over-do it. Allow yourself some time to reflect when you are in a better head space.
@stonepixie I work like that as well - I take in information and process it for a while before putting it into a proper assessment. Although in that instance you aren't ~technically~ procrastinating, it seems more like most of the work is happening out of sight of others, and so it looks like procrastination. Besides, you're doing what works for you!
Time for our last question of the night. We have sort of touched on this already but here it goes anyway!
So how do we get the rest and relaxation we need to keep our brains ticking over while also tackling the tricky stuff that life throws our way?
So how do we get the rest and relaxation we need to keep our brains ticking over while also tackling the tricky stuff that life throws our way?
Plan ahead, leave a little wiggle room. These are the two things that make the most difference for me. I plan ahead by making time for me to chill out and recharge. And I live a little wiggle room in my life too, by which i mean, time where i just don't plan to do stuff. Because life will always give you lemons, so you should always have a bit of spare time to make lemonade with them!
@Ben-RO I would think that reflecting when you're in a good headspace is usually helpful, especially when it comes to relaxation and distraction vs procrastination. In the future, you're not so likely to end up procrastinating to a point where your mental health is worse than before
@redhead true, and it's a much heathier way of coping than to distract all the time or not at all
I think it is possible to distract too much. Sometimes I'll do anything not to deal with something and it ends up making the problem bigger. I think know yourself and your triggers go a long way into learning when distraction goes too far.
Anyways, speaking of distracting techniques:
Do you think sometimes we relax or distract a little too much? Do you have any advice or thoughts about knowing when when relaxation is turning into procrastination?
Do you think sometimes we relax or distract a little too much? Do you have any advice or thoughts about knowing when when relaxation is turning into procrastination?
Hmm ... I don't know. This is a difficult one to answer. I'm always told that I am a procrastinator because I usually do my assessments in one sitting. Which people find completely mad!
But what they don't realise is that I know how my brain works. I read the questions, go away and do stuff, some research and what not, but mainly relaxation stuff. Whilst I am doing all this, my brain is piecing together the answers so as when it comes time to do the assessment, I can just smash it out.
But I guess when relaxation turns to procrastination would be when I am no longer relaxing and start worrying.
So much yas to that respones @stonepixie! I am also someone who is better doing everything at once! I guess with this stuff, knowing yourself and what's good for you is the tricky and also most important part.
@Ben-RO it's a good question to ask though when you are distracting yourself - what exactly are you distracting yourself from?
Know yourself (@redhead) and look back when you're in a better head space (@stonepixie). I like these two answers a lot.
So it's all good to distract, as long as you reflect on what happened later?
And if you know yourself well enough, you get the hang of noticing when you might be using distraction for procrastination?
@stonepixie I think this is one of those situations where distraction is easier than relaxation for me, since I can't relax well when something is coming up. I just line up a bunch of youtube videos or TV episodes till I have to face the music
@FootyFan26 it can definitely be hard when your techniques don't work out the way they should, but hopefully you can try some new ones from this discussion! Plus there's always the 1000001 COPING STRATEGIES & DISTRACTIONS thread (lol sorry for shouting)
@redhead this is true, sometimes just forcing ourselves to deal with stress or overwhelming emotion is more exhausting than giving ourselves a break from it
