It’s important to keep up on election season, but it can be a really stressful and overwhelming sometimes. If you are feeling burned out, there are ways to manage the unpleasant emotions that accompany election time and return a more refreshed participant in election conversations.
If you need an election season breather, take these four suggestions:
Get outside
Nothing is better for stress than getting some Vitamin D and fresh air. The next time the election coverage is making you crazy, slip on your running shoes and head outdoors. Hanging out in nature makes people happy – it can offer relief for everything from simple negativity to lingering depression. A long walk will not only cheer you up and improve your outlook; it will strengthen your immunity, too. Another benefit of nature is the break if gives your brain from overstimulation – this means it can restore your attention levels and make you an even better advocate for the candidates of your choosing.
Reconnect offline with friends and family
Are you constantly looking at your mobile devices to read the latest election coverage updates? Today, we deal with an extraordinary amount of technology compared to the last election four years ago. This means it’s important to take breaks from the constant notifications and flood of information. Prioritize time to disconnect and meet with friends to talk, grab dinner, and enjoy one another’s company.
Play mobile games/apps
If you can’t pry your device out of your hand, redirect that attention. A wealth of research shows that games can be put to educational and therapeutic uses, and there are studies that show how playing video games improve hand-eye coordination and reaction time. Video games have a strong educational potential, too – they’re more than just entertainment. Playing games like bingo have been shown to actually improve brain health. Games that are designed to address a problem or teach a skill have been wildly successful, largely because they are interactive, engaging, motivating, and provide reinforcement to improve.
Read a book
Often times, reading takes the back burner to busy lives filled with Facebook updates, election coverage, work, and family life. If you are someone who doesn’t make it a habit to read regularly, you’re missing out on some health benefits. There are many reasons why you should read every day. Reading provides stress reduction. No matter what you are facing in daily life, it slips away when you lose yourself in a good story. In addition, reading provides you with knowledge, vocabulary expansion, and improves your memory, focus and concentration. The next time you’ve had it up to here with politics, put your phone away, step away from your computer, and pull out a good book.
If your fears spike after watching a debate, take some time and make it a point to escape the coverage. While it’s not likely that you’ll develop major anxiety over an election period, the pressure is real and you should cope with it in the best ways you know how.
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