List of 101 De-stressing Tips Goes Viral and It’s the Answer to Your Problems

Think back to your high school days. How much material can you still remember? For example, can you still quote from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar or calculate the slope of a line with two points? Much of what we learned in school fades away with time, but California teacher Brett Phillips found a way to make his material stick.

Phillips knows that the beginning of the school year is often the most stressful for students, which is why he gave his psychology students a list of 101 ways to de-stress when they’re feeling overwhelmed.

For example: “Don’t rely on your memory… Write it down.” “Look up at the stars.” “Buy yourself a flower.” “Stand up and stretch.” “Exercise every day.” “Learn the words to a new song.” “Talk less and listen more.” “Freely praise other people.”

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The list went viral after one of his students, Alina Ramirez, tweeted photos of it, but this isn’t the first time Phillips has passed out this list to a group of students. Phillips reportedly has been giving his students the list of 10 years now, along with a special assignment.

“I give students the list and then I have them pick five things that they need to start doing to lower their stress levels,” he told BuzzFeed.

And turns out that it helps! Ramirez said that she keeps the list in the front of her binder and refers to it whenever she feels overwhelmed at school.

“Honestly his list has helped me a lot,” she said.

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