What Items Would You Place in a Time Capsule for Future Generations?
Pop it toy.
No, seriously, pop it has saved my life to some extent.
In the middle to the end of first semester, when assignments and tests started pouring in along with college applications (remember that fun time?), my stress level was over the scale, through the roof, and seems to never end. That’s when I got my first pop it toy as a gift, a total life saver. It is so stress relieving everytime you fidget with it, along with a satisfying touch in your fingers and a satisfying sound in your ears. The best part of it is that you can play with it anytime and anywhere, and costs no brain power but simply moving your fingers. As stress overwhelms people, significantly on young generations these days as academics becomes more competitive, I’d like to recommend pop it to future generations as an effective way to reduce stress.
But this blog is not about pop it, it is about recognizing the stress levels among young generations these days and the importance of finding effective ways to cope and heal.
Starting with myself, I found my way to deal with stress through this brainless action. Before pop it, I’ve never found an actual effective way to reduce my stress level. Here are some top results when I search up “how to reduce stress”, and why they don’t work for me.
- Use guided meditation
I took mind and body for PE class last semester, and frankly to say, almost every time I try meditation, I fall asleep. I think it’s because of the peaceful environment and the relaxing music, so when I try to practice my “mindfulness”, I could not resist the sleepiness. Honestly, I would be very impressed if anyone has never fallen asleep during meditation. As a sleep deprived high school student, I seize the chance to sleep whenever I can.
- Manage social media time
The major source of my stress comes from procrastination and fear of not getting work done in time, creating a vicious cycle that the more I stress out, the longer I procrastinate and stare at my phone, and the longer I spend on unrelated things, the faster stress level grows because of the fear of deadlines. This would be very helpful if I wasn’t so addicted to social media, but I mean, who isn’t addicted to their phones these days.
- Exercise regularly
This one actually works, but the problem is that it takes time, effort, and persistence, and I will have none of the above when I’m too stressed out.
Different from all the stress relieving hacks that we usually see, having a fidget toy does not take any extra time, effort, persistence, or brain power while it temporarily takes your mind off of things you’re stressing about. But again, every person has their own ways to cope with stress, what really matters is if the method works for you and does not add on extra stress. Recognizing the source of stress is also important when trying to deal with stress, the best you can do is just to end the stress from its root.
Don’t procrastinate. Don’t be lazy. And get a pop it.
schiu • January 13, 2022
vthakur1 January 22, 2022 - 5:42 am
Okay but you could definitely create a pop-it ad- like I can visualize it coming on screen. But stress ugh. Honestly I’ve never really found a strategy that works for me (but I think I’m inclined to buy a pop-it and try) as all those take time which I dont have and using up time is the source of my stress itself. I always see the meditation ones, essential oil ones, or general “breather” ones and wonder how a. mindfulness actually works (don’t you just think about how much time is passing???) or fall asleep? Also my media usage calms me and exercise requires energy. So yeah. For now I think I’ll stick to working on a better sleep schedule and hydration. But I definitely won’t mind if you send me a pop-it.
hgmitchinson January 26, 2022 - 2:33 am
Ooh this blog was a really interesting experience and I’m glad I read it. I was initially baited (in a good way!) by the title thinking about what I would put in a time capsule, and wondering why you’d choose a pop it toy. What I got, instead, was a very much needed article on how address stress. I was pretty much in the same boat as you first semester where I was very stressed because I’m a huge procrastinator lol. You’re totally right, the best thing you can do to handle stress is tackling it’s root, and for me that was coming up with ways where I could work without procrastinating, like studying in the LC instead of at home. I’m glad that you addressed some common approaches people give to stress management and why they might not work. I never thought about using a fidget toy or a pop it before, so I’ll have to try it out! I think another important thing to remember with stress is that whatever you’re going through, you’re not alone, so it was nice that I could read a blog post I related to!
sli2 January 30, 2022 - 8:30 pm
Reading this I might actually try getting a pop-it! I’ve seen them in stores before and messed around with them, it’s definitely a very satisfying activity that doesn’t take much effort. With all the stress that came with college applications and piling up school work (that I always convince myself I’ll do over the weekend but then don’t), finding ways to destress has been very important but looking online always gives the same answers that I’m never too eager to do. The guided meditation especially. In mind and body, either I fall asleep from sleep deprivation like you (thankfully just light sleeping or I might sleep past the bell), end up getting restless and bored not even halfway through (when I tried it on my own at home—did not work out too well), or my mind just ignores the relaxing atmosphere and take the empty time to create stressful thoughts. For me with managing social media, I’ve uninstalled my social media but it doesn’t change much as I always easily find another way to procrastinate. As you said, everyone has their own way to destress and I can agree that exercise works. While it may take a lot of effort, for me I just need to find a fun exercise to do. Whenever I have homework building up, it causes stress thinking about it and even more when it turns into late homework and keeps growing. The solution is simple but somehow so hard for me to do—get it all done. I’ve constantly thought about setting aside the weekend to work but then two days pass and nothing happens.