Use Humour To Combat Stress Overload

Stress is one of those things that we all have to deal with on a daily basis, and we’ve covered all sorts of remedies for stress here at Lifehacker. This morning, I tested one of the oldest. Is laughter really the best medicine?

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I’ve had a really crappy, stressful week for all sorts of personal and professional reasons that I won’t go into in detail here. It’s enough to say that I woke up with reason to be grumpy — or at least I thought so — and headed into my office to get some Lifehacker work done.

It was then that the iMac that I work from decided that it couldn’t see my keyboard. I’d already had one keyboard die on me this week, and swapped out to an older one. Even after a reboot, that oldre keyboard was now playing up with random key detections, and no matter what I tried, from PRAM resets to preference list deletions to random user creation to switching to and from a USB hub, it would not work satisfactorily.

If I hadn’t already been in a pretty foul mood it’s likely I would have switched to the laptop I’m currently testing, but then that doesn’t have all my shortcuts and applications installed. Eventually, I switched to yet another keyboard which, while less than optimal for my preferences would at least allow me to start working.

Except that I was now more than ninety minutes late starting writing duties, which further added to my stress. Stress is a great way to make hard work all but impossible, and I was well out of my normal writing groove, finding it very difficult indeed to get started on even the most simple piece of work. Then I got a bit of bad freelance work-related news, and I rather boiled over, venting to my Allure co-workers as to whether it was feasible to chew off my own face in frustration.

Quick as a flash, Gizmodo editor (and brilliant writer) Luke Hopewell penned the following:

How To Chew Your Own Face Off
Luke Hopewell | Lifehacker Australia

We’ve all had those days where it all just seems too much. Sometimes you just want to lash out with your teeth, and that’s ok. Here’s the best way to chew off your own face.

Spend an hour or two stretching out your bottom lip. You’ll need it later.

Drink plenty of fluids to aid in digestion once the face has been chewed, before grabbing your bottom lip and pulling it over your own head. Suck your face a little to get some good traction and then just go to town.

Start with the pointier bits first like your nose and eyebrows and work your way down evenly.

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I laughed. I laughed long and hard, and that made all the difference. Sure, there were still problems to face in the day, but the words started to flow, and with them, the majority of my stress started to ebb away.

It strikes me that this echoes exactly what I’d written in my “How We Work” piece earlier in the week

I’m firmly convinced that the world would be a better place if everyone stopped to giggle a little childishly at least once a day.

So if you’re feeling a little overburdened with stress, try finding something funny to distract you, even if only for a second.

Legal disclaimer: Lifehacker does not condone or in any way suggest self-ingestion of facial features, and the guide above is for humour purposes only. If you have accidentally eaten your own face, seek medical attention immediately.