The Millennials, or Generation Y, is a social group that reflects the main tendencies of life in a modern world. There are plenty of information about this generation in social media, various articles, researches and statistic data. Their values, way of life and the specialties of worldview are studied not only by mass media but by more serious organizations too. The Environics Research Agency has even subdivided people of the generation Y into six tribes according to their life priorities, goals and ways of self-representation. Any average media user may notice that today, this group of youngsters is on the top focus of social media attention.
The Stress Generation
The lifestyle of the Millennials is also thoroughly researched and has its own differences based on certain reasons and backgrounds. According to the findings of Stress In America survey, this generation has the highest level of stress and anxiety, twice more compared to the previous generation. It is a well-known fact that the quality of life and ability to resist aggressive factors of outer influence including stress depends a lot on the way we build our daily schedule, activity throughout the day and even menu. Going deeper into analyses of the typical Millennial’s lifestyle will help determine the factors that play a significant role in nervous breakdowns of Generation Y.
“Sleep Is For Suckers”
According to the research provided by California University, lack of sleep is the strongest factor in anxiety. The long-lasting sleep deprivation activates brain parts responsible for feelings of fear and anxiety. The main reasons for such a tendency among Millennials are:
- Lack of proper day planning.
- Higher priority of other types of activities (usually work or web surfing).
- Using gadgets right before going to sleep. Normally the latest contact with gadgets must finish not later than half an hour before sleep. They are proved to cause a negative influence on the quality of sleep.
Eat To Live
Healthy and regular meals play important role in the well-being of the entire human organism. It is responsible not only for regulating metabolism, but keeping the insulin level stable. Our psychic stability also strongly depends on what and when we eat. Natalya Fazilova, MD from NYC states that lengthy breaks between meals or even missing a meal is a bad habit. Such irregular feeding provokes fluctuations of the glucose level in blood. As a result, you can feel dizziness, anxiety, and difficulties with the expression of thoughts.
Water and food are the basic needs of our organism, so anxiety is a natural reaction to hunger and thirst. Millennials often work so hard that they forget to eat or drink enough water. Such habits will make it better for people that have long working hours:
- Keep some healthy snacks (like granola or any nuts) near your working place.
- Drink a glass of water after waking up and before going to sleep.
- Always have a bottle of water with you.
Coffee Mania
Where there is lack of sleep, there, usually other negative factors appear – coffee consumption. This drink is known for its energizing qualities. It increases the tonus and can be a good helper in solving short-term tasks. But people who drink a lot of coffee are usually short-tempered, over excited and nervous. It especially influences people with a naturally weak nervous system.
Also, coffee has strong diuretic qualities that can lead to the dehydration of the organism. The dangers of it were described above. The amount of coffee that will not harm your organism is not more than one cup a day. What to do if you are a heavy coffee addict? Here are some tips:
- Replace coffee with green tea. It will be much more useful for all the organ systems.
- Naturally, it will be difficult to go without the amount of energetic stimulation you are used to. Drink strong tea instead of coffee then. But remember that it is also not useful to drink plenty of it. This can only serve as a temporary measure of changing the habit of coffee consumption.
Move It!
Sedentary behavior is one of the main problems of modern Americans. The research of BMC Public Health discovered its straight correlation with anxiety disorders. Lack of physical activity is harmful to all body systems including nervous. Many Millennials have sedentary work, but it is not the only tricky moment. After sitting all day in an office they come back home and… keep staying still while web surfing. Naturally, it makes the situation worse. The ways to cope with the problem are quite obvious.
- Try to find time for sports in your daily schedule. It can be jogging, gym or yoga – choose whatever you like.
- Even if you have to sit all day, take breaks to stand up and move. Recommended frequency is once in 90 minutes. It will reduce the risk of depression appearance.
Gadget Obsession
According to the data of the American Psychological Association, overuse of gadgets is also connected with the stress level. Technologies make our life simpler and open a lot of possibilities but everything has a dark side. The Millennials literally grew up with gadgets in their hands, unlike the older generations. They do not imagine their life without them. Although resting with a smartphone in your hands seems like a perfect relaxation, it is not actually so. High level of aggression in social networks and media is an additional stress factor. Is there a way out of this endless stress circle?
- How tempting it may be, avoid spending hours surfing the web. The Internet is a source of information, not a substitute for real life.
- Try to make an experiment – use gadgets only in need (work, study, important mailing). In a short time, you will notice that you feel much more calm and peaceful.
Young Workaholics
Usually Millennials reject the classic 9 to 5 working day. Flexible working hours and the quality of work done are much more appreciated by them. They are ambitious, active and eager to earn a fortune. And they really try hard, often missing many joys of the young life. It is a good point but tricky too – in fact, they often work a lot more than white-collars. Such an overwhelming schedule definitely does no good to their nervous system. How to manage everything and not go completely crazy?
- Plan your daily schedule to have time for a good rest. What is good rest and what is not, was observed in the previous items?
- Do not let ambitions harm your health and mind. Money is an important thing, but surely not the only one that can make you happy.
Show Must Go On?
Today, there exist dozens of fandoms devoted to series shows. It became a new Millennial subculture with its own memes, slangs and fan art. There is nothing criminal in watching another episode of Stranger Things or Game Of Thrones. But watching them all day or night long apparently will not make your life better. People who spend a lot of time in front of a computer or TV set feel more depressed than those who do not. A sense of measure is important here.
- Try to measure your time spent on watching your favorite TV show. A couple of episodes a day will be enough. Besides, such a strategy will make your joy from watching it last longer.
- It must be in the end of your priorities list. If you choose between spending time with your beloved ones, sport or other activity – do not choose TV.
Detox Your Life
No, it is not about healthy eating again. It is not even about the Millennials only, but about all people’s problem. Toxic social contacts is the thing that ruins our life in all aspects. An annoying neighbor always wants to share his problems with you, God knows why? Colleagues are overwhelming you with insignificant tasks that only waste your time and energy? “Friends” that shame you, mock you or use you? Try to get rid of such harmful communication. If it is impossible for any reason, then be firm and do not be afraid to refuse or stop the toxic conversation. Stand for your personal boundaries and do not let anyone disrespect them.
- Contact only with people who respect you and bring you positive emotions. It may require certain rearrangement of your social circle. Do not regret – moving ahead is your main goal, not degrading in good company.
- How to know whether the person is toxic? Analyze your feelings after contact with that person. Do you feel used, offended or exhausted? These are the warning signs that this is not an appropriate companion.
- Respect yourself. People who are confident and self-respecting attract the same people into their lives. Energy vampires feel that no one will feed them here and choose other types. Their perfect victims are weak, insecure people with low self-esteem. Work on self-improvement, love yourself – and such contacts will disappear from your life.
Change Little – Change Everything
As you can see, slight changes in the details of the daily schedule and menu will help a lot. They can protect our organism from many harmful influences and health problems. Those simple tips will be very helpful for the Millennials. They will make them much healthier and more emotionally stable. And it will not require significant adjustment of their life schedule and much additional efforts. However, the positive effect will be felt in a short time.
