Lil tools. Big difference.

Click the button. Feel a little better.

It’s like magic, but with coping skills.

• Splash your face with ice-cold water.
• Eat something sour to get out of your head. Squeeze a lemon into your mouth, suck on sour candy, etc.
• Unpeel an orange and rub the rind around in your hands. Give it a sniff.
• Blast your favorite song + try to move every part of your body at once.
• Text a friend your favorite meme or 12.
• Try to hum an entire song while thinking about every word to the lyrics.
• Text a free, anonymous 24/7 support line.
• Stand up and do 2 squats. Literally just 2!
• Draw what your feeling looks like. Does it have hair? Is it a scribble? Does it smell weird/need stink lines?
• Think of 3 tiny things from today that didn’t totally suck, like: I didn’t get stuck behind any slow hallway walkers, my pizza was good, I found a cool pen.
• Make your bed + remember that tomorrow’s another day.
• Walk around the block. Then try it backwards.
• Pet an animal. Bonus points for scritching it behind the ears.
• Make your exhale twice as long as the inhale (breathe in for 3, out for 6).
• Clean your room or vacuum with the intense, focused energy of an athlete in a championship game.
• Muffle a full-volume scream into a sofa cushion like a dramatic character in a movie.
• Walk around your room with tiny arm appendages and a massive angry jaw until the absurdity makes you break character.
• Take junk mail or an old worksheet and rip it into the tiny, satisfying bits of paper confetti.
• Roll yourself tightly into the heaviest blanket you own until you feel like a warm, secure snack.
• See if you remember how to skip.
• Squeeze a stress ball or squishy toy with all your hand strength until it looks like it’s having its own existential crisis.
• Do 15 intense jumping jacks, wall sits, or pushups to convert nervous energy into physical fatigue.
• Spell your intrusive or stressful thoughts backward out loud. Like, try spelling “overwhelmed” or “chemistry test” in reverse.
• Look around the room and immediately identify 5 items that could double as survival tools in a zombie outbreak.
• Pick a random category (like video game characters, favorite foods, movies) and name one item for every letter from A to Z.
• Ask yourself: “Will this exact situation or drama matter 5 weeks from now? 5 months from now?”
• Count backward from 100 by 7s. The math sucks up so much active brainpower that your brain can’t panic at the same time.
• Argue out loud why your current stressor is annoying, but do it in a British accent.
• Write down a quick list of 5 things you are 100% certified better at than an average toddler.
• Solve a ridiculously easy kids’ maze, word search, or tic-tac-toe grid just to give your brain a quick, effortless win.
• Write a formal, overly dramatic written apology letter to your bed for abandoning it earlier this morning.
• Deliver a passionate 2-minute speech about your problems to a houseplant, pet, or squishie. (They don’t interrupt.)
• Try to craft a paper airplane designed to fly as horribly as humanly possible on purpose.
• Doodle a cute animal and aggressively draw giant angry eyebrows on it.
• Shoot a dramatic 10-second tragedy movie on your phone starring a piece of fruit or a random kitchen utensil.
• Build an impenetrable blanket and cushion fort in your living room. Age restrictions don’t exist for fort building.
• Stare at a wall and try to spell out “I need a break” purely through Morse code blinks.
• Drink an entire glass of cold water while reminding yourself that you’re basically a plant who needs hydration and sunshine.
• Move your physical location by just 10 feet. Shift from your bed to the floor, or move from your bedroom to the porch step.
• Wash your hands with warm water and nicely scented soap, focusing entirely on the texture of the bubbles and the heat of the water for 60 seconds.
• Write down every single unstructured thought in your head for 3 straight minutes without stopping, then immediately throw the paper away.
• Go outside and spot 3 things in nature that are a brighter shade of green than your current mood.
• Put your phone on Do Not Disturb, tuck it under a pillow in another room, and give yourself 30 minutes of zero notifications.
• Make a hot mug of tea, cider, or cocoa and just sit quietly while holding it with both hands to feel the physical warmth.
• Organize one tiny, manageable space, like a single pencil pouch, your phone’s home screen icons, or one small drawer for an easy win.
• Spend 10 minutes learning a completely unnecessary skill on YouTube, like rolling a coin over your knuckles or folding an origami crane.
• Walk up to a mirror, look yourself in the eye, give your reflection a high-five, and say, “We’re surviving this, chief.”
• Write a ridiculous 5-star or 1-star review in your notes app for an everyday mundane object in your room (like your left shoe or a stapler).