"It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it." -Lou Holtz
Stress is a huge factor to the daily life of not just you, but quite literally every single human on the planet Earth. Stress is constant, and a part of life, but it is not something that should be used to weigh you down it should be used as a way of propelling you forward at even greater speeds than before. Big assignment due at the end of the week, use that stress to make it excellent. Big game in a few hours? Use that stress to prepare yourself for greatness, and then greatness will come.
Stress is a feeling that I use to achieve the extraordinary every day and this was a habit that I changed recently with little difficulty. It is not even something that is necessarily challenging either mentally or physically because it was one simple change in my mindset. I honed in the ability to harness my stress, which used to cause me anxiety, and flip it into relief.
This is something that I learned through working out, reading, open conversations in my own head, and realizing that the sooner I take away the thing, whatever it may be, that is causing me stress the sooner I could forget about it completely. This was a life changing realization because I too was a chronic procrastinator, I too was a introverted, shy, sometimes even scared human that would curl up and shield in the face of difficulty rather than lunge at it with confidence and will.
Stress is all in your own head, even things that are extremely stressful can seem like nothing when you tell yourself that you can get it done and it will be easy. Stop telling yourself that you can't do it, teach and show yourself you can. Take proactive steps too that takes your mind off things, for me it is running or working out. For you it may be doing work, or it may be relaxing for 30 minutes... whatever it is find it and practice it.
SK