Deadline, presentation, application, interview, test, quiz, review, quiz, test. As deadlines approach, stress rises. Your motivation to do anything decreases with each hit of the submission button on Blackboard. Other options are considered and the possibility of not attending college anymore crosses many individuals’ minds. It is important to remember that there are many ways to manage stress. Managing stress is the perfect opportunity to regroup and refocus on upcoming assignments and tasks. This allows for you to get back on the right track for success. Managing stress goes far past just not procrastinating on assignments. Self-care mixed with time management and organization is the recipe for a college experience free of worry and stress.
Before thinking about a bubble bath with calming music and a bath bomb, prioritizing your week and planning ahead is a good way to reduce stress. The key to any organized and planned student is a planner. Planners allow for students to keep track of all assignments and due dates. Writing out your tasks allows for you to organize the week and include any small assignments or things to do that you may forget along the way. Planners can also be used to manage time. This can be done by planning out how many hours of prep you may need for an assignment and dispersing these hours over the course of the week to help to avoid the stress that may come from doing an assignment last minute.
Take a break. A saying we’ve heard since we were young that can almost always be ignored. By taking a break, you allow your mind to rest and reboot, which is important for producing some of your best work. When taking a break, little things go a long way. Taking a walk, meditation, breathing exercises and even journaling are some examples of what to do when you need to take a break.
Exercise is one of the easiest ways to alleviate your stress. Taking the time out of your day to exercise, even if it is for just ten to fifteen minutes a day, helps to improve memory and attentiveness in daily tasks. These small ten minute breaks of exercise actually help to boost energy and refocus your mind on all your future tasks you have. Fitting in your daily gym time in a busy schedule during the week is the key to keeping both your mind and body healthy.
If organizing, planning your week, and taking even a small break does not work, stepping away from the situation for a brief period of time is one of the key factors in managing stress. Taking this time away to evaluate your triggers for stress and what may be overwhelming in the situation helps to alleviate the stress that has been building up over time. Once you are able to identify your triggers of stress in any given situation, it is easy to eliminate stress factors and look at the situation from a different point of view that may end up benefiting you in the future.
The most important thing to keep in mind in this semester and any semester is that you can do anything put your mind to. Stress is just one of the many obstacles that life throws your way and is just one more hurdle you have to jump. Keeping track of your life, organization, and taking breaks or periods of time away from a task or problem are some of the ways you can de-stress this upcoming semester. Look out for de-stressing events around campus, reach out to friends, or even go buy a planner if you feel writing out something by hand may be better than typing it into an online planner. And most importantly, remember, stress IS manageable.