Being a college student is something that is extremely hard, and at times, it is easy for us to become severely overwhelmed and stressed. We can often find ourselves having a hard time managing our school work on top of a social life, work, family life, sports, friendships, and pretty much everything else. Along with this, in college, we have to figure out how to balance our academics, our new schedules, and our new environment. It can put a lot of pressure on us, causing an overwhelming amount of stress, which is sometimes hard to manage.
I think one of the best stress management tips that I have in my life is finding a new hobby to distract myself from my stress. Finding a new hobby or rekindling an old hobby when stressed can allow for you to decompress and take a break from the outside world. This can be something like reading, drawing, painting, photography, yoga, mediation or listening to music. To manage stress, you can take some time out of your day to take a break and enjoy yourself and enjoy whatever you like to do for fun. It allows for your brain to take a break, and for you to take a breather.
Another stress management tip that I find extremely helpful is exercising regularly. This doesn’t have to be anything crazy, it can be super simple, just to get yourself moving. You can simply go on a walk throughout the day either by yourself or with a few friends. These walks don’t have to be a certain length, they can be as short as 10 minutes or as long as an hour. It’s something that allows for you to just take a break and breathe, and not focus on what you have to do throughout the day. Or, you can go to the gym and lift weights, and it doesn’t have to be a long workout with heavy lifting. It is something that is truly flexible, but can help you when it comes to managing your stress and mental health.
I believe that another way you can help to manage your stress is to be organized with your errands, plans, and homework. This can be managed by making a to do list, buying a planner, or even using a digital planner as well. This is something that has helped me so much when it comes to feeling stressed about upcoming work; I’ve found that making a digital spreadsheet of all my assignments, then writing them down physically day by day is very helpful. This has helped me to stay on top of my assignments and only focus on things that are due for that specific week.
Another thing that many say helps with stress management is setting boundaries. This means that if you are too stressed with what’s going on, or have too much going on in general, it’s okay to tell people no.
Along with this, connecting with others like family, friends and even professors for support is something that can definitely help when you are stressed out. Talking through how you are feeling, whether it’s that you are stressed, upset, or having a hard time, talking to a close friend or family member will help. It could also be beneficial to reach out to a professor when you are stressed out and overwhelmed. For the most part, when you ask them for help, they are willing to help you out and work with you to help you feel better. Also, being around people you know care about you and love you helps to distract you from everything that’s going on. If you take the time out of your day to just watch shows with your friends or even just be in their presence and laugh, it helps you to feel less stressed.
Finally, something that I believe could help with stress and managing it is limiting your screen time. This could be something as simple as trying to use social media less throughout the day, especially when you know you have a lot on your plate. Social media makes us worry about likes and comments, and distracts us often. Limiting the use of it can help to lower your stress levels.
In conclusion, trying to implement just one of these tips into your life can help you manage your stress and make you feel better mentally. This is something that has taken me a long time to adjust to, and by changing my habits, it’s helped me to learn to manage my stress and feel better.
