Midterms week. It’s finally that time of the semester when everyone has to stop pretending they have all the time in the world and face reality. If you’re like me, then it’s also the time when you’ll be getting no sleep while cramming for those classes you promised yourself you’d read for. Between tests, essays, and extracurricular activities; it’s easy to forget about some of your most basic needs. Lucky for you, I’ve got 3 simple tips on how to take care of yourself this week.
1: Don’t forget to eat and drink water
I know it seems like common sense, but many of us are guilty of not fueling our bodies amiss all the stress and studying. It’s easy to get caught up in reviewing for an exam that hours go by and you haven’t eaten or drank anything. A way to combat this is to pack snacks and carry a reusable water bottle. You may have heard this before, but it’s such an easy way to make sure your body is getting what it needs. Some of my favorite snacks to pack are: carrots, oranges, animal crackers, and apples. Another advantage to bringing snacks is that you won’t be tempted to go and buy that $6 Wendy’s meal. (You’re saving money! And who doesn’t love to save money??) Now that you got your snack ready to go; you need to have a water bottle packed and ready to go! But what if I don’t like the taste of water? One of the major reasons I hear about why people forget to drink water is because they think it’s bland or doesn’t taste good. Once again I am here to tell you an easy fix to that problem. There are tons of recipes online that give you can use to infuse flavor into your water. One of the most common combinations is lemon and lime. All you do is put a lemon and lime wedge in your water bottle and add water. Shake it up and you’re done! Is that easy or is that easy! I put a link to a website with some great tips and recipes on infusing your water.
http://dish.allrecipes.com/fresh-ideas-for-making-infused-water/
2: Catch Those Zzzzzz
Picture this: you have a test tomorrow. It’s over the five chapter of the book you just got yesterday. Your teacher gave you a study guide but nobody in your class made a google doc. You realize that you are alone in studying for this test. You don’t want to fail and you’re coming to terms with the fact that you probably won’t get much sleep that night. Well this is certainly an extreme case, not getting enough sleep is a common problem among college students. The recommended hours of sleep for a college student is around 8 hours. While pulling an all-nighter may seem like the best course of action; it’s not. Sleep is an essential part of consolidating your short term memory into your long term memory. Have you ever wondered why you can’t remember majority of the information you cram after the test? Not getting enough sleep may play a role in this! Your brain needs rest and time to move all that information and get rid of information you no longer need. That’s what happens whenever you sleep. This is one of the reasons all your teachers growing up said “Get a good night’s rest.” Believe it or not, they were right. Sleep is an important need that often gets overlooked. So give yourself a break tonight and get that 8 hours you deserve. Having trouble sleeping? Here is a website with some useful tips on falling asleep.
https://cmhc.utexas.edu/insomnia.html
3: Watch Out for Stress
Knowing ways to cope and deal with stress is not only useful for midterms week, but also life. Stress can be extremely useful in the right amounts. Without stress, you get nothing done and could probably watch Netflix all night without touching your homework. However, with too much stress, you could find yourself being totally unproductive and still getting nothing done. There is a healthy amount of stress that maximizes your efficiently and helps you complete your goals. The amount of stress that everyone can handle is different and it’s important to know your level. What if you don’t know your stress level? Here are some tips to identify when you might be a little too stressed out: feeling moody or irritated, trouble sleeping, increase or decrease in appetite, fatigue, forgetfulness, or anxiety. These are just some of the symptoms that can accompany high levels of stress. Managing stress looks different for different people, but it’s important to have healthy coping strategies. A scientifically proven way to help with stress is using your support system. A support system is your group of family and friends who you go to for emotional support. Sometimes you need to talk it out with a friend to feel better. Another way to handle stress is to exercise. When you’re stressed, your sympathetic nervous system is activated. Adrenaline and cortisol is flooding your body to prepare for whatever threat you face. While a test might not threaten your safety, thinking about a test can still trigger your stress response. Exercising can be helpful because when you exercise your body releases endorphins. Endorphins are your body’s natural morphine; they relax you and reduce the effects of stress. The link below has some other great tips and resources on managing stress.
https://www.cmhc.utexas.edu/stress.html#tips