It’s that point in the semester. The one where everyone is getting sick, midterms are dragging on — well past the middle of the term —, and the sun has begun setting at 4 pm. This time last year, I was really struggling to cope with the stress of everything I had to get done. Last year’s workload, though, is nothing next to what I now balance. Between classes, an internship, holding an exec position in my Her Campus chapter, and coordinating my now real semester abroad, I sometimes have to stop myself from shutting down completely. But sometimes, shutting down is the best thing for me.
I’m a huge advocate for taking time when you need it. However, I am also a huge fan of not taking my own advice. I have this habit as an achievement-oriented person to continue taking on tasks — even when I’m over my limit — and promptly become sick as a result. My mentality stems from my thought process that if I can’t focus on a task, then beginning another can make me still productive. However, it accumulated to me not understanding a class, having a number of projects at various stages, and only one — well done, I will note — lecture presentation. Lying in bed two weeks ago, trying to sleep off how awful I was feeling, it hit me — the brutal reality that I hate. I needed to take a breath.
Lying in my bed for hours in the middle of the day was such a weird experience for me. When I was younger, I would sit in my bed and do homework because I didn’t have a desk. Something people — and I — commonly say is that if you don’t separate the spaces where you relax from where you get your work done, you’ll constantly be in a state of stress. I get this, but also I’ve been doing homework in my bed since then, and if anything, I’ve become calmer. I like to sit at my desk because it makes my posture slightly better and because it gives me a solid surface to write on. However, it weirdly makes me anxious. My nights of restless sleep after working at my desk have stopped since beginning to complete my tasks in my bed. I am NOT a scientist. I can’t tell you what this means — if it means anything — but it raised an interesting question for me. Can reverting back to some of my old habits make me calmer?
There’s no life-breaking new advice I’m going to give you — especially since it stems from embracing the familiar. I believe that the key to getting over the stress of midterms is through making time for the things you enjoy doing. It can seem like a lot to carve out time in a schedule that may already seem to have no room, but it is such an important thing to do. It’s honestly kind of annoying — albeit a beautiful thing — that no magic wand can make a particular activity or product or thing alleviate everyone’s stress. We all need different things at different times, but if you don’t know what you need, it can be even more difficult to find time to determine what you need. However, there are a few things that have been helping me that may be activities you can implement to decrease stress.
*AGAIN, I am NOT a scientist or a medical professional. This is my PERSONAL advice based on things I DO and that I HAVE FOUND alleviate some of MY stress. Not everything works for everyone. These are just some options that, if you haven’t tried, could possibly, maybe bring you the same results as they bring me.
Walking. I know. Everyone says it — I said it in my article last year. I really mean it, though. My health app told me I walked an average of 7,130 steps last week. Some days I can get up to 11,000, but sometimes I can only muster up 500. No matter how many steps you take or how long you’re outside, what matters is that you get out. Being outside does so much, the sunlight — that is even more sparse in the winter months — is great to absorb in any capacity. Honestly, I think that’s one of the reasons sitting on my bed has helped improve my mood. Back home and now in my college apartment, my bed is situated in front of a huge window. My room gets light for most of the day, but my desk is blocked in. However you choose to get your sunlight, walking — even a mile or less — can do so much. It’s low impact, and you can listen to anything you want.
This brings me to my next habit, listening to more music. It’s no secret that I love music, and I can tell when I’m not listening to enough of it. It can be — at least for me — weirdly disorienting to have to shuffle through songs on your walk to find what you can’t figure out you want to hear. It can keep you from enjoying the space around you, and if you’re on a college campus, increase your likelihood of being hit by a bike, Lime scooter, or another human being. Creating playlists is not only a fun way — an excuse — to listen to your music, but also a way to make walks less daunting or stressful. If you have a great playlist but can’t focus on your work when you listen to it, it’s another excuse to go on a walk.
Journaling. Once again, I know. It’s something that is really challenging to do. For one, if you have a physical journal — I know for me at least — my hand does not move as fast as my brain. Journaling is also something that can be difficult if you’re stressed. I know for me, when I’m stressed, I have a difficult time differentiating between what events happened on what days. I believe, though, that’s why journaling is important. Writing articles for me is an extension of journaling in my physical book. Sitting down with an idea or purpose doesn’t always translate to that specific day, but it infuses my feelings with something I love or am passionate about. I feel as though it’s truly become a journal because I have to finish an article within a few days. If I leave it and come back a week or two later, my mind has shifted completely, leaving me to either scrap the article or begin again. Sitting down with the intention of chronicling the events that happened that day can not only give you a moment to reflect, but also incentivize you to do special things.
This brings me to my final activity, scheduling activities for yourself. This can be literally anything that you enjoy doing. Concerts, plays, grocery shopping, speaker events, the coffee shop, the list is endless. I feel as though there is always pressure to have large events scheduled, and those can even become stressful. That not only defeats the purpose of scheduling a fun event, but is going against what we’re trying to accomplish — lower stress. For me I love having flowers in my room, especially in the winter when nothing is really growing outside. So, when I don’t want to go to the grocery store — even though I have eaten takeout every day and I only have pickles and leftover birthday cake in the fridge — I tell myself they might have new flowers to bring home. If I need to justify spending time on something other than my homework or important tasks, there are so many educational events I can go to. The CU Distinguished Speakers Board just hosted Giancarlo Esposito, and although I thought to myself I shouldn’t go, I have to get work done, I’m so happy I went. Sometimes advice hits you when it’s meant to, and Esposito’s talk is something that won’t leave me.
It’s so important to find ways to break through stress and not get to the point where you can’t leave your bed. These are some of the ways I have found to diminish stress and find joy during stressful times. There are so many unique ways in which we can not only embrace the things we love doing, but still get the tasks we have to do done.