Finals are coming up this week and our caffeine levels have spiked, while the amount of sleep has gone down. Studying and writing papers can be really stressful, but there are ways to help make you more relaxed in these chaotic times. One of the most important places to start is in your dorm room. If you make your dorm room a “zen” place, it can possitively affect your stress throughout finals and can actually help give you peace of mind. Here are little things you can do to make your room have a more relaxed atmosphere.
Clean Room
Having a zen rooms starts with cleaning your room. By cleaning your room, you will feel more organized, which will help you organize other parts of your life. Lawrence’s Director of Wellness and Recreation, Erin Buenzli, suggests, “If you have to take an hour to clean up or just pack up you will enjoy a less stressful environment in your room.” By having a clean room, you will have one less thing to worry about doing and you will be able to enjoy the open, tidy space around you.
Warm lighting
Instead of having your overhead bright light on all the time, try putting on one or two smaller lamps that have a warmer setting. This will not only make you feel more calm and relaxed, but will also help your body feel better. Bright lights can give many people headaches because of how striking the light is to the eye. Warmer lights can help avoid this issue and help you unwind while in your bed or at your desk.
Soft Music
When you are trying to relax you wouldn’t want to put on hard rock or pop songs would you? Instead, pick the music that you find calming and sweet and it will help put you in a better mood and make you forget about the stresses in your life. Soft music can create a more relaxing environment very quickly.
Good Smells
Unsavory smells can affect your mood greatly, especially if you have to deal with that bad smell all the time in your bedroom. If you have good smells around you, it will help bring about a good mood in a natural way. Many scents trigger certain moods because they remind you of good times. Pick scents that you contribute to good feelings. By having that scent in your room, it will help your good feelings come alive.
Display Meaningful Items
If you have items around you that make you happy, every time you see them, your mood will improve. Buenzli says, “display a few unique objects that you appreciate, find beautiful, or have personal meaning for you.” By doing this, you will stop and look back at this object and forget about the stresses of finals and be brought back to something that gives you peace of mind.
Having a zen bedroom is only one step to decreasing your stress during finals week, but it can have huge effects. If you include all of the things above in making your bedroom a calm and relaxing environment, it will be your sanctuary during finals and a place where you love being after studying. By having this sanctuary, you will be able to separate stress from sleep and downtime, and you will be better rested and able to tackle the mass amounts of studying and paper writing you have ahead of you. Good luck to all during both tenth and finals week, I know I will need it as well!