As midterms come to a close, a sigh of relief is heard all throughout campus. I think everyone can agree that these past two weeks have been rough. It seemed like whenever I looked at people, they were in a panic, on the verge of a breakdown, or literally in tears. But I can completely relate. For me, this midterms week was exceptionally stressful. So stressful that I actually broke down in the middle of one of my exams and had to leave the room to calm down. While most cases of stress aren’t always as extreme as mine, everyone has their own experiences with it. And no matter the degree, we all have different ways of dealing with it. I have a difficult time when it comes to stress management and because of this I have resorted to stealing other peoples ideas. I must have asked pretty much everyone I know or crossed my path in the past two weeks to teach me their magic ways of managing to stay cool, calm, and collected during such a dark period of time. I’ve decided to reciprocate those ideas off to you guys in case any of you are cut for ideas on how to manage your stress and get your mind straight. Word-for-word from real Jaspers going through the same thing as you. Here’s what they do:
1. “Well if I’m stressed from overworking myself, the first thing I do it stop and give myself a break. They say that working for more than two hours straight with no break can not only stress you out but also hurt the quality of your work–which could just stress you out more. When I’m really stressed out for other reasons, I like going for runs in Van Cortlandt Park to the rock!”
2. “When I’m stressed, I usually go to the gym to collect my thoughts and clear my mind. Otherwise, I’ll procrastinate and stay up all night until everything is done!”
3. “Getting Chipotle to go and eating it in my bed while watching FBI shows. That’s the honest truth!”
4. “My favorite ways to relax are taking bubble baths, reading great books, and doing yoga. I’m really big on preventing stress before it starts so I know not to sign myself up for too many responsibilities if I’m not able to give them my 100%.”
5. “Okay, when I’m stressed out, I like to put on some chilled out indie music, close my eyes, and focus my attention to my breathing. I breathe in and count to five, breathe out count to five, then to six, seven, eight, nine, ten, then I go back to nine, 8,7,6,5. Then I breathe normal and feel better.”
6. “In order to de-stress, I love to turn to creative outlets. I will either get my camera out and start taking pictures or I’ll end up on YouTube watching and attempting countless tutorials and DIYs. I think there is something wonderful that comes with being creative, it helps you look at your problems in a different way and reminds you to stop fearing failure.”
7. “When I’m really stressed, I like to remove myself from the stressfull environment and spend time friends and family who aren’t stressed out or at least aren’t stressed out about the same things as I am. This stops me from continuously talking about all the homework I have because they have no way of relating with me. Something as simple as having dinner or just a conversation not about work puts my mind at ease.”