College life can be like riding a roller coaster. You’ll have days with hardly any homework and other days where you’ll find yourself pulling an all-nighter to study for your three exams the next day. Obviously, a hectic schedule that isn’t predictable can cause stress and anxiety. Attending a small-town college, my school doesn’t offer a lot of activities for the students to relax so relieving stress had to come from my own creative methods. I found out that it’s better to take breaks between study session to give yourself a refresher from the overwhelming load of work. The following four activities are the best methods I’ve used to destress.
1. Stretching exercises: Yoga, Karate, 10 Minute YouTube Workouts
Exercising is beneficial in every which way, it moves your body and keeps you healthy. Consequently, a healthy body ensures a healthy mind and that’s parallel to a good study session. However, if you aren’t accustomed to working out then it may seem like such a drag to go to the gym or make time for exercising. I found that simple stretching your body out, doing a short 10-minute workout can be such a good alternative because its better to do something than nothing at all.
2. Freestyle coloring
If the 10-minute workout doesn’t sound appealing at all, then using colored pens and drawing what your creative mind speaks can be the perfect destressing method. Usually, assigned homework includes several pages of reading or numerous mathematic calculations and taking a break just doodling flowers or portraits can give your brain a break.
3. Self-care: Face Masks or a Manicure
Self-care: doing manis and facials with your girlfriends can serve as a study break and a bonding activity. This activity gives you a break from studying while clearing up your skin and giving your friends space for gossiping or sharing how your day was. There are several masks that can be made with ingredients found in your school salad bar if you want to be more creative.
4. Watching an episode of your favorite Netflix show
Sometimes the easiest thing to do is to immerse yourself in a fantasy world. My favorite show on Netflix is Cable Girls and I like to imagine what it was like to live a world where women were fighting for their rights. Watching a show on Netflix is a fun passing time if you find a show you really enjoy and want to give yourself an excuse to make the popcorn your parents sent in that last care package.