It’s that time of the year again–the end of summer and the beginning of the fall semester. With syllabus week, drop/add, professors who assign homework on the first day, organizations to join and books to purchase, it can all be a very hectic time. Here are a couple of things that you can do to de-stress in between and help you breathe easier.
1. Take it step by step
There’s only one of you, so you can’t expect to do everything all at once. It’s important to prioritize the most important to the least important of your tasks. At the moment, they might all seem important, but taking the time to assess what needs to get done first will take off the loads of stress that comes from feeling the need to become one big multitasker.
2. Music is your muse
Make yourself a playlist with all your favorite songs on it. Spend some time discovering new music to listen to or even sing out a whole album at the top of your lungs. Singing helps to release tension and even if you don’t consider yourself to be a rock star, it doesn’t hurt to sing and dance around like one in your room anyway!
3. Draw a bubble bath
Give yourself an in-home spa experience. Use a calming body wash, preferably one that contains chamomile, lavender or eucalyptus to calm your senses. Light some scented candles and turn on some soothing music that you can close your eyes to. For an extra touch of glamor, you can even add in a homemade face mask and cucumbers to help depuff your eyes for the ultimate DIY luxury.
4. Discover your next read
If you’re a bookworm like me, then reading is the way to go! Unwind with a cup of hot tea, a comfortable position that helps you focus and a book that takes you to another world. Something all bookworms share is wanting to read the whole book in one sitting. While it’ll be tempting to want to open the book and read until you find out what happens next, it’s important to time yourself and stop at the end of your “me session.” One idea to help monitor your reading time is to turn it into a reward. Whenever you complete a task, your reward is reading a couple of more pages.
5. Sweat it out!
Whether it’s through serious cardio, dancing or even something that doesn’t require a ton of sweating (such as yoga), exercise is not only a great way to get your blood flowing but it also helps destress every inch of your body. Bonus perks of exercise include burning calories, giving your skin a great glow and strengthening your muscles. So why not hop on that treadmill and run the stress out?
Sometimes it all seems very overwhelming, but remember that you can’t perform at your very best if you don’t set some time aside for yourself. Even if it’s an hour or 30 minutes out of your day, that amount of time spent for yourself will make a huge difference in your stress levels and help you stay at the top of your game.
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