It’s about that point in the semester where every assignment suddenly seems to be due, every test seems to fall on the same day and everyone seems to have a lot going on. Quite frankly, the entire college process is stressful. There’s no point in sugar coating it. On top of school, newfound responsibilities and keeping up with a social life, the stress can be overwhelming. And trust me, it is.
Finding methods to cope with stress can be beneficial to preserving your mental health. Without proper ways to expend energy and keep yourself calm and capable, some simple added stress can spiral into something much worse. But fear not, here are a few simple things you can implement into your life to help ease the anxiety.
- Sleep More
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Having a grasp on your sleep schedule can be ridiculously beneficial in multiple ways. An overall feeling of drowsiness can add stress and really emphasize the feeling of pessimism when you’re trying to accomplish things. Take the time to realize whether you really need to be up or not. Sure you can stay up on your phone all night, but do you really need to? Why not sleep at a reasonable hour instead and enjoy a full day in the morning, with as much screen time as your little heart desires?
- Use Up More Energy
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Spending the entire day studying, in bed or sitting on the couch can actually add to the stress. Take the time to be physically active each day, even if that just means walking to class instead of taking the bus. Moving around produces endorphins which can battle stress. Even just a workout of low to moderate intensity, or simply getting out of your room every once in a while, can make you feel more energized and stimulate anti-anxiety effects in your brain.
- Stay Organized
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By surrounding yourself with clean and organized areas, you’re likely to subconsciously calm yourself down. It doesn’t take much to keep your belongings together. Allocate a few minutes every day to clean up everything from the day and organize your thoughts to make sure you stay on top of everything. Clean surroundings can help to ease your mind and stress, since messes can often correlate to anxiety.
- Eat Better
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And no, that doesn’t mean drop everything and start keto. Even without making drastic diet changes, you can improve when and how you eat to help reduce stress. Make sure you’re eating full meals each day instead of just snacks and you’d be surprised at how much better you’ll start feeling. Sometimes when we have so much going on in our lives, we find ourselves missing meals and just eating little things throughout the day instead of real meals. By giving yourself time to eat and enjoy actual meals each day, you’re giving yourself the energy you need to tackle your to-do list.
- Take Some You Time
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It can be hard to take a break when you’ve got so much on your plate, but your mental health should be just as, if not more, important than other priorities. Make time in your schedule for you, even if that means just a fifteen-minute face mask break during studying.
Lots of things in our lives can be stressors, and a lot of time the things that worry us are completely out of our control. So take advantage of what completely is in your control!