Self-care is so important. Seriously. It’s so important.
Finals are approaching us very quickly and we’re getting to the point in the semester where the library is more crowded, campus is getting darker at night, and everyone seems to be in a daze about finished assignments and those with deadlines right around the corner. In other words, balancing what is going to take up time in our already busy schedules, and what needs to be done in order to do well on our final exams.
It’s pretty safe to say that college campuses during finals week aren’t necessarily the best for our overall health.
During this stressful time, it’s absolutely crucial that college students are practicing self-care; taking time to step back, acknowledge the hard work you’ve put in, and prepare physically and mentally for the next task at hand. This isn’t just important for your mental health, but it will result in better grades in the long run. However, it’s not an art that I, as well as many other college students have perfected. I know, from experience, that practicing self-care during finals week can often result in more anxiety than just studying my notes over, and over, and over. Any kind of break or activity unrelated to school made me feel as if I were negligent to my academics. Going to bed on time, exercising, and doing something that I enjoyed would result in me failing an exam.
As students, we place so much pressure on ourselves to conform to the toxic environment that college campuses have created––not only to not practice self-care during finals, but to feel as if practicing healthy daily habits is abnormal and separates us, both socially and academically, from our peers.
However, one of the key reasons that we feel guilty about practicing self-care during finals week, midterms, or any other stressful college time is due to our often overindulgent conception of what that care actually entails.
Self-care isn’t necessarily synonymous with relaxation. Yes, we all deserve that long bubble bath, that expensive face mask, or that super cozy nap when the weather convinced you to skip class. Sometimes, we all deserve a day off where we simply forget about our responsibilities and wallow in self indulgence.
However, self-care, just like our overall health, is multidimensional. Of course being indulgent and relaxed is crucial in practicing self care! However, in order to be effective, practicing self-care needs to be balanced.
It’s a balance that all college students struggle with at some point or another. We’re big fans of the “work hard, play hard” mantra. We work tirelessly, Monday through Friday, pushing to get to the weekend. Once Friday hits, we feel the need to overcompensate for the week of hard work, all-nighters, and shots of espresso with a weekend full of sleeping in, eating junk food, binge drinking, and ignoring the fact that this cycle will repeat itself come Sunday evening. We study all night for an exam, but once we finally finish the exam, we use that accomplishment as an excuse to skip class and go home and relax. After all, we deserve it! Right?
Although it may seem like it, this isn’t self-care. Although these habits seem like a reward for hard work, they can be just as unhealthy as working nonstop. The fact of the matter is, ignoring your responsibilities and the accompanying stress through means of hollow justifications is simply negligent and postponing the inevitable. Avoiding your stress can lead to more stress. Who knew?
It’s a very hard pill to swallow. However, college students need to realize that self-care is a balance of managing responsibilities and making daily decisions based on what is best for your overall well-being; not just rewarding yourself for doing what is expected of you by doing things that will result in more stress over time.
Self-care isn’t always fun. Sometimes, it’s staying in and studying for an exam on Monday for that one class you’re super worried about. Sometimes, it’s waking up early and making time to get your work out in, even though it feels much better to stay in your warm bed. It’s working hard, acing that exam, and going to your other classes because it will cause you even more stress to fall behind.
Effectively practicing this system of self-support means making decisions that make you feel like the badass boss that you are. Sleeping in feels amazing, but I feel like I can conquer the world once I leave the gym and take a hot shower before classes start. Skipping class is fun for those fifty minutes that you’re avoiding yet another long, boring lecture, but it feels so much more rewarding to leave a class knowing that you were engaged in the lecture and have a better understanding of the material. Yeah, it feels good to watch another episode of House of Cards and tell yourself that you’ll work on that assignment tomorrow, but deadlines are a total breeze when you utilize your free time to work on something you have to finish one way or another. You may want to go straight home after your classes, but you’ll be much more prepared for the next day if you head to the library, start your homework, and organize your assignments.
Self-care is a balance that is so attainable. I’m not trying to say that you can never skip a class, sleep in, take a nap in the middle of the day, have fun on the weekends, or simply take a day to do the things you enjoy! These things only become a problem when you justify them in the name of self-care and you become overindulgent.
Whenever you make decisions daily that will eliminate some of the daily stress that comes with college, you feel so much better in the long run. Trust me, you feel much better about that face mask, a bubble bath, a manicure, a night out of with friends, or that nap when you know that you’ve truly earned it by making decisions that aren’t always the easiest. That is taking care of yourself. That is self-care.
Go into finals season with a better understanding of self-care and I promise that you’ll have better grades without an overwhelming amount of stress to deal with.
Trust me, you deserve it.
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