Coming to college is a foreign feeling to all. Whether you have attended for a while, or just a starting freshman, everything around you seems to be moving and changing. Struggling with constant anxiety during these new times is a challenge. However, it can’t consume your college experience if you don’t let it! Here are some helpful ways to cope with anxiety if you’re a college student.
Self-Awareness
It is important to let yourself breathe. Being consumed by multiple factors at once can severely damage your energy and expectations. It is important to make time for yourself while managing your priorities. If you feel at times that you need to take a break from your friends and sit in your room, go do it. It’s important to not let toxic thoughts roll into your mind, about spending more time with others to be validated, instead of worrying about your current mental health stance. It is important to fight whatever FOMO you are feeling and tune into yourself, and your specific needs. That being said, being aware of the alone time you give yourself isn’t the only factor you should be aware of. It is important to care about eating a healthy amount of food a day, and not using excuses for it. It is important to prioritize yourself, and not let your busy schedule get in the way of your health.
Organization
Jumping off of prioritizing, one of the best tactics that you can do to eliminate extra anxiety is creating lists for yourself. By knocking out specific chores, tasks, and assignments, you will have less pressure and stress weighed down on you, which leaves you more time to prioritize your well-being. Writing down to-do lists almost daily sets a chart for your day, clearly outlining what you must accomplish. Scheduling is a great way of reducing stress as a whole as well. There are great scheduling apps such as google calendar that can help you prioritize future events, exams, parties, etc. By establishing organization during your life at college, you can have clear plans and priorities known for the future.
Adventuring
One of my favorite ways of eliminating anxiety is venturing off-campus. When you are stuck in one place for an extensive amount of time, it can seem overbearing. Don’t let campus be the only place you spend your time! Venturing out into the city is extremely therapeutic, and helps you with a different scene to look at. One of my favorite things to do in the city if I’m feeling stressed, is venturing out to scenic areas such as Central Park, or finding hidden gems with my friends. It’s enjoyable to be able to share the memories of these discoveries with your friends. Walking around and discovering cute restaurants and shops helps promote your current outlook. It is important to always try new things, and let yourself change through new experiences because if we always stay the same, we won’t get to where we want to be. Always let yourself discover and be free of joy when you are venturing off-campus.