It’s getting to the time of semester where the workload really starts to hit: papers are being assigned, homework is now due consistently, and jobs do not help at all. Student stress is nothing new, but it’s important for students to be able to ease their stress levels and be able to control them—it’s way easier said than done.
Last semester, my stress levels went down when I finished assignments at least a few days before the due date. In this way, you give yourself time to review what you did. It also gives you time to meet with your professor if you have questions that need to be answered. Instead of cramming everything the night before or writing the paper four hours before it’s due (I’m totally not speaking from experience), plan your days better. Get a planner and get yourself scheduled. It’s always good to have your life on track.
Another thing that helps me is exercise. I used to be an exercise fanatic a few years ago, but it since dwindled down due to stress and due dates. When you give yourself time to finish assignments, you will be able to exercise and take care of yourself. This isn’t meant to lose weight, but it’s proven that at least 30 minutes of exercise a day can help with your overall health. Ever since I started exercising again, I find myself with a lot of more energy throughout the day and an improvement on overall health.
This of course, ties in with diet. I like to think that during your college years, you should be able to splurge and have fun. It’s natural. You will only be in your 20’s and in college once, so by all means, have pizza at midnight. But do it once in awhile. Balance out your meals! Instead of reaching the for chicken nuggets, make a salad. Or cut up some chicken tenders and put them in a salad like I do instead of grabbing the fries. Balance, right?
This all ties into indulging. Indulge yourself (or as the famous Parks and Recreation quote would say, “Treat yourself!”). You are literally only in college once. Go out! Or don’t. Indulging yourself can also mean spending the rest of the day in bed binging on a good Netflix show. It’s about doing what you need to do for your health. The workload can be a bit much (so much so that I think that professors sometimes secretly plot to make everything due on one day (okay, maybe not)).
Finally, you don’t need to be surrounded by 84394 people in order to have fun. I think TVs and movies make it seem like you will always be surrounded by a ton of people in college, but I’ve learned that having a good, solid group of friends helps a ton. Find your people that look out for you. It doesn’t even need to be people—it can be just one person. I promise when you are surrounded by positive people who will always have your back, stress will go down because they’ll have your back.