How To Deal With Stress As A Student!
Students are often the most common victims of stress.
Factors such as family problems, friendships, relationships, school work, assignments and social media are just some of the many stressors that students experience.
In the age of social media and technology, the world has seen a dramatic increase in mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression, ADHD, OCD and other disorders sometimes characterised by stress.
School is undoubtedly one of the reasons for this, coming from a high school student. Due to their often lack of ability to cope with the piling assignments, overwhelming homework and social challenges, more and more students are becoming prone to burnout. This is as well as dramatic changes in their behaviour such as changed sleep patterns, changed diet or appetite, less will to exercise and social changes that may cause a teen to isolate themselves.
While a small amount of stress can be very useful to students as it acts as a motivation for them, too much stress can interfere with our daily lives.
In order to look after yourself, avoid stress build up and burnout, here are 15 Ways To Deal With Stress As A Student!
Enjoy!
Get Organised:
While disorganisation causes stress, unproductivity, time and your good grades, organisation on the other hand decreases stress, improves productivity and boosts your overall grades.
By getting organised, cleaning your bedroom and desk, creating a schedule, daily to-do list and planner, for example, you allow yourself to study free from distractions, clutter and stress. If you want to learn more about organisation and time management, please check out some of my other blog posts!
Plan Your Time:
In order to avoid unnecessary stress worrying about your day and its contents, try planning your day. Hour-by-hour. Minute-by-minute. With a clear outlook of your daily and weekly schedule, on a calendar, in a diary, or online, you allow yourself to claim control of your day. This will help you approach overwhelming tasks calmly and without hesitation.
Make A To-Do List:
I honestly feel like I mention this in EVERY blog post but to-do lists are hands down the best for anything organisation.
I use my to-do list every single day and it helps me track my goals, follow my schedule and complete my everyday tasks and errands. They are perfect for prioritizing and lay out everything you need to do right in front of your eyes. With an outline of what you need to do, it will undoubtedly help you work towards your goals.
Take Breaks:
Constant working with little breaks often leads to burnout and a crash in mental health. In order to avoid such overwhelming situations, it is important to know when to stop and take a breath. Take the weekend off to relax, spend an afternoon at the mall with friends, and go to dinner with your family. Find a way to take both short and long breaks. Because⦠you deserve it!
Get Sufficient Sleep:
With such packed everyday lives, students often barely make it through the night with 3 hours of sleep. Sleep, however, is arguably the most important factor when it comes to your life and productivity, in my opinion.
Sleep is not a convenience. It is something that you, and everyone else in the world, needs to live their lives to the fullest extent. Do not neglect your sleeping schedule. Aim to receive at least 8 hours each night. I promise it will make such a difference to your everyday life!
Exercise Daily:
An extremely beneficial way to clear your mind before or after a long day of school and work is by exercising. Not only does it boost and benefit your physical health in many hundreds of different ways, but it also provides a healthy way to blow off steam. Try running, yoga, karate, walking, biking, team sports or going to the gym to keep you active!
Eat Healthy:
Healthy eating is yet another way to reduce your stress as a high school student. Rather than eating all your pain away, focus on creating a positive relationship with food and its contents. A healthy diet functions as a destressor and aids in reducing procrastination, mood swings and irritability.
Laugh:
Ever heard someone say βLaughter is the best medicineβ? This saying couldnβt be more true!
Using laughter and humour to calm down and lean back in life is a great way to destress yourself and those around you. Without these breaks for enjoyment and pure happiness with yourself, family or friends, you find yourself feeling anxious, stressed and overwhelmed.
Think Positive:
Positivity is key in life! Those who look on the brighter side of life, and aim higher using manifestation and positive affirmations are proven to go further in life than those who donβt. While it may sound false, I can assure you that it isnβt!
The acts of manifestation, positivity, affirmations, mantras and optimism is key to helping you achieve better grades, better interactions, better health and better overall happiness.
Always try and focus on the positives, and you will go far in life!
Listen To Music:
The stimulation of your mind that music provides is a great way to reduce school stress in your everyday life. With many benefits coming from music, both cognitively and mentally, this allows you to relax, destress and dance along to the music!
Try Meditation:
Meditation is a simple, yet effective way to reduce your feelings of stress and anxiety as a student. Meditation is an extremely calming and deeply relaxing practise that is beneficial for your physical and mental health. Whether itβs as soon as you wake up, just before you go to bed, or somewhere inbetween, it is never a bad time to close your eyes, take deep breaths, and to become one with yourself. It only takes 5 minutes a day.
Try Mindfulness:
Mindfulness, like meditation, is a relaxing practise that involves acknowledging the world around you in a single given moment. Nowadays we spend so much of our time focused on the past and future, instead of just enjoying the present. Rather than stressing out about an exam or homework due, practise 10 minutes of mindfulness to calm your nerves.
Donβt Overbook Yourself:
One of the biggest challenges of being a teen is the busy schedule that accompanies the fun. While youβre still in school at least 30 hours a week, you also likely have extra-curricular activities, school clubs, weekend catch-ups with friends, a part-time job as well as piles of school work on your plate.
The best tip I can give you is to say no. Do not put too many eggs in one basket. Soon enough, theyβll all fall out. For the sake of your mental health and schoolwork, do not overbook yourself. Learn to say no and move forward with what you find most important.
Do Something You Love:
If your work ever becomes extremely overwhelming and youβre struggling to keep up, sometimes, despite what you may think, the best thing to do is to take a break. Stop, breathe and do something that you love that makes you happy. Not only does it take your mind off of your task, but it improves your mood and clears your head.
Seek Support And/Or Help:
If you find unnecessary stress consuming your life, please do not hesitate to talk to a trusted friend, family member, parent, teacher, counsellor or medical professional. Rather than wait til youβre most vulnerable and on the verge of breaking, do yourself a favour and speak out. Your feelings are valid, and anyone who disagrees with you doesnβt deserve to be told about it.
The Bottom Line:
As high school students, stress is pretty normalised throughout it. Parents, teachers, friends and professionals often just nod their heads and sympathize when you tell them that youβre overwhelmed or stressed.
While a small amount of stress is okay, even good to boost your performance, too much stress can really take a toll on your health and everyday life.
By following the tips above, you will be able to find your own sweet spot; a midway point where you can experience many opportunities, as well as have the time to focus on school work and relax.
Thanks for reading!
HOW ARE YOU GOING TO USE THESE TIPS TO MANAGE YOUR STRESS AS A STUDENT BETTER?! COMMENT DOWN BELOW!
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