Five Ways to Avoid (or Reduce, or Manage) Stress in College
While the college years are often called “the best years of one’s life,” it’s also a time of great stress. The constant work, the deadlines, grueling exams, endless research and paper assignments – the list goes on.
But rather than letting stress take over, here’s a list of five great ways to avoid stress in college:
1. Don’t Procrastinate on Completing Tasks and Assignments
Life and its great responsibilities are already stressful enough without procrastination. So it’s better to get simple, quick tasks over and done with than holding onto them until they’re to be submitted for evaluation. Or when they just need to be done. Also, though it’s a challenge to do so, stress can be avoided if large, tedious, research-based assignments are started when they’re first given, then completed long before they are due. This allows for more time to make the assignment as perfect as possible. The same goes for other stress-inducing realities, such as paying bills, and other responsibilities. Instead of holding onto things until they create a giant ball of stress, get into a habit of getting things done – and done early!
2. Make Being Social a Weekly or Even Daily Priority
Just being around other people is enough to enhance one’s mood. Engaging in social activities (such as volunteering, having weekly coffee with friends, going to see plays, films, concerts and art exhibits) is known to help a person decompress. As people are alone, they are more prone to dwell on themselves, their problems, their responsibilities, thoughts and worries that in turn have a negative effect on their stress levels. But as long as people are in the company of others, they are often distracted from themselves and their personal problems. So they experience a reduction in their own stress. Aside from this diversion, there’s another reason that having a robust social life does wonders to combat stress: through being social, or by habitually engaging in activities that force interaction among people, people also form building relationships with other people. Strong relationships with others will often provide a person with countless opportunities to share their problems and developing a strong support system, which in turn can be psychologically and emotionally relaxing and comforting – which will also lessen stress.
3. Establish and Follow a Productive, Effective Daily Routine
With routine comes structure – and that’s what a college student needs in order to lessen their level of stress and be successful in earning their degree. First of all, one’s sleeping patterns and stress go hand in hand. Someone in their early 20s needs at least seven hours of sleep a night. Of course, they can surely get by on less than that, but making a habit of getting little sleep is one way to increase one’s stress levels. Sleep, by its very nature, releases certain hormones and chemicals in one’s body that are known to keep stress at a manageable level. Also, it is good to keep regular sleeping patterns, like sleeping through each night rather than sleeping little during the night and napping during the daytime. It goes back to our circadian rhythms. The same goes for eating three meals a day around the same time. The human body needs to meals throughout the day to maintain bodily functions – which affect things likes blood pressure and irritability, hypertension, etc. Eating healthy foods throughout the day brings a mellow energy in people. Many foods are known to relax the body and reduce stress.
4. Exercise at Couple of Times a Week, For a Half Hour or More
It’s no secret that exercise is good for a multitude of things – one of which is lessening stress. Exercise releases serotonin and endorphins that aid the body in fighting inflammation, illness and sickness – and even helps to fight stress. Plus exercise relaxes the body. It is now well known that weekly exercise plays a crucial in reversing the detrimental effects of stress. Whether by walking, jogging, stretching, doing calisthenics, yoga or lifting weights, there are tons of ways to get active and get rid of nagging, unproductive and awful bits of stress.
5. Get Some Perspective!
Surely, college is overwhelming. There are tons of opportunities at every corner, doors to be opened, things to get done and accomplished. Only it seems there are never enough hours in the day to get everything done. But student’s must remained focused on the main goal: to get a graduate with a degree so they can get a job in a few years. A lot of stress comes from one’s need to be perfect and excellent in everything – every single task, assignment, essay or exam. A lot of stress is self-created. Remember that. And don’t stress about imperfection. One of the ways to reduce stress is assigning some of your writing assignments to writing professionals like abcessays.com. This service is meant for college students and helps them better cope with their writing & research. One needs to just do their best, work hard, turn things in on time – and they will be fine for the most part and will graduate. And employers aren’t looking for perfection, but for character, intelligence, hard work and dependability. When it comes down to it, a student is likely to encounter low amounts of stress if they become comfortable with imperfection – to an extent.
