Stress often becomes a regular part of a student’s day. The pressure to perform well and manage it all quickly culminates in the form of stress and anxiety.
Even though you can’t completely rule out stress from your life, you should learn how to manage it. When stress becomes a permanent resident in your body and mind, your health will deteriorate.
Stress management is essential for your well-being, as stress can negatively affect your physical and mental health.
6 Stress Management Tips For College Students
In the following blog post, you will learn six stress management tips for college students to help them regain control of their life amidst all the chaos.
1. Start Journaling
Journaling has proven to be an effective way of improving your mental health. It is a practical tool for dealing with stress, anxiety, and depression. You’ll be able to cleanse your mind from all the excessive thoughts and make space for more productive habits.
Keeping a journal gives you a limitless place for expressing all your fears, doubts, and stress triggers. Once you put them down on paper, you will be able to look at the situation analytically.
However, for journaling to work, you need to make it a habit. Write in your journal once a day, even if you have nothing on your mind. Writing will serve as a mindfulness exercise to help you focus on the present moment and relieve stress.
2. Find a Relaxation Technique That Suits You
Every person is unique. So, if meditation, yoga, and squeezing a stress ball don’t work for you, keep searching for the correct technique.
The goal is to find an activity that relieves stress, like listening to music, taking a walk around the campus, or jogging.
The best way to figure out what kind of activity helps you is to try it out. Whenever you feel stressed, ask yourself, “What would relax me now?” Let it be some calming activity that you can do on your own.
Once you find a relaxation technique that resonates with you, use it regularly. For example, when studying, take 10-minute breaks every 45 minutes and dedicate it to your zen-activity. It will lessen the accumulated stress and boost your energy.
3. Get a Massage
Massage is a time-tested and proven stress management tool that you can resort to at any time. Massage therapists understand anatomy and physiology and have numerous manual techniques up their sleeves to help rapidly release and relax tense muscles so that you can feel blissfully calm and rejuvenated.
Not only can massage loosen the build-up of tension in your muscles, but it can also reduce your bodily levels of cortisol, the primary stress hormone, thus enhancing your sense of well-being.
The best way to battle stress is to get regular massages, as many see it as preventative medicine and not just a luxury.
The most popular stress-busting massage, and Morgan Massage’s calling card, is deep tissue massage. By firmly pressing, gliding, unwinding, and stretching your muscles and connective tissues( aka fascia, the saran wrap of the body), your muscles will relax, and so will you.
4. Let Go of Perfectionism
One of the most common causes of stress for students is burdening their schedule with obligations. The pressure of overly ambitious goals can drastically increase your stress levels.
Two ways that can help you leave perfectionism behind:
- Learn to say no
- Ask for help
First, you need to accept that saying “no” is acceptable behavior. The fear of missing out can do significant damage to your physical and mental health. Therefore, you should learn that you don’t need to take every opportunity, as new ones arise.
The second crucial tip is to ask for help. You don’t need to do everything on your own. If you can’t seem to figure out a particular lesson, ask a fellow student to help you. Or, if you can’t write a good admission essay, order admission services help online. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness. It is a sign of resourcefulness.
5. Add Exercising to Your Weekly Routine
Regular physical activity can do wonders. As explained in a Harvard Health article, “Exercise reduces levels of the body’s stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol. It also stimulates the production of endorphins, chemicals in the brain that are the body’s natural painkillers and mood elevators.”
Besides letting go of “negative” hormones, exercising has yet another benefit. As you get lost in your bodily movements, you will forget about the worries that trouble your mind.
Dedicating at least an hour to exercising a few times a week can help you release stress and anxiety.
6. Reset Your Sleep Schedule
Getting a good night’s rest is crucial if you want to get your stress levels under control. Your body needs quality sleep to refill. Otherwise, you can get nervous, stressed, and irritable simply because you’re exhausted.
The recommendable amount of sleep your body needs is 7-8 hours every night. Let that be your objective.
To adjust your sleep schedule, you can do the following:
- Start moving your waking up time by an hour until you get to the desired wake-up time
- Avoid eating before bedtime
- Don’t nap during the day
- Stay away from your phone when in bed
- Be patient
Sticking to that schedule after you get used to going to bed and waking up at a particular time. Your body and mind will get used to it, and it will be easier for you to fall asleep and wake up without snoozing the alarm.
Final Thoughts
Knowing how to control anxiety and overwhelm is a necessary skill that takes time to hone. With the help of these stress-relieving tips, maintaining a healthy mind and body should feel more attainable. Don’t let college life get the best of you. Instead, use these methods to get the best out of college life.
Author’s bio. Jessica Fender is a professional writer and educational blogger. Jessica enjoys sharing her ideas on how to make writing and learning fun.
