School and college students are very easy targets and the most common victims of stress. There can be many factors that induce stress in students including financial expenses, over-commitment, deadlines, family expectations, and high workload. While a minimal amount of stress is said to be good and can even result in increased motivation and productivity in students. But too much stress can badly interfere with everyday life and induce feelings of worry, anger, and frustration.
If not taken care of immediately, this stress can further become more complicated and take the form of depression and anxiety among students. Effectively managing this stress in the early days can help students in increasing their college/school performance and maximize experience and opportunities for them.
First and foremost, it’s essential to note the triggers of stress for students. These may include:
- Academic: This is a very common build-up in students and results from strict schedules, deadlines, challenging tasks, classes and exam pressure, and poor time-management skills.
- Social Stress: This can be a result of peer pressure, dealing with living away from family, balancing the academic and social life, new relationships and friendships, and adjusting to a new environment.
- Daily Routine: These are not related to studies and social expectations but can be felt every day, which results from part-time jobs, daily commuting, and financial burdens among others.
Consciously putting in efforts to practically manage these trigger points can help students deal more effectively with their stress and become more productive and competent. Here are a few tips you can adopt to manage your stress.
1. Maintain A Healthy Lifestyle
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is very essential for students, especially college students. Instead of late-night partying, try to sleep early or instead of keeping yourself locked up in your room the entire day, try to get some fresh air. You should also take out some time to regularly exercise and take a healthy and balanced diet. It’s very common for students to feel more stressed when they’re not organizing and scheduling their day and have a tendency to waste time on insignificant activities. You need to maintain a healthy routine to be less stressed.
2. Manage Your Time Effectively
Following up on the above point, properly managing time can be an effective way to relieve your stress. You should spend your time wisely and make a schedule, even if it’s for relaxation, work, study, or partying. You need to stick to a schedule and get your tasks for the day done on time. And also take sufficient breaks when you are studying and take a moment to breathe and relax.
3. Try To Stay Positive
When you only focus on the negative aspect of life, you feel more burdened, worried, and stressed. Instead, you should always try to look at the glass as half-full and stay positive and optimistic in tough times. If you’re feeling low about bad grades, try to look at the positive aspect and work towards improving your performance.
4. Avoid Procrastinating
One of the most common thing which leads students to procrastinate is because they dread the task at hand. You think that you wouldn’t’ be able to complete the task effectively and get scared without even trying. But instead of postponing the difficult tasks, try to get them out of the way first. This can help you focus more on other tasks and you wouldn’t constantly worry. You can take one step at a time and make a to-do-list which will help you keep track of what things you need to do.
5. Spend Time With Family And Friends
A cup of coffee and a nice healthy chat with your friends and family is all you need to get your stress levels back to normal. Your stress can be worse if you stay alone and feel lonely. And by sharing your thoughts and feelings with a trusted friend or family member can make you feel better immediately. So whenever you feel you can’t take it anymore, take a break and schedule a small trip with your friends to the nearby restaurant. And if you stay in a PG or hostel, schedule a trip back your home and spend some days off with your family.
6. Try Liquid And Aromatic Therapy
Water and fluid therapies are very effective in combating stress and anxiety. By drinking a lot of water, or treating yourself with healthy smoothies and shakes can help your body to relax. You can also take a hot bath and add aromatic oils and bath bombs into your bath which can double your relaxation effect. These water and aromatic therapy can highly increase your performance by reducing stress and relaxing your mind and body.
7. Engage In An Activity You Love
When you feel extremely stressed, try to take a break from studies and other things and do an activity that you love the most. This can be painting, listening to music, or even taking a walk to the supermarket, this can help you distract your mind from the stressors.
We hope these tips help you successfully manage your stressors and increase your academic performance as well as make you feel better.
