College is stressful. Life in general is probably even more stressful. And if I was keeping score, it would be college/life: 5838, me: 2. I was letting my stress get the best of me. It was controlling my moods, health, sleeping and eating habits, and success in classes. Stress is natural. It’s a part of life and I have to learn to live with it whether I like it or not (and I definitely do not). Clearly budgeting my time, making to-do lists, and getting organized; my usual methods of coping with stress were not working since I was spending most of the time I had to do homework…Stressing.
So, how do we- over committed, social, busy, distracted college students- handle stress? I can’t speak for everyone but what I’ve figured out is that there are a few great ways to de-stress, relax, and remember to take some time for yourself.
- Go to the gym-seriously I have not found a better way to just get myself to relax, work out all the anxiety, and clear my mind to tackle whatever I have next on my to do list. Now, I stress if I don’t get to go to the gym (haha).
- Choose to commit to things that make you happy-we have this mindset that we have to sign up for all of these clubs and organizations so we can get experience and add them to our resume and that is SO important, don’t get me wrong. But if you aren’t passionate about what you’re doing, why do it? I know I struggle with fully committing myself to something I don’t believe in. There are so many options of things that will help you build a resume that you enjoy doing as well.
- Surround yourself positive people-friends that build you up, and hold you accountable for staying positive and healthy are the best friends. Find a gym buddy/venting buddy/food buddy that has your back and motivates you to be better and more stress free everyday.
- Eat healthy-when I’m healthier, I’m happier. I feel so much better about myself when I am choosing to eat the right foods.
- Take some time to do things for yourself- during the week we are so busy, running from classes to meetings to events. Sometimes we forget to take care of ourselves. Watch an episode of your favorite show on Netflix, spend a Saturday hiking, have a movie night with friends, read a book for fun. Just make time to do things that don’t require you to be at your best, take time to just breathe.
Maybe college/life isn’t going to get less stressful, but I can definitely handle it better when I am feeling healthy and happy. Stress doesn’t have to win every time and it definitely doesn’t have to control how we feel.
