It gets hard to remember to take care of ourselves as college students, especially as we get older. We’re constantly busy whether it’s in our school lives, social lives or work lives. And when we do get a few moments to ourselves, it’s usually put toward sleeping or eating. So how do we really take care ourselves?

The most important thing is to set aside time to relax and/or reward one’s self. This could be getting a good work out in, taking a break to watch an episode of your favorite Netflix show, having a glass of wine or surrounding yourself with your best friends or positive people. When we forget to do these little things that make us happy, we cause ourselves more stress than ever intended.

Another important factor is managing our time wisely. It’s so easy to get stuck in the rut of our every day routines and not make a schedule according to our needs AND wants. So when we forget to manage our time, the idea of setting aside time for anything other than work, school and play isn’t even on the table but it should be. No one is going to make you set aside that time so you have to take initiative and do it yourself. Even if that means staying in one night when your friends go out to just relax, then do that. Because trust me, it’ll be so worth it.

The other big factor is caring for our happiness is eliminating people and things that bring negative stress. If someone does nothing but bring you stress and upset you, get rid of them. The older we get, the more important it is to keep a tight circle of people around. That tight circle should bring nothing but joy and positivity to your life so don’t be afraid to eliminate the negativity. That goes for material things, too. Your happiness should always be your first priority.

We have to remember that we’re worth the extra effort to be stress-free and happy. Stressors are a daily occurrence in our lives these days and we have to eliminate them the best we know how. Taking care of ourselves is the key to the equation. So don’t forget to take that study break for a glass of chardonnay and a good movie because it’s totally necessary.