Every college student knows that getting stressed out happens far too often. Being stressed can lead to unhealthy habits and a decrease in happiness. We want to avoid this from happening at all costs. Between classes, exams, work, extracurricular groups, volunteering, exercising, and maintaining a social life it may seem nearly impossible to do it all. This is true! It is okay to not have it all together and to not be able to do everything. With an overload of things to do and places to be it is easy to get overwhelmed and stressed out. This only makes things worse, because instead of being focused on what you should be doing, you are thinking about everything you haven't done yet. Here are five things to do to help you remain calm and skip the completely stressed-out stage.
1. Do not procrastinate
As tempting as it may be to watch one more episode of a show on Netflix or to go out to eat with your friends, you need to tell yourself NO. You can do those things after you study or get your assignments done. School should be a priority and that should come before social events. Yes, we all have those moments of weakness where it just seems like a great idea to do the homework later and do something else at that exact moment. That is okay to do every once and a while, but just don't make a habit of it.
2. Do not try to multitask
It is easy to try to do a million things at once, and I am guilty of that too. Multitasking leads to not putting your full attention and effort into what you are doing. It is better to do one thing at a time and take little breaks in-between the tasks at hand. This way you are only focusing on one thing and not having thousands of thoughts running through your head.
3. Make time to exercise
Yoga, running, biking, boxing, or lifting ... whatever it may be that you enjoy, DO IT! This is a way of relieving stress and focusing on yourself for a period of time. Exercising is also good for your overall health. If you aren't making time to do this for yourself, then you should definitely start, because it is going to improve your health and relieve any stress that you may have at that time.
4. Relax throughout the day
It is important to take little breaks throughout your school day. Walk outside to get some fresh air, or stand up and stretch. Call someone who can make you smile or tell you a funny joke. All these things will allow you to take a breather and relax your body.
5. Create mini to-do lists
If you know that you have a test, online homework, a quiz, and paper due all in the same week on top of study group, event socials, and a close friend's birthday party, then you should make lists of what you would like to get done each day. It is better to look at a list with three things, rather than a list of ten. So breaking up what you have to do on a daily basis makes it easier to accomplish what you need to do, because you won't be overwhelmed with a million things to do.
