We’re juggling jobs, and classes, and social lives, and bills, and many more responsibilities.We are college students. And to be a college student automatically guarantees a certain level of stress that we can either try to avoid and push to the desolate place that is our subconscious, or we can tackle it head on.

Here’s a few tips to help decrease your nail-biting and head-scratching episodes.

1. Stop, breathe, and grab the planner

Personally I feel like the biggest issue with college students and stress comes from the root of all evil –time management. Yes something as simple as grabbing the free planner your school gave you at orientation and jotting down due dates, upcoming tests you need to study for, shift schedules, and Ashley’s birthday dinner on Saturday is RELIEVING. Having a battle plan for anything will set you up for success so start every week by sketching out your roadmap to success.

2. Get out!

No I don’t mean abandon all your life goals and runaway to join the circus – most of them are gone now (Sad but true). What I mean is sometimes when find yourself worked up and panicking with stress, one of the best options is to just get out. Take a step outside of the library or your bedroom and just take a walk. Breathe the open air, smile at the birds sitting on that bench, and genuinely give yourself time to decompress.

3. Do you hear the people sing?

I love music. Plain and Simple. Music is one of the best facets for dealing with stress because it has the power to quite honestly take us to another world. Whenever I feel myself overthinking some issue, my initial instinct is to put headphones in and play some calming ballad by Barbra Streisand or a mellow verse from Chance’s "Coloring Book" (variety, I know). As simple as it sounds, music can alleviate your current state and take you to a place where worries seem a little less severe.

4. Can we chat?

I feel like one of the worst offenders with stress-related problems is that we don’t talk about it. We like to bottle things up because hey, if we don’t talk about it then it doesn’t exist, right? Wrong. We need opportunities to talk openly about our issues otherwise they consume us and make us feel trapped within ourselves.

Even if you don’t have anyone you feel comfortable enough to share things with, write yourself a letter. Get your words flowing freely and openly so that you can feel a sense of ease and begin working towards a solution.

5. Put it in perspective

How bad is your current situation, honestly? Is that bad grade on your midterm the end of the world? Is having five assignments due on the same Tuesday going to kill you? Do you truly believe that your job firing you will mean you never work again? Don’t get me wrong, these situations are unfortunate but they’re not the end-all of what’s to come.We are college students. We get to learn, lose, succeed, and fail all in the span of a few years to help shape us for the future to come. So don’t get weary when you have a setback, rather use it as a way to grow and develop into the person you know you can be.