Feeling stressed? Here are tips to ease your stress

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Your eyes fly open like a pull down shades on a window. Your hand smacks and knocks your phone off the nightstand.

This is where the stress of our lives usual starts, at the beginning of the day. When we rise in the morning, the anxieties and stress of our lives starts to attack us. All the things in this world that we worry about floods and rushes into our minds before we can even get out of the bed. Some people deal with stress/depression/anxiety better than others but regardless if you are the type of person who can manage your stress or someone that has a hard time with pressures. These topics below can help you decrease or hopefully eliminate your stress. 

Before you start reading, take a “Stress Tests” listed below to find out your stress level.

“If I’ve got something do. I’m going to attack it. I’m going to attack that stress” –Jocko Willink

Healthy Over Unhealthy Foods:      

“You Are What you Eat”

Do you ever just feel crappy or feel as if you are having an off day? It could simply be the foods you are eating. A great place to start is, try thinking consciously and being aware of what you are putting in your stomach. What you eat can result in a better overall feeling throughout the day. This can allow you to fight back the stressors of our lives and of school. We all know it’s hard to eat healthy in college on a limited budget and all the food options that surround us but it can be done! Just limit those “bad” meals and especially the drunken late night spurges.

Exercise/Go Outside:

Stop looking at your phone, walk away from the computer, and put that controller down!

Exercise won’t just make you feel better but will also improve your health at the same time, go figure. Go to the gym and pump some iron or run on the treadmill. If any of those options sound like more of a chore than they do a healthy activity, just outside and take a walk. There are so many great outdoor places to visit. One of my favorite spots is St. Peter’s Village in Elverson, Pennsylvania, slightly over 30 minutes away. Sitting inside all day with no physical activity won’t make you feel any better. Doing some physical activity is nothing but a positive and will take your mind off of what has been stressing you out.  

Complete School Work Ahead of Time:

 As students, we are constantly stressed out all semester long because of assignments, due dates, quizzes, tests, exams, and of course studying for them. We stay stressed from all those things while trying to maintain a social life outside of class. A great way to lessen those triggers of school and to produce more social time for yourself is, read over your notes from class each day. Don’t wait until the night before to start studying for an exam that following day. The same thought can be applied to assignments by working on them a little each day. This will alleviate a massive workload the closer you get to their due dates. If you decide to try these methods out you will find yourself being less stressed while improving your grades.

Speak to Advisor/Spread Classes out:

“….the award for best advisor at WCU goes to: Jaime Ramanauskas!!!!”

Signing up for classes every semester is very important to our education. Trying to decide on what courses to take and developing your schedule alone can be difficult. It is an added stressor that can easily be smoother by setting up an appointment and seeing your advisor. Use that appointment to plot your next semester ahead of everyone else. This will ensure that you acquire the best classes, professors, and times that fits you. Don’t take too many classes so you feel overwhelmed.

Things You Love to do/Hobbies:

Is there something you LOVE to do? Photography? Painting? Drawing? Going to the Gym? Playing an instrument/music? Whatever your favorite activity may be, it can be a tremendous stress and anxiety reliever. The thing or things you enjoy doing can take your mind off what has been getting you down and make you feel better afterwards. My favorite thing to do is play music. It almost transports me away from the things that get me down.

Go Home/Talk to Parents/Friends:

Most college students live away from home but sometimes you just need to see your family to make you feel better about the semester. A trip home to vent to your parents or siblings can be a very underestimated aspect of reducing your stress levels. Do you have pets that live at home? Go and see them too because we both know they will be thrilled to see you. Your family are the ones who love and care about you the most so why keep them in the dark about your stress from school.

Good Quality Sleep:

When we are stressed out or have anxiety, that can cause someone to not get a quality night sleep. You may be getting the right amount of sleep per night but you are not getting the full effect. Feelings of being overwhelmed or going to sleep stressed will not allow you to get a quality night sleep. Leave all those stressors “at the door” before you get into bed. Bringing them into bed with you does no good for yourself. Have you ever though to change your bedspread, get some new pillows, a new fluffy blanket or rearrange your room for better funsui? These simple additions to your bedroom can help get that quality sleep we all desire. For myself, this has the been the biggest factor in reducing stress levels and improving how I feel throughout the day.

Every semester, no matter where you go, you will find stressed out students. “85% of college students reportedly felt overwhelmed” (ADAA,___). IT’S OK, it’s normal to feel overwhelmed and stressed. A number of great ways to reduce or at least assist you with your induced stress for school are out there. Try them out for yourself, you’ll be surprised with the outcomes.

References:

"Physical Activity Reduces Stress.” Anxiety and Depression Association of America, ADAA, adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/related-illnesses/other-related-conditions/stress/physical-activity-reduces-st.

“Facts.” Anxiety and Depression Association of America, ADAA, 2015, adaa.org/finding-help/helping-others/college-students/facts.