Dealing with the stresses of studying
I'm assuming a lot of people are in or have completed University. What are some ways you have dealt with stress, which may have even lead to anxiety?
Not going to lie, I am really stressed out with school. I am taking 17 units and have a part time job, on top of internships and volunteering. Any advice how to balance it all?
Make lists! And to-do lists daily! Plan out your outfits a week in advance and have a rain day outfit! Don't ever do something you don't want to do! :)
What led to a lot of my anxiety and stress during college was my own insecurities. I did not believe in my own abilities, and because I didn't, it really showed through my grades. Many people told me this so-and-so class is hard, this so-and-so professor is impossible, etc. and unfortunately for me, I believed every single one of them.
It wasn't until my 3rd and 4th year that I really started to try this thing called "positivity" and "optimism". For the first time, I decided to believe in my abilities despite what my peers told me. Just because they failed the class does not mean that I will too. I had to go to graduate school after college to undo the damage I did to my GPA, but a strong mindset really changed everything for me. I had a 3.1 GPA during undergrad, but got a 3.9 GPA during graduate school. And these were the exact same types of classes at the exact same school. It was mindblowing to me how a strong mindset can make so much of a difference.
Anyway, I probably rambled too much. Here's my advice:
Stay positive. Believe in yourself. Know that you are capable. Accept that you are not perfect and you can make mistakes. But know you can learn from those mistakes.
Studying in college can be extremely stressful, especially when you're reading the text book for 3 hours straight and end up not remembering ANYTHING the next day. I've learned that breaks tend to help lots! Since I'm trying to major in psychology I hear a lot of cool facts and one of them was that your brain can only focus on the same thing for around 30 minutes, so if you study for 3 hours straight without a break, you'll most likely only be able to retain 30 minutes to an hour of it (if you're lucky). So about every 30 minutes or so, I set the text books down and just do whatever for a minute or two, yeah this makes studying sooo much longer but the results are rewarding and it makes it more fun :)
Make sure you take breaks while you are studying. After every hour with your nose in a book, take 15 minutes for a snack or something so you can recover from the stress for a minute.
I'm a graduate student doing a dual degree, so stress is pretty inevitable! I've found that not categorizing activities into "productive" or "non-productive" has helped - by this, I mean that I've been so used to seeing working/studying as "good work", and everything else including exercise, cooking, and resting as "things that just take up time", but that's just not true! I've learnt that if I give myself the time of day, the things I need to do will follow, and most often than not I'm actually more focused and energized while doing it.
But also... having someone to share the burden with is immensely helpful as well. So to everyone here, kudos for reaching out and offering support to one another <3
@Jadie, thank you so much for this! I have a really hard time while working on my thesis, because I inflict upon myself guilt and doubts if I do enough. Your words give me strength and bring me closer to forgiveness. I'll remember them.
Thank you for writing this post ❤
Hah. Good question. I know the problem....
But one thing I have realised that without stress, or with a little bit of stress I probably would never get a degree. Because otherwise I would probably procrastinate forever. So this has helped me to change my perception a little bit, and see it as something that is as well usefull.
But a few things that I do to handle to manage my stresslevel a little bit:
-Make sure that my other needs (like the need for social contact/creativity) in my life are fullfilled. This causes me to be a content person most of the time. If those things would be lacking I probably would have find it way harder to deal with stress, because I would have to deal with a lack of social contact as well.
-Drink water! (seriously being dehydrated can make you feel stressed as well..)
-Yes and of course the common things; meditation, yoga, exercising. But they're still very helpfull.
Good luck with everything!:)
Hey, we're having a discussion right now about time management and stress in the school and college support room. Come join!
Please help for any ways to de stress I have my GCSE's in 6 weeks and I can't concentrate enough to study because I feel like I'm going to explode everytime I do 😔😭
Hi @Prettyprincess123
I've got my final uni degree exams coming up soon and I know how stressful it all can be. The most important thing is your health and well-being. I know it might not seem like that now, but in terms of the rest of your life, these exams do not define you. I struggle with anxiety and insomnia in the lead up to exams though I've found a few ways of being kind to myself and hope you might find some of them useful:
1. Have a few people you can tell all your worries to and talk to them on a regular basis (I was calling a friend and my mum 3 times a day). Explain that this is going to be a stressful time for you and to would really value their support even if it's just listening.
2. Try to keep things in perspective. You are a bundle of experiences, knowledge and emotions, not a piece of paper. While I know exams are the way our society tests itself, you'll find that the connections you make with people over the years are far more likely to lead you in the right direction when it comes to finding a job that truly fulfils you.
3. Rather than worrying about what you don't know, concentrate on what you do. I spent too many years following a career path instead of following what makes me happy. Focus on your strengths and interests.
4. Andrew Johnson's apps are a great way to drift off, he has ones for anxiety and exam stress.
5. Try to work in the mornings and give yourself time to relax before bed.
If you find work at school especially debilitating it is really important to take care of yourself, hang out with friends, eat what you want to eat, work out, listen to music etc. because as silly as it sounds, college is probably going to take a toll on you due to increased demands of workload. That being said it's a completely different and enjoyable experience, but that only comes when you've put your own wellbeing first.