Whether it’s exam time or you’re simply overloaded with work during term time, university life can be quite stressful at times. Here are 5 easy ways to manage your stress at university.
Write down a to-do list & tick off what you’ve done.
When you’ve got a never-ending list of things to do and you just don’t know where to begin, the best thing to do is actually write down a list of the things you want to accomplish and by when you need to get them done. The trick here is to be specific. So instead of writing ‘Finish revising for psychology exam by Friday’, you could write “Revise chapter one by Monday”, “Revise chapter two by Tuesday”, etc. This means that you will get to tick your tasks off your to-do list more often and you will feel like you are actually accomplishing something as the week goes by!
Set some time to do whatever you fancy – Guilt-free!
How many times do you find yourself procrastinating and wasting endless time on Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, etc., whilst feeling guilty, knowing that you should be doing something more productive, and so you end up feeling more stressed afterwards!? A much better way to enjoy some free time is to actually set aside some time, say 30 minutes, to do whatever you like without feeling guilty, such as run a bath, go for a relaxing walk, watch TV or even scroll through Twitter or Facebook. However, you must promise yourself that once your “free time” is over, you will go back to working on the things you need to do. This not only helps you manage your time better, but it also helps you to enjoy your relaxation time a lot more, as you do not have to worry about all the things you should be doing at that time!
Get more sleep!
We have all heard that we should get around 8 hours sleep every night, however most of us don’t manage to get this much sleep, especially during stressful times. Stress may prevent us from getting to sleep as easily as we normally would. We might wake up several times during the night feeling anxious, or it might just be that we do not get enough time to sleep because of all the things we have to do. The key here is time management. By making a to-do list, accomplishing the tasks you aim to accomplish before heading to bed, avoiding procrastination, and knowing that you can finally go to sleep having done what you needed to do during the day is essential for a relaxing, quality sleep.
Talk to others!
Talking to someone else, whether it’s a friend or family member can be SO beneficial in times of stress. Talking to someone who is going through the same stressful experiences as you (such as exams) means that you can talk about ways to cope with that experience, and find out what the other person is doing to help themselves. However, talking can help in other ways too. Meeting up with a friend and planning something fun to do will take your mind off the stress, and having a laugh with another person is a great form of stress relief!
Whatever you do, don’t procrastinate.
We all know the feeling – you’re about to get settled and start working on that assignment that you’ve been putting off for ages when suddenly….. you’re hungry, you’re just have to watch that YouTube video that went up last night, then you’re just checking Twitter one last time.. We’re all guilty of procrastinating at some point, but there’s nothing worse than wasting all your precious time and energy procrastinating, only to feel really tired by the time you actually get around to starting on what you intended to work on in the first place. Not procrastinating = being more productive = more time to relax!
Rachel is a freelance content writer who enjoys writing about beauty, fashion, travel, well-being and lifestyle. She set up her own beauty, fashion and lifestyle blog, Beauty and the Bird, in 2013 and regularly writes about her favourite beauty products, fashion favourites, places she has travelled to, general well-being, and blogging tips.
Written By : Rachel Spiteri
