Although college is filled with excitement, surprise, drama, lack of sleep, and lots of homework, stress is the biggest issue that college students face. Many of my friends, and even my roommates, stay up until ridiculous hours of the night, doing homework, finishing an essay, or studying for a midterm. This impulsive need to stay up until the wee hours is what causes students to be so tired; waiting until late at night to start homework will most definitely lead to sleep deprivation.
Because so many college students struggle with sleep deprivation (I am even suffering from a lack of sleep as well), this post is all about how to destress, and prevent yourself from having panic attacks when deadlines or exams approach.
The first step to take in order to destress is to make a schedule. Now, this doesn't have to be complex, or a physical schedule. What you can do is try to finish as much homework or studying as you can in an hour. After the hour passes, take a 10 minute break, then pick the studying back up again. If you continue studying for hours with no break, your brain is going to tire, which will end up making you tired. So set up a schedule; study for an hour or two, take a short break to re-energize, then go right back to studying.
Another option you could take is meditation. In my core writing class my fall quarter, my professor had us do 15-30 minutes of meditation, where we all sat in silence in the room, our eyes closed, listening to calming music and attempting to focus on breathing. Although the first few minutes were extremely boring to me, I was surprised by how relaxed I could get, and how much my body relaxed physically when I forgot about all my stresses and simply focused on my breathing. My professor said that by taking 30 minutes out of your day to mediate you will become so much more relaxed and focused, and I honestly believe that is true. So, I recommend trying it out. It will be difficult in the beginning, but once you focus solely on your breathing, you will become so much more relaxed.
The third option is potentially one of the most important ones to me. NO PROCRASTINATION!! I procrastinated all throughout high school and my fall and this quarter of college, and I absolutely hate it. I hate the stressed feeling I get when I look at my homework schedule for my classes and see a huge deadline coming up for an assignment I hadn't started yet. Recently, however, over the weekends I have been trying to get ahead on my homework for the upcoming week so that I can have my homework done earlier in the day, thus making me able to have free time for Netflix, reading a leisure book, or going to sleep earlier. Getting my homework done a few days before the due date has been working for me, and I think it will work for others as well. It is difficult to motivate yourself to finish homework before the day it is due, but if you start on assignments and projects early and finish early, you will not have to stress about whether you will finish your project on time.
Although you have probably heard most, if not all, of these suggestions for relieving stress, I recommend trying them. Stressing in school is not fun, and it leads to sleep deprivation as well as panic attacks, which only impacts you negatively. By finding ways to incorporate destressing tactics into your day, whether through taking quick 10 minute breaks or forcing yourself to start and finish assignments early, you will be much more relaxed and able to tackle everything that comes your way.
Because so many college students struggle with sleep deprivation (I am even suffering from a lack of sleep as well), this post is all about how to destress, and prevent yourself from having panic attacks when deadlines or exams approach.
The first step to take in order to destress is to make a schedule. Now, this doesn't have to be complex, or a physical schedule. What you can do is try to finish as much homework or studying as you can in an hour. After the hour passes, take a 10 minute break, then pick the studying back up again. If you continue studying for hours with no break, your brain is going to tire, which will end up making you tired. So set up a schedule; study for an hour or two, take a short break to re-energize, then go right back to studying.
Another option you could take is meditation. In my core writing class my fall quarter, my professor had us do 15-30 minutes of meditation, where we all sat in silence in the room, our eyes closed, listening to calming music and attempting to focus on breathing. Although the first few minutes were extremely boring to me, I was surprised by how relaxed I could get, and how much my body relaxed physically when I forgot about all my stresses and simply focused on my breathing. My professor said that by taking 30 minutes out of your day to mediate you will become so much more relaxed and focused, and I honestly believe that is true. So, I recommend trying it out. It will be difficult in the beginning, but once you focus solely on your breathing, you will become so much more relaxed.
The third option is potentially one of the most important ones to me. NO PROCRASTINATION!! I procrastinated all throughout high school and my fall and this quarter of college, and I absolutely hate it. I hate the stressed feeling I get when I look at my homework schedule for my classes and see a huge deadline coming up for an assignment I hadn't started yet. Recently, however, over the weekends I have been trying to get ahead on my homework for the upcoming week so that I can have my homework done earlier in the day, thus making me able to have free time for Netflix, reading a leisure book, or going to sleep earlier. Getting my homework done a few days before the due date has been working for me, and I think it will work for others as well. It is difficult to motivate yourself to finish homework before the day it is due, but if you start on assignments and projects early and finish early, you will not have to stress about whether you will finish your project on time.
Although you have probably heard most, if not all, of these suggestions for relieving stress, I recommend trying them. Stressing in school is not fun, and it leads to sleep deprivation as well as panic attacks, which only impacts you negatively. By finding ways to incorporate destressing tactics into your day, whether through taking quick 10 minute breaks or forcing yourself to start and finish assignments early, you will be much more relaxed and able to tackle everything that comes your way.
