Stressed? A complete guide to take care of stress in university

Stressed? A complete guide to take care of stress in university

To say that university students are stressed, is an understatement. With psychotic teachers that assign you four assignments and three quizzes on the same week, part time jobs to work for and club activities to manage, it’s no surprise that the average university student is a sleep-deprived, constantly on edge, zombie. Given that the nature of university makes it inevitable for one to accumulate high levels of stress, what can you do to manage it better?

Identifying When the Stress Hits

Ever found yourself sitting with your friends and snapping at everything they say to you? Maybe had one of those days in which every little thing unreasonably irritates you? (made worse by your clothes suddenly deciding to hook themselves to door knobs, forgetting the assignment you had to turn in for the day at home and things just generally not going your way).

A reasonable explanation for this behavior is that you may be under a considerable amount of stress that, since you have not addressed yet, has accumulated and is now making you irritable and angry. Moments like these, when you find yourself behaving this way, are the best for you to take a step back and realize “Oh, I’m under a lot of stress at the moment”. This is crucial, as for you to actually do something about it you must first identify when it occurs. As a university student you will have to manage your stress at two levels; macro and micro.

Managing Stress at A Macro Level

There is one phase of the semester in which all students face high levels of stress, that is; exam season. That one phase in which you will find even the least studious kids suddenly sitting at the library cramming everything the night before the exam. During this time it’s very easy to forget to take care of yourself because you are so busy studying. However, remember that just as you need to work, you also need to rest. Therefore, make sure to go to sleep on time (a good exam doesn’t go well if you are sleep deprived!), keep eating small snacks while you study and hearty meals at meal times to ensure you don’t faint somewhere and stay hydrated (you may want to set some alarms to remind you of this). Follow these tips, and you are sure to find yourself much much less stressed out and maybe even performing better. A rested mind is the key to performing well during exams.

Managing Stress at A Micro Level

As a university student you are sure to have found every day to be full of work to do, places to be at and people to meet. Which means you are no stranger to every day being a stressful day. It may seem like you can do nothing but just be constantly on edge, but there is actually one very simple thing you can do to tackle this; practice self-care.

Fill in the time of your day with, not only things you have to do, but also with things that you want to do. So if you are working almost the whole day, make sure you have enough time at night to do something you like (for example, going out on a walk or maybe indulging in your favorite pastime). Doing this will ensure that you not only get work done during the day but also have something to look forward to once you are done with it and, that in addition, takes off the stress you have accumulated throughout the day.

The Takeaway

Being a university student means you will inevitably find yourself stressed, however it is not unmanageable - all you need to do is to look after yourself a little bit. Give yourself a break at times in the ways mentioned above, and, eventually, you will find that you have lowered your levels of stress caused by university, successfully.