Introduction
College students are very often not as prepared as they thought for the unique stresses of being a college student. College classes are harder to pass, require much more homework, feature more difficult exams, and cost a lot of money if you fail. Getting through college determines the success of the rest of your life at the same time that you want more than anything to get on with your life. With all of these ideas swirling around in your head, it is very easy to become overwhelmed with stress. There is a simple way to reduce your stress levels, though, if you are willing to put in a little effort.
Advice
First, buy a planner. These folders come in a wide variety of sizes and styles that give you day to day and month to month pages on which you can write down when assignments are due, dates of important exams, and other class events. Just writing them down in the planner means that you don’t have to try to keep track of them in your head, which reduces the stress of trying to remember everything. If you want to get relaxed, schedule in time to work on important papers in the weeks leading up to the due date so that it doesn’t come up at the last minute.
It’s OK to reschedule if your friends are throwing a killer party that night, but the important thing is that you’ve reminded yourself before it’s last-minute so you don’t have to panic to finish on time.
Next, keep your area clean. If your room is full of clutter all the time, your brain has a hard time relaxing and concentrating on the important stuff. It’s constantly distracted by the clutter and this makes it difficult to stretch out your thoughts and look at them more objectively. Clean work areas mean you can get straight to work when you only have a limited amount of time to complete an assignment and you can find your keyboard when a paper needs to be written. If it’s a large project you’re working on, having a clean room means you can spread it out in your available space and feel much more productive at the end of an hour. A few seconds before you leave the room and a few minutes either in the morning or at night straightening up your mess will help you sleep better and focus more without really seeming to take anything out of your day.
Finally, give yourself time each day to relax and do something that makes you smile. Some people find spending ten minutes in meditation in the morning and at night is helpful. This involves sitting somewhere quiet and comfortable and concentrating on the breath, on getting oxygen to every part of the body. The advantage of this technique is that it can be used anytime stress levels threaten, such as when sitting down to class and discovering there is a pop quiz on the chapter you skipped. Other people find fun in exercise, either by going to the gym to work out or out to the Frisbee golf course to try their luck at hitting a tree. Exercise releases a chemical agent into the brain that contributes to a greater sense of well-being, which itself is an effective agent against stress.
Conclusion
Many college students feel overwhelmed by stress as they attempt to cope with the pressures of living an adult lifestyle while not yet ready to give up childhood completely. The pressure to succeed and get good grades is not helped by the greater demands of the college setting either. However, if you follow these three simple steps, getting mentally organized, getting physically organized, and remembering to have fun, you will be ahead of the curve in knowing how to handle those tough moments in life when things seem to be happening faster than you can predict.