Stress Management for Students

Stress is a term which is used by almost every student these days. That’s because in these busy times with unprecedented competition everywhere, stress is inevitable in everyone’s life. Infact stress has become one of the common reasons for many diseases like blood pressure, migraine, sinus, etc. The problem of stress is faced by everyone in today’s fast life, but you need to make sure that you follow some stress management tips to avoid getting too affected by it. 

A little bit of stress is considered to be normal- like the stress of an exam, wherein you don’t feel like eating anything before giving the exam. Most of it is caused by academic stress. You also feel stressed when your preparations are not going well. All this is alright but if your stress levels increase tremendously, it can harm your health, exam preparations, and your happiness. Stress is often the root cause for anxiety and depression. 

But worry not friends, I have some amazing stress relieving tips for you! You must make it a habit to follow these stress management techniques to enjoy a fulfilling life. 

Some Stress Management Strategies

1. Eating healthy and exercising

Eating a wholesome healthy diet and right amount of exercise can lift your mood up instantly. You might find yourself eating junk due to stress, but believe me if you eat an apple instead of the cheese burst pizza, it will bring a lot of changes in your mood and stress level. This is because stress is also caused by energy levels, and healthy food maintains your energy levels for a longer duration as compared to junk food. Similarly, exercising helps in the production of endorphins making you stress free and happy. 

2. Meditation and PMR

Sitting quietly and focusing your mind towards your breath is one of the oldest and best practices to relieve stress. Even when you find yourself getting a panic attack, just close your eyes and  breathe deeply. You will slowly feel the stress ebbing away. Progressive Muscle Relaxation or PMR is a relaxation method of the muscles that can relieve you of stress. Basically in this method, you inhale and exhale while tightening and relaxing the various body muscles turn by turn. 

3. Sleep

Everyone knows what sleep can do for a body. It improves your memory, concentration power and boosts your productivity. You are so energized just after waking up from an 8 hours of slumber. So prioritize sleep over everything else. Also, you can take power naps in between studying. Just make sure your power naps do not exceed 20 minutes.

4. Music therapy

Listening to music has scientific reasons for stress relieving. The music has cognitive benefits of calming down your brain leading to a relief in stress levels. I personally listen to calm music and nature sounds whenever I feel stressed. You can even sing a song or play any musical instrument if that works for you. 

5. Deep cleaning

Ever have one of those times when you feel stressed with anything and everything around you? Well, cluttered rooms make a cluttered mind. So just select a corner and start deep cleaning it. You know, while deep cleaning your wardrobe or study table, it feels as if your mind clutter is also being cleared and you have a clean slate to think and work on. Hence, it is again an efficient way to relieve stress. 

6. Visualization and positive affirmatives

Visualising your goals everyday and saying positive affirmations brings a positive vibe around you that is suitable for controlling stress. If you affirm every morning that you are strong and no stress can come your way, you will actually start feeling that way from within. And it actually helps in visualising your ultimate goal in life. You can even create a vision board to visualise. You can read The Secret for more insight into it. 

7. Self massage therapy

You can’t always go for massage therapy but surely you can become your own massage therapist to relieve stress. Some self massage techniques can be used to increase your energy and concentration. This has also been considered as a great method of stress relief for students. You can check out some of the ways of having self massage therapy here. 

8. Staying positive and managing time

School, extracurriculars, coaching classes, social life, a student’s life is really like a rollercoaster. And all this takes a toll on the student’s health and stress levels. That is why it is imperative to keep a diary where you can jot down any important assignments to submit, class timings and any social event you need to attend. Penning down your thoughts is another great way to relieve stress. Failures are bound to happen, but don’t lose hope. 

By writing things down and doing the correct thing as scheduled, lets you be on top of things and you stress less. It is all about managing your time well and being positive. 

So that’s about it friends. We all go through stressed and tough times. But only we can be mindful of it and take care of our own selves. Practice these stress management techniques and enjoy life to the fullest!