Stress is yucky.
I think we have all dealt with weeks in college when we were way too stressed out.
Today on the blog I am going to share some of my best tips for dealing with stress in college so that you can be happier and healthier.
Now that school is underway for most people, I hope that this will help you out.
1. Know What's Happening In Your Life
First, if you want to be less stressed, you have to be somewhat in control of what's going on in your life.
Obviously, you can't control how much homework you get or tests you have to study for, but you can control how you schedule doing the homework and studying for the tests.
If you don't already have a planner you should go to your local Target or check out my favorite place to get a planner–Erin Condren.
Once you get your planner, plan out all your future assignments, tests, and papers from your syllabus.
Now that you have all this information you can refer back to it when making plans, studying, etc.
2. Say No, Like A Lot
In college, it is easy to yes to things. While I encourage you to say yes to things and experience things in college, it is important to know your limit. It is important to realize what you can and cannot do. See, what you aren't going to do is burn yourself out trying to be everything to everyone.
We all want to be there for our friends, volunteer for a million things, and work hard to make cash at our jobs–but that stuff will seriously stress you out.
Only take on what you can handle, and leave the rest to someone else.
3. Get Ahead Of It All
If you know you have a busy week coming up, get work done ahead of time.
So often we are stressed because we procrastinate, trust me, I know this from experience.
Instead of procrastinating until your busy week, figure out what you can do now. Maybe all you can do is create flash cards and start studying vocabulary words for an upcoming test, it doesn't matter though because that's one thing you won't have to do during your busy week.
If you want to stress less, you have to stop doing activities that make you stressed out. Many students love the rush of having to quickly get through an assignment but your health and grades are potentially suffering because of that.
Instead, consistently work throughout the semester, and don't be afraid to get ahead a bit.
4. Talk It Out
Sometimes when we are stressed, we just need to talk about it.
Have a girl's night with friends or see a campus counselor. Many college campuses have counseling services free of charge in case you don't have a group of friends you feel comfortable talking with yet (or you just was a professional opinion.)
Take advantage of that service.
Many schools also offer group counseling sessions as well so that you can meet others while you get your questions answered and things off your chest.
5. Get Your Me-Time In
Lastly, enjoy some me-time.
If you are an introvert like me, sometimes you need to be alone with your thoughts.
This can be difficult as a college student, especially when you are living with a roommate, but it's not impossible.
Work around your roommate's schedule and find time to sit in your dorm room.
Watch mindless television, take a name, blog on the computer, whatever you need to do to calm down.
It's important that you take some time to relax, calm down, and collect your thoughts because that will help you be a better student.
I wrote a post a few years ago about how to de-stress for some extra ideas.
Conclusion
Stress is a part of the college process, don't get me wrong. It is extremely likely that you will spend a lot of your college career stressed out. It's how you handle and prepare for that stress that makes all the difference in the world.
I hope that these quick tips have helped give you some alternative ways to handle this stress.