College is, indeed, a stressful time. Coming into adulthood, you have to start figuring things out yourself. And for many freshers, it’s overwhelming, to say the least. Assignments pile up in a blink of an eye, especially if you have to work and support your family. Add extracurriculars to that, having to do your own laundry and here you have a whole load of stress.
But how come the older generation always says it’s the best time of your life? Sure, it’s easy to say when this time has passed. Looking back, they don’t remember the hardships of the past. But you can collect all the knowledge of the previous generations and go into your first year of college prepared for the worst!
Plan Ahead
A sheer number of assignments you’ll need to complete can send anyone into a full-on panic mode. You’ll most likely get the course schedule before the classes actually start. Use this to your advantage. Look at everything you’ll need to do and spread out the assignments across the semester. If you start early, you can easily avoid the stress and even end up with some free time.
Of course, it’s easier said than done. We are humans, we tend to forget, procrastinate or just ignore deadlines. If that happens, you should allow yourself to get some help. Browse through essay writers on EssayPro.com, choose the one that will complete your assignment, and delegate your work to them! You can also consider hiring a tutor if it’s less about writing and more about understanding.
Sometimes, college professors are simply unable to pay enough attention to the whole class. And some students are shy to raise their hand and ask a question in front of the whole auditorium. If that sounds familiar, consider hiring a tutor. It can be someone from your class or an online tutoring platform. Either way, it’s best to tackle a problem the moment you know it’s there.
Find Time For Sports
You might say that you already have very little time to do your homework and there’s just no way to fit sports into that schedule. But in reality, working out doesn’t have to take too much time. You can find fifteen or twenty minutes per day to do a few exercises and you’ll immediately notice how much better you feel.
Regular exercises help improve a person’s cardiovascular system, reducing the risk of dangerous illnesses in the future. A good workout session will boost your serotonin, leaving you feeling happier and more content for the rest of the day. It improves confidence, self-esteem, body image, decision-making, and of course, mental health.
If you’ve ever been stopped by the price of a gym membership, the good news is that you don’t need one. Do some bodyweight training to a YouTube tutorial or download an app that would send you alerts and reminders. It’s better if you have a friend who’s into sports to show you how to do some exercises at first. But if you don’t have such a friend, a more detailed YouTube video and a mirror will do. There’s a bunch of videos on workouts with no equipment. For some, you don’t even need a mat.
If working out is really not your thing, find other ways to incorporate sports into your life. Go for morning runs or try something more creative. For example, try trampolining. It’s very fun and it’s a full-body workout. It’s important to like what you do.
Look For Ways to De-Stress
Getting rid of stress is different for everybody. We all have different factors that induce stress, hence, need different coping mechanisms. Find things, people, or tasks that give you the most stress and try to reduce them in your life. If it’s homework, find ways to delegate or change your major altogether.
If it’s a certain person, say, a classmate, try to talk to them openly. If you think that a professor is being unfair to you, go over their head and speak to someone who has actual power over them. Collect evidence and present your case to the dean or a counselor.
Look for small things that bring you pleasure. Go to the movies once in a while, get your friends to go out, or cook a comforting meal for yourself. Taking care of yourself is one of your duties as an adult. Nobody’s going to do that for you so you should remember to do that yourself.
Rewarding yourself for small victories is also a way of self-care. Did you deal with an assignment earlier than expected? Great, now you have time to go out or do something you enjoy but never have time for. You might even come up with a personal reward system. Collect tokens for your achievements and spend them on measurable rewards. You just have to listen to yourself and find things that you truly enjoy doing. It might be something simple, like sitting in a park and admiring the trees. Or bigger, like a solo road trip. Focus on yourself, your inner state, and improving it.
Journaling
Another perfect way of tracking your mental health is journaling. It’s said to help get over traumatizing experiences, understand one’s feelings better and improve mental health. In essence, it’s the same as venting to a friend. Except with a journal, you won’t bother anyone with your problems and you’ll be able to reread what you’ve written, and reflect on it better.
Try picking up a journal every morning or right before bed. Write about your feelings, your mood, and what happened during the day. Remember, though, that journaling should not be triggered by an event. If you only write when something bad happens, you won’t be able to turn it into a positive habit. Pick the best time to write and do it, regardless if interesting things happened or not.
Wrapping Up
Mental health is a very fragile thing, especially when it comes to students. You may not even notice that you’re stressed before it turns into a more serious condition. Plan your schedule ahead to not let things slip away and pile up. Do the things that make you happy and remember to take care of yourself. Write in a journal on a regular basis to keep track of how you feel. Sports help reduce stress and boost ‘happiness hormones.’ It’s a natural antidepressant. Make use of all the available tools and you’ll see how much better you feel.