The college years are an exciting and challenging time in any young adult’s life. As you leave the trappings of childhood behind and take your destiny by the horns, it’s only natural to feel the thrill of making your own decisions and taking complete control of your life.
Of course, this can also be a little scary, especially for students that are away from family and friends and facing new responsibilities on their own. College can be a lot of fun, but there is also some pressure associated with making wise choices or facing the consequences.
This can be a lot to handle for those just testing the waters of adulthood, so to speak. However, there are ways to stay cool and collected and manage anxiety. Here are a few tips every college student should try.
Tend to Physical Health
If you don’t pay attention to your physical health, it’s only natural that your mental and emotional state can suffer as a result. For this reason, it’s important to eat right, exercise, and get your zees.
Also Read: 14 Good Night’s Sleep Tips To Improve Your Sleep Habits
It can be tempting to grab midnight snacks from the vending machine, burn the midnight oil studying or hanging with new friends, or avoid regular exercise in favor of social pursuits. However, if you want to reduce fatigue, anxiety, and other issues, it’s best to strive for peak physical condition.
Avoid Unnatural Highs and Lows
Scheduling can be difficult when you have so many activities taking up your time, including classes, homework, clubs, and socialization, just for example. You might be tempted to find ways to stay awake in class or relax on the weekends.
Unfortunately, getting into the habit of fueling up during the day with caffeinated beverages like coffee and energy drinks can leave you wide-eyed when it’s time to rest, and imbibing alcoholic to help you sleep can leave you feeling groggy and sick the next day. In short, you may be entering into an unnatural cycle that’s terrible for your health and only leads to increased anxiety.
Plan for Success
One way to significantly reduce stress is to plan for success in your endeavors. At the beginning of the semester, you’ll get a stack of syllabi from your professors, detailing the work to come. You can use this information to plan a schedule for getting your work done well in advance, ensuring that you never find yourself cramming at the eleventh hour.
Stay Connected
Being away from your family, your friends, your home, and everything you know can definitely lead to college anxiety. In this day and age, though, it’s not hard to keep in touch. Even with a busy schedule you can find time to text, email, call, and video conference with your loved ones.
Also Read: How Service Dogs are Trained for Dementia Patients
If you’re feeling depressed, stressed, or anxious, just make time to connect with family and friends. These are the people who will listen, offer support and advice, and help you to work through whatever challenges are bringing you down.
Take a Deep Breath
There will be times when the hectic college lifestyle seems unmanageable. Whether you study through Online or you attend classes on campus at any College, it pays to stop, take a breath, and remind yourself that you have the power to control your schedule and plan for success.
[…] want to take it all away, but I know I can’t. The effects of teen depression are clear to see, her depression is real and it’s crippling me as I have always tried to steer my children […]
[…] want to take it all away, but I know I can’t. The effects of teen depression are clear to see, her depression is real and it’s crippling me as I have always tried to steer my children […]