At every level, students are pushed to succeed. In elementary school, you may be afraid to bring a bad report card to your parents. Later on, when you are enrolled in junior high or high school, you may have to start thinking seriously about where you want to go for further education after you graduate. Once you get into college, finances will start to become a concern. Whether it’s to pay for school, food, or just so you can hang out with your friends and have a healthy social life, you’ll find yourself having to balance working and maintaining your grades in class.
All of this can make student life, from first grade to the day you get your degree, very stressful. However, there are ways to help ease the pressure. Here are several tips for stress management for students.
Stress Management for Students
- Get Good Sleep —As a student, you have quite a lot going on in a day. You go to class, you go home and study, you work on assignments due the next day, and you may even have to go to work. It’s easy to find yourself sacrificing sleep so that you have more “productive” hours in a day. However, Studies show that lack of sleep can make stress and anxiety worse. For more information, please click herefor more information from the Anxiety and Depression Association of America.
- Identify and Stick to Your Learning Style —We don’t all learn things the same way. There are auditory learners, visual learners, and kinesthetic learners. Everyone has their own way of learning things. Trying to learn things in a way that doesn’t fit your style can make studying stressful, especially if it feels like you are having trouble retaining the material. There are many quizzes that you can take online to help learn what style fits you. Here is one option that can help you think about your learning style: EducationPlanner.Org
- Break Up Your Study Sessions —When you have a big test coming up and you’re walking the tightrope between an A and a B, you may decide that you need to study for hours to get ready for the test. Instead of hours at a time, try breaking it up into smaller study sessions.
- Make Your Schedule Ahead of Time —Before the week begins, plan how much time each day you will dedicate to studying. By setting this up beforehand, you can avoid feeling like you have to cram at the last minute. If your class has a Syllabus and you know which assignments will be handed out each day, it will make setting up a schedule even easier.
- Take a Power Nap — You’re finished with class and it is now time to study. However, you’re having trouble keeping your eyes open. This isn’t uncommon and the best way to handle it is to take a power nap. Research shows that 20-30 minutes is the ideal amount of time to take a nap. Set a timer and catch some Z’s.
- Organize — You’ve finished studying for your math class and now it’s time to go to bed. The test is in the morning and you want to be sure that you’re well-rested and prepared for it. You turn off the lights and lay down when suddenly it dawns on you: There is an English essay due tomorrow, too! The next day, you find yourself tired due to a lack of sleep because you stayed up to finish the essay.
Take the notes you need. Make sure you keep up with all the assignments that are due and the tests coming up. There is peace in knowing exactly what’s coming up. Last-minute surprises only add to the stress.
- Don’t Forget Your Personal Life — In the end, you have to take care of yourself too. This includes life outside of school and work. Make friends, take up a hobby, do something creative. You aren’t a machine, this is just as important as studying.
Liz Morrison, LCSW is psychotherapist and owner of Liz Morrison Therapy located in New York City. She primarily works with children, adolescents and their families as well as emerging adults.
Liz obtained a Masters Degree in Social Work from Columbia University, as well as a Masters Certificate from New York University in Child and Family Therapy. In her work with children and families Liz specializes in behavior disorders, ADHD, anxiety, self-esteem issues, and social skills. She also specializes in anxiety disorders, relationship issues and life transitions in her work with adults.
For more information, please visit www.LizMorrisonTherapy.com.