Top 10 Tips to Help Manage Stress

Let’s face it, when you’re a student, you have multiple stressors around you. You could feel overwhelmed with studies, work, even kids if you’re a mature student, and other commitments you might have. It can be especially difficult during the middle of the semester when your instructors and professors are expecting the most from you. 

Don’t worry though, as there are tips on how you can manage stress. Remember that stress is temporary, and can easily dissipate depending on your circumstances. Some stress is also good. It helps keep us on our toes and might lead us to perform better, such as doing well on an exam or acing an important interview. 

In addition, there are also new stressors that may have come up due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of these stressors can include being around people who are not wearing masks, having to go into a very public setting, or simply the fear of catching an illness in general. There are ways you can manage this too. 

In this blog, we’ll go through 10 ways how you can manage your stress. While implementing all of these tips would be ideal, you can decide to practice and implement one of them or all of them. Stress management varies according to your personality and what you may need the most. Try some out and see which ones work best for you to reduce stress, and you can slowly build your way up to try all of them since stress relief can come in many forms. 

Get enough sleep

Sleep helps your nervous system to relax. When you get a good amount of sleep, it can restore and calm the body, improving aspects like mood, concentration, decision-making, problem-solving, and you experience less stress when you’ve rested well. Sleeping six to eight hours a night helps you rejuvenate the best. However, make sure you are not sleeping too much or all the time to avoid your stressors. Too much sleep could be detrimental and could also be a sign of depression. 

Eat well

If you’re not eating a balanced diet, you could be missing some of the essential vitamins and minerals, and other nutrients that you need. One aspect that we may encounter when dealing with stress or anxiety is high blood pressure. Some of the things you can do to combat this are to eat less sodium and cut down on your caffeine intake, as these things can heighten stress due to elevated cortisol levels. While eating can be hard when we’re stressed because we may not feel hungry at all, we should make sure that we are scheduling time into our day for nutritious meals. 

Get some exercise

Exercise is one of the best ways to help reduce stress as it adds productivity to our endorphins, which are the neurotransmitters in the brain that help you feel good. If you’re not big on exercise, you don’t have to do anything complicated. A simple walk in a park or around your neighbourhood can be beneficial to your mental health. Change your surroundings when you exercise, even if it’s indoors. The best time to exercise is in the morning, so you can feel motivated, refreshed, and ready to take on the day. 

Have a routine that suits your lifestyle 

A great way to cope with stress is to find something that brings you comfort. For example, many self-care regimens help people to calm down. This can be something as simple as a skincare routine that you do at night or an elaborate drink that you create in one afternoon. These small acts can bring comfort and happiness, and help you remember that there’s more to life than what you’re dealing with. 

Deep breathing / meditating / praying

Any way that you can take some time to find calmness and peace will benefit you, and this too can vary depending on the individual. When we take deep breaths, we are able to control our heart rate which can help to decrease or simply manage the stress that we’re experiencing. Meditating or praying helps us to take some time for ourselves and focus on our body and wellbeing, instead of focusing on our stressors. Another great way to do something new and help relieve stress is to try other relaxing services, like massage therapy. 

Make down time

Down time is when you take an allocated time for yourself to do something enjoyable. Examples of this could be playing games on your phone, taking some time to read a book, or listening to music. Down time is easy to fit into your schedule if you’re  busy as well because it can range anywhere from ten minutes to half an hour, alleviating stress and anxiety and helping you get back to what you were doing in a better mindset. 

Do an activity or hobby that you like

When you put your mind into a creative outlet or hobby like cooking, knitting, or making art, it helps to stimulate our minds and keep our brains sharp and intelligent. When this happens, it can help clear our minds from the cloudiness we may have been experiencing during stress. Doing a hobby gives you the freedom and control to do what you want to, and helps to manage expectations and stress – but most importantly, it’s fun!

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Watch some entertainment 

Sometimes we just need to unwind and get some entertainment into our lives to spark passion, enjoyment, and forget about our worries. Putting on your favourite show, or a movie that you like can sometimes be the best remedy. Bonus points if you’re watching something that’s a comedy because laughter is known to help muscle relaxation and stimulate circulation, decreasing the physical effects of stress. 

Get some time alone 

Being around people can increase stress levels sometimes, especially if you’re constantly around people who are worried about the same things that you are. The phrase ‘out of sight, out of mind,’ can often be true. Spending some time by ourselves can help us to become more level-headed and oftentimes can help us realize that we don’t need to stress so much and give our stressful circumstances less importance. 

Talk to someone about your problems 

It’s not always as easy as following simple activities and steps, you may need additional help or an ear to listen to you – someone that can give you advice or talk you through the issues that you’re experiencing. Never be afraid to get the help you need through therapy, counseling, or other outlets, it can make all the difference in your life. This may be necessary if you find that your stress is chronic and you’re experiencing it most of the time. 

There are tips that many medical reviewers also suggest. Students in college and university tend to constantly work for the highest grades and the best performance which can lead to stress, so if you’re a student, you should utilize these to decrease your stress and find peace from time to time.

When we are overwhelmed with the expectations of life, it can affect our mental health. We need to find things that will benefit our bodies and minds. Negative thoughts can take over, but with these tips, you will be healthier, happier, and more productive. These tips are not just to be used situationally, they can help even if you’re dealing with chronic stress for the long term. 

We hope this list of stress relievers will be helpful to you. If you’re looking for courses with flexibility, ABM College offers courses that you can take online. Explore our various courses in health, business, and technology with class times that suit you, so you can have a stress-free educational experience. You can also read more employment and health tips on our blog.