Stress Management for Students

Stress is not a good motivator and too much stress or anxiety decreases performance. Although we need a certain level of arousal (stress), too much arousal interferes with our ability to concentrate and remember. Students today are faced with a number of stressors, both at school/college and outside of it. It has been suggested that adolescence is the worst possible time for students to be pressured into activities like academics, which can be as boring as they are important. However, most students are capable of dealing with the stress of school and college life if they know how to and if it is recognized as such.

Learning how to manage stress is one of the most important lessons of life. Some of the ways in which they can achieve this are given below.

Ø  Using time management techniques: Student life is all about learning how to achieve a balance between studies and other activities. If you want to do well at school/college, you have to devote time to your studies. Although there are no easy ways to go about this, it helps to plan in advance and schedule time for study. You will soon find a method that works for you.

Ø  Organization techniques: There will be a number of things you will need to file, such as notes, assignments, submission dates and examination times. Keep a calendar or a notebook or whatever method works for you – but keep organized. Know what you have to do and when, so you don't get behind at schoolwork.

Ø  Create a study environment: Ideally, you should choose a place that is quiet and free from distractions. Try not to study on your bed because you will tend to fall asleep even if you don't intend to. A desk with good lighting works well for most people. If you have trouble getting in the mood, try dividing the task into small chunks and rewarding yourself after each is complete.

Ø  Memorization techniques: These can help you remember parts of your work that would otherwise be forgotten as soon as you did something else. Revising and reading over the previous class notes and assignments for five minutes before you start your work every day can also help you remember.

Ø  Be an Optimist: Do not let the little failures get you down. There will always be a time when you aren't able to do too well on a particular test, or find yourself unable to be as good at one thing as you are at another. Recognize these as a necessary part of life and try not to make a big deal out of them. If you are cheerful, you will naturally feel better and less stressed.

Ø  Sleep Well: This is important, as many students today think they can get away with sleeping less. While this may be alright for one night, as a regular schedule it disturbs your health and sleep cycle. You will find it harder to concentrate and end up feeling more frustrated and stressed out about schoolwork.

Ø  Study Techniques: The conventional method of study may not work as well for you. If you remember and understand things better by experiments rather than reading about them in books, you should do these as much as possible. Remember, there is no one 'correct' way of studying.

Ø  Exercise: Exercise is possibly the single most effective strategy for preventing stress because it converts stress chemicals into fuel. It reduces muscle tension, clears the head, and reminds us of skills that we have.

Ø  Make time to relax: Take ‘time out’ to unwind by enjoying your favourite activities or simply sitting and breathing slowly. Meditate once or twice a day, or engage in yoga.

Ø  One day at a time: Focus on today, not tomorrow or yesterday. Keep bringing your thoughts back to what you are doing right now.

Finally, do set aside a time for reflection. Sometimes, even though you might have tried to stick as closely to your plan as possible, you find that you just don’t seem to have enough time to do everything which you have set up to accomplish in the week. Instead, you seem to move from crisis to crisis. Have a safety cap. Set yourself a period (say 1 to 2 hours) in a week for reflection. What have you done? What have you hoped to achieve? And how have you fared? Are there better ways of doing what you have or have not done?

Controlling stress is an art. You probably need time to master it. Don’t expect quick and instant results. Persevere with the skills and before you realize it, you are riding above the tides of stress.

Written by-

Jaspreet Kaur

IT FACULTY, NIMS