Latest / College Is Fine, Everything's Fine / #30 A Student’s Guide to Managing Stress in College

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#30 A Student’s Guide to Managing Stress in College · College Is Fine, Everything's Fine

Hi listeners. We're here to follow up to Sarah's episode last week where she helped distinguish between stress and anxiety. It's Stress Awareness month in April. We wanna hear from our listeners about some of the things they find stressful in college. I mean, guys, life in college is stressful, period.You could be stress. A laundry list of things, classes, friendships, your laundry, your dating life, world events, money, family. So we wanna hear from them. So why don't we take a minute and hear from those listeners. Here are some of the things that they're stressed about. Then we'll come back and we'll share some ways that college students have shared that they manage stress more effectively.And then I'll also chime in with some things that we know from research that help manage stress. what are some of your most common stressors that you're dealing with on college campus right now?I think for me, my biggest stressor is balancing both my work life with my social. Because like I put a lot of pressure on myself to both, like make strong connections with my friends and hang out with them, um, every single day, but also at the same time, like I wanna excel at school. So I think my biggest stressor is like finding my perfect balance between both my friendships and my schoolwork.Mine's like time management. Um, because I think that I. Try to block out time to be with my friends and school again, like try to find that balance. But then you also have to know when to like cut yourself off with work, like when to give yourself a break. And so I think mine's like being too hard on myself in both aspects of like school and my social life.It's also hard to like fit time for yourself into that. It's just like struggling to find that like alone time and balance and sometimes with work and then your social life and friends, like you forget about yourself.I think social media takes a big toll , because it's all about who you're posting with, what you're posting, where you're posting, um, how many followers you have.And I think. really sort of gets to kids. I know it's gotten to me before, um, where, you know, I've thought, well, I'm not up to the standards on, on social media. I've had pretty bad stomach issues as a kid, and so I had to go on like pretty restricted diets and that was, that was definitely hard. It's a hard like mental game of like, yes, I'm doing this for my health.But this is also really stressful and hard to do at college. Like it's very hard to cut out multiple food groups at college, like try to take care of your health, try to manage your symptoms, do stuff like that. So that was like really, really hard for me. What's your, favorite way to cope when you're feeling really stressed? One of my favorite stress management tools is in moments of a lot of stress. I really like to take a hot shower, drink a hot tea, a hot coffee, or do hot yoga. Um, the warmth really makes me feel calm and relaxed. Um, and just feeling warm inside kind of slows down the pace of life.It puts things into perspective and makes me feel like things are gonna be.I think that I've realized that, um, I work best when I am independent during the day. And then can kind of come back and be with my friends and do work in more of a social atmosphere. But just like anything from like walking to classes alone or like getting coffee alone, just like gives me that time I need to like breathe and not be so overwhelmed.I think when things get really overwhelming, like calling my parents and like speaking to people from home is like super grounding and like, they like just talking out like problems with like people that are like not related. Like you get an outside perspective and it really helps.And then I feel like in college, Like working out and being active is like the best way that I can clear my mind. And in high school it used to be such a thing that I would like, it was so structured because I'd have practice for certain sports and I was like working out more because I was on a sports team or something like that.But in college I feel like I purely work out for my mental health and it has been like so beneficial.just like going on a walk, like anything to like move my body, like helps me clear my mind and then I'm so much more efficient doing schoolwork and everything seems a little bit less overwhelming and stress My favorite stress management tool is definitely reading. I try to read before I go to bed for about 20 minutes. Um, usually I get to it, but sometimes if I have a busy day, I don't. Um, but I really love reading about, um, psychology and also self-help books. So like something that's been very transformative in my college experience this year has been the fact that I feel so comfortable to be able to talk it out and to be able to talk out like what's going on in my life, what's going on in my mind. Um, and I think because. Um, I've been encouraged to talk it out and talk out my feelings and what I'm feeling. Um, I realize that like I'm not alone and everyone kind of. Likes to talk about these things and hear it because yes, we all are living our own college lives and doing our own things and studying in our own majors, but we all, at the end of the day, are experiencing a lot of the same feelings. Um, and so being encouraged to talk it out and doing so, it kind of creates like this cycle where everyone feels comfortable. Everyone feels like, you know, Hey, I, I am supported. I'm not alone. Um, I'm. through something similar to someone else. And I think that like, just knowing that we're not alone in our college experience I love all the tips that the college students shared, uh, and I wanted to build upon that based upon my experience working with college students and also shedding some light on what some of the research has shown so let's start with journaling. You know, I think a lot of people here journaling and they're like, ah, I'm not really good at that, or I don't want to do it. Be open to the possibility that writing out your thoughts and your reactions to stress can get it out of your mind. Um, putting something on paper.Can help you maybe see some unhelpful thoughts that are leading to you having a stronger reaction to your stress, and it also might help you problem solving, ways to cope more effectively with stressors. . Another thing that could be part of your journaling could be expressing gratitude. We know that having a gratitude journal can put things in perspective, which is one way to cope with stress.Writing down three positive experiences that happened to you today, highlighting that it wasn't an entirely terrible day might help you be able to cope with some of the negative, stressful life events that you're facing. Okay. There are a million apps that you could download that. Help with relaxation, um, and let's say mindfulness meditation techniques.Some of the ones that I'll just share here, and I'll definitely share it in the show notes. Headspace is my favorite meditation app. A lot of people don't realize that they have a discount for college students. I believe it's like 7 99 and. Set of $80. So jump on that. You just have to prove that you're a currently registered college student.Um, within that app, there are a lot of specific guided meditations and mindfulness practices that are meant to reduce stress. Um, There's other free apps like Insight Timer for meditation, but essentially any relaxation breathing techniques, positive visualization techniques. We know that practicing those exercises can reduce physiological responses to stress and can help us stay more connected to aspects of our present moment experience, which will hopefully help us cope more effectively with the things that are on our.another app that I'll just mention. And we actually have had some college students that we've spoken to that are involved with it. Um, it's Neel, I'll also put that in the show notes. And it is a mental health support app. It's free and it has a lot of mental health resources. Um, and a lot of, some of the things that I just mentioned that would be in some of these other apps are within there, but it's geared specifically towards college students and it was developed by college students.Okay. You heard from some of our listeners exercise. We know that exercise is highly effective in reducing anxiety, depression, um, in changing some of the chemicals and hormones that are associated with stress. I know it can be hard to fit into your schedule. I would look for small ways to exercise, whether it's a 10 minute walk, a quick run.A five, 10 minute yoga, YouTube video, whatever it might be. I think sometimes we tell ourself we don't have the time to do it, but there might be a small bite size way that you could practice exercising. Okay. Eating Another thing that's so hard on college campuses, most people, when they're stressed, they either eat too much or too little.Try to eat balanced. I know sometimes when people are overwhelmed, they'll tell me like, Liz, I don't have an appetite. I can't eat. It's our thought that we're not capable of eating, that's contributing to us not being able to eat, not our capability of eating.And when you're really stressed out, you're like running a marathon and you would never run a marathon on. , no fuel, no marathon. I would recommend that. So if you really want to be able to deal with some of the emotional consequences of stress, you need to fuel and nourish your body. We've talked about sleep in other episodes. Sleep is so important When you're struggling with stressful life events. Try to stick to a normal sleep routine. Sleep can come really erratic when we're stressed out. Prioritize a bedtime, a nighttime routine, and try to wake up consistently around the same time. Guys, it's, it's almost final weeks for most of you, and caffeine tends to be your best friend.be mindful of how much you're drinking. Caffeine can actually exasperate our physical response to stress, so I would try to consume it earlier in the day and try not to consume too much of it. So research actually shows that when people are stressed out, they actually neglect social relationships and they pull away from relationships.So one of the things I would really recommend is to reach out to friends and family who can help support you,, in ways in which you're trying to cope. Look after your social wellbeing. Try to connect with others, ask for help. You know, one of the things I love to do when I'm stressed out is to perform a random act of kindness.So I'll think of something that I could do that might contribute to someone else or produce a positive emotion for someone else. We know that contributing, releases a lot of positive emotions. It can also like temporarily distract ourselves from what we're dealing with. So for me, that might be like, oh, I have a friend I haven't talked to in a while.I'll look for an old photo of us and I'll send the photo and I'll be like, oh my goodness, remember this memory. I miss you, or maybe. Think of something that you might do that might cultivate a positive emotion and some kindness.It's a great stress reliever, hard one here. Managing your time more effectively. You know, time management and organizing your time effectively is a skill that. a lot of adults struggle with, and it makes perfect sense that college students would struggle with this as well, given how much is on their plate.I would say, it is important to prioritize things that require a lot of mental energy earlier in the day. A lot of people think they're night owls in college. They do their best work then. But really, you're on like a downhill, depletion of your ability to focus. So try to prioritize things that you're procrastinating because they're gonna be hard or challenging and try to do them earlier in the day.in relation to that. Learn how to say no. You know, sometimes when a college student's telling me that their plate is so full, I'm like, oh, there are some things we put on that plate that I don't think are necessary, and maybe you need to let go of some of your fears of disappointing others or people getting upset with you cuz you're not gonna follow through with it. In an earlier microdose episode, Sarah and I talked about whe that you can relate differently to your thoughts. Tune into that episode if you're noticing that you're thinking as it relates to your stress is really what's fueling some of your negative emotion.And the last thing I'll leave with is a concept that comes from. Zen Buddhism. And it's this idea, that the only constant is change. And I know for me, when I'm really stressed and overwhelmed, reminding myself that change is the only constant . Helps me cope more effectively with stress that even in this moment when it feels like it's never ending, it's never gonna get better. Things eventually will change. I hope this was helpful. We're ending stress awareness month. I hope you have some techniques before you enter into finals or figuring out your summer plans or an internship or graduating, saying goodbye to friends, transitioning back to home.There's a whole lot in front of you that might be stressful. share with us on social media. Email us, send a voice memo. Let us know what stress management tips work for you.