Earlier this semester, I trained my fellow Resident Advisors on campus about self-care. During the session, I shared insights on creating a self-care plan, and gave tips about how they can take time out of their busy schedule to focus on their wellbeing. Self-care in college is not only a top priority for students with jobs, but for anybody dealing with overwhelming stress. Self-care increases peace of mind, and will help you be happier and more productive, all while preventing the dreaded burnout.
As college students, we are constantly on the move and our schedules are packed. Fitting in time to practice self-care can be challenging — but it’s within reach. Our phones are just in our pockets, and they can help us achieve a happier, healthier life. These are a few apps that have helped me manage my self-care, and I highly recommend them.
Calm is my favorite because the F R E E options are the most diverse. They have sleep stories, a meditation program called 7 Days of Calm, a breathe bubble, and 26 nature sounds/music. In the premium option, they even have a College Collection, a mindfulness 101 geared towards a college student’s lifestyle. The meditation sessions focus on concentration, stress, and a 3-minute study break you can access at all times. When first opening the app, you are greeted with a simple reminder to take a deep breath. Then, you choose what you would like to focus on — reducing anxiety, developing gratitude, or building self-esteem to name a few. Once signing up, the nature background with sounds (which are customizable with numerous options!) are instantly refreshing. They also have various calming music options that you can listen to. I use the sleep stories often, because I’m the type of person who cannot fall asleep when it’s silent.
Happify helps to retrain your brain by reducing your negative thoughts. It is interactive with games and guided meditations that all help to increase your happiness. Every game is research-backed, in case you’re wondering. Each game or pathway is geared towards a specific goal, such as coping with stress or mindfulness for beginners. There are also different writing prompts that will encourage you to be mindful by formulating your thoughts. After completing each activity, the app always gives you a different form of positive feedback! Happify will help you learn how to handle stress better, and will give you a new, more positive, outlook on life.
One of the most important things we can do for our bodies is pretty simple: get enough sleep! It may sound lame or slightly impossible to create a bedtime when you’re in college, but I promise you that it will benefit your life. Setting a ritualistic schedule for when to stop working and wind down is better — it just is. My classes start at 10am, which is a very reasonable time to start the day, so I’m comfortable with going to sleeping around 1am. I still get about 7 or 8 hours of sleep, but get to enjoy college night life.
But, if you’re not like me, and have an 8am, you should try to be in bed by midnight. No exceptions! You can make this easier by creating a routine and training your brain to sleep at a certain time — and that’s where Sleep Cycle helps! It’s very simple to use: you set a time when you’d like to wake up, and then you plug in your phone, put it by your bedside, and just go to sleep. Sleep Cycle hears when you are restless or rolling around in your sleep, and it records those sleep patterns — and once you’re the most awake, it rings your alarm. Every morning, it gives you a detailed analysis of last night’s zzz’s (that’s the most fun).
Sleep Cycle gradually wakes you up according to what stage of rest you’re in, and that’s a better way to wake up. You won’t be jolted out of bed by your alarm, you’ll be nudged awake. It’s better.
Podcasts are so great for busy, on-the-go students. I enjoy listening to them while walking to class, eating lunch, or getting ready in the morning. Instead of mindlessly having music playing in the background, why not learn something new or hear a person’s advice on a certain topic? The length of podcasts can vary from 5 minutes to more than an hour! Podcasts aren’t an app, they’re a format, and that format is available everywhere: YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or The Podcast App.
My favorite podcasts are Sleep With Me and Meditation Minis. In case you haven’t noticed, I truly care about my sleep and use a few different apps to get quality rest! The Sleep With Me podcast is pretty self-explanatory: these guys tell a boring story to put you to sleep. I turn on their stories pretty much every single night — they slowly, but surely, help me drift off. They even start their podcast with a caution to “not operate heavy machinery” while listening! I’m telling you, it’s effective. Meditation Minis gives you guided meditations, and all of them are under 15 minutes. Short meditations like these are very easy to schedule into your daily routine. They’re simple and easy to follow, and made especially for busy people. There are over 100 mini sessions to choose from, with a wide range of topics, and because it’s a podcast, they’re F R E E.
These simple apps have really helped me improve my self-care routines. They’re simple, free, and effective — and of course—they’re my favorites. With Instagram, smartwatches, and texts, we have an on-the-go mentality — we’ve been to trained to like posts and instantly respond to notifications. But, we can use those habits for good: a simple push notification might be all we need to remember to slow down and take a breath. What are your favorite apps for self-care? Have you tried any of the one’s I suggested? Leave a comment below — I’d love to hear from you!
This post was originally shared on Chelsea’s Day, Chelsea’s personal blog. If you’d like Bloom to feature your work, apply here.
