Managing Stress as an Undergraduate Student

The very first thing you need to do is understand what the problem is. Once you understand that, then everything after is just a simple list of steps. Why are you so stressed? Is it school, work, relationships, family, or what? Once you can narrow down your stressors into smaller categories, it is so much easier to tackle them. Today, I want to focus on school stressors, and how to manage them.
According to “Stress Management Blog” there are 5 simple steps to cutting down stress in school — “1) Identify the enemy, 2) Re-color the enemy, 3) Cut exaggerations, 4) Breathe deeply, and 5) Clench fists.” All of these steps might seem so simple, but if you over look them you can easily become absorbed in the stress that schooling college brings. In other words, these 5 steps help you break down the big picture. If you only focus on the huge stress in your life, you will become overwhelmed and easily stuck in place. But, if you chunk things up into smaller pieces, it is so much easier to conquer. As yourself what is your biggest stressor in school, how can you change it, work on not exaggerating how bad things are, keep yourself calm, and if you feel yourself still becoming overwhelmed, clench them fists!
I wanted to try this in my own life to see how well it works. I looked at my school life and asked myself what causes the most amount of stress for me? That answer is, pulling myself too thin. With school, work, and family that lives 2 hours away, it becomes very easy for me to stretch myself too thin, and not allow myself enough time to do my school work. This weekend has been a perfect example, I had a family emergency that pulled me back home, and I completely overlooked the work I was supposed to get done for this class. That’s nobody’s fault but my own, and if I had planned things out better, I would have been able to get everything done.
To counter this, I started writing down everything I have to get done. This seems like such a simple task, but I still overlooked a ton of stuff I had to do, because I didn’t stick to my list of things. I need to work on the re-coloring aspect of this. Instead of just identifying the problem, I need to figure out how to really tackle it and overcome it, than just to point it out. This blog explains that if you think of colors that represent your feelings, it will give you a more positive outlook. Instead of looking at an upcoming assignment and getting freaked out, the blog says that “a rapidly approaching assignment will bow to stress management if you decide to take it as a positive challenge (sunny yellow) rather than an unwanted demand (dark brown).”
Exaggeration is another huge problem that I need to tackle. When I start to feel things piling up, I exaggerate how much I really have to get done because I’m freaking out so much about all the assignments. If instead, I focused that energy onto actually finishing an assignment, things would get done so much faster!
I began to try to use these techniques this week, but I will further delve into my personal experiences with them in my next blog where I will discuss time management and how it helps cut down stress.
Citation:
Says, U. H. (2011, January 29). Simple Stress Management for Students. Retrieved from http://www.stressmanagementblog.com/student-stress-management/simple-stress-management-for-students-55/