As we count down the days until winter break, there is a large barrier that hinders our ability to fully enjoy the holiday season: final exams. Final exam season is a rough patch of time for all college students. As the semester comes to an end, students are often loaded with outstanding assignments, cramming in study time, and preparing to return home for the holidays. With all these changes in students’ lifestyles, it is a given that they are stressed.
Stress can come in many different forms. People mostly associate stress with a negative connotation. However, some stress can be healthy and even motivating. Unfortunately, the stress students tend to have during the finals period is the bad kind. Unhealthy levels of stress can take many forms, and the most common symptoms of stress found in college students include:
- Changes in appetite (overeating or loss of appetite)
- Irritability
- Changes in sleep patterns (sleeping too much or not being able to fall and stay asleep)
- Digestive problems
- Excessive worrying
- Continuous negative thoughts
- Withdrawal from previously enjoyable activities and relationships
- Decrease in grades
While stress is a byproduct of us wanting to do our best in terms of academics, too much stress has been shown to decrease academic performance. This is counterintuitive since the stress college students experience is rooted in wanting to get good grades. However, the good news is that there are still many ways to manage stress so that you can avoid feeling overwhelmed and do your best.
Identify your stress:
Stress can have many root causes and for this reason, it is important to pinpoint what exactly is causing you to feel stressed. Determining what is stressing you will allow you to understand what you need to do in order to overcome it. Once you find out what your stressors are, you can construct an action plan to lessen the severity of the stress or to remove it all together.
Accept your stress:
For many students, just the thought of finals week can be incredibly stressful. This may internally cause students to feel stressed about their stress. This could interfere with their ability to handle stress and they may not want to put themselves in more stressful situations, but that could backfire. This is because the stress could be too much to handle, resulting in a student not wanting or procrastinating on studying because it would add to their stress. This in turn would end up causing them even more stress.
The best thing to do is to accept that you are stressed and work toward doing what you have to get done. Studies show that accepting your stress and not avoiding it or fighting it might, in fact, lessen the amount of negative emotions you feel due to stress.
Practice self-care:
While self-care is a must, it can be especially helpful during more stressful times. In your overwhelming schedule, try and take quick breaks. Getting some fresh air or doing stretches can help you significantly.
In addition to self-care, be sure to stay hydrated, eat whole foods, and get seven to nine hours of sleep. Doing these things can be hard as a college student, but it’s worth trying because it will give you the rest and energy you need to study.
Create a to-do list:
Creating a to-do list of some sort can help you organize everything that you have to get done and allow you to coordinate when you will do it. Writing down your tasks and seeing them lessen over time will motivate you to keep going. Additionally, as a reward, you can try a system where you reward yourself after completing each task. Just make sure that your reward system is a healthy one.
Use your support network:
Sometimes reaching out to other people might be the best way to manage your stress. As college students, we all share the same struggles during finals, and talking to a friend can help you in many ways. It can help you see that you aren’t the only one who is feeling this way, they can help you find other ways to manage your stress, or you could just feel better by just talking it out to them. Stevens also has counseling services available for any students who want to use them.
Through all these ways, hopefully, you can learn to manage your stress and excel academically.
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