College is a time of deadlines, financial concerns, social pressures, and major life decisions, in other words, college is stressful, perhaps one of the most stressful times during life.
If stress is managed ineffectually, high levels can impair learning and memory, and over the long term, cause shrinking in the hippocampus, an area of the brain. Also, stress, interacting with heredity, personality, environment, and behavior can significantly increase your risk for temporary illnesses like colds or chronic diseases such as diabetes, arthritis, and heart disease.
Now, should we try to eliminate all of the stressors in our lives? Absolutely not-we need stress to challenge us to perform our best. In essence, we should be like Goldie Locks and find a stress level that is “not too high, not too low, but just right.”
Unless your professors cancel midterms, the winning lottery ticket is in your hand, and your dream date is knocking on your door, it is unlikely that your stressors, or situations that trigger an emotional and physical response, are going to be eliminated. And that is alright if you don’t let stress control you, but learn to control stress by developing a plan to manage it.
Start by simply identifying the stressors in your life. Try keeping a journal for a few weeks noting when you experience stress and what you were doing at the time. Also, describe what you were thinking and feeling and the outcome of your response. After recording your behavior, review your journal and look for patterns. What people, places, and activities are causing the most stress? Were your responses appropriate or did you make matters worse? Creating a journal to objectively identify stressors helps to develop effective strategies for coping.
To develop a strategy for managing your response to stressors, incorporate a variety of stress management techniques into your day, and work to make them second nature, just like brushing your teeth.
Social Support: Develop meaningful connections with others. Sharing life’s frustrations and accomplishments contributes to improved well-being. Developing a social network is important-try volunteering, joining a campus organization, or striking up conversations with classmates.
Exercise: Physical activity helps dissipate nervous energy, stimulate birth of new brain cells, and minimize the physical response to stressful stimuli. Research shows that people who walk 3 times a week at least 45 minutes per session report less daily hassles. Add functional exercise to your routine and use human powered transportation often.
Nutrition: A healthy diet that involves moderation, plenty of fruits and vegetables, and limited caffeine help to maintain weight and well-being. Erratic eating patterns often result in low energy stores, low self-esteem, and feelings of guilt and lack of self control.
Sleep: While requirements vary for everyone, it is important to get sufficient sleep to improve mood, concentration, and alertness. Levels of stress hormones are related to sleep patterns, and sleep deprivation alters hormone concentrations. Budget adequate sleep time into your schedule.
Time Management: College students often have too little time, and in some cases, too much time. Perfectionist, over-committers, and procrastinators need to practice good time management skills. Improve your time management skills by setting priorities, scheduling tasks during peak efficiency, setting realistic goals, combining task when possible, delegating responsibility, and most importantly, stop thinking and start doing.
Spirituality: Faith and commitment to a belief system, whether it is found in religion, nature, or other, fosters a meaning and purpose to life and provides perspective and connectedness during stressful times.
Relaxation: Lower blood pressure and breathing rates, as well as quiet mental alertness result from relaxation. Try mediation, yoga, deep breathing, or listening to music to elicit a relaxation response.
As midterms approach, don’t let life toss you around like laundry in a dryer that you should have done yesterday, take control of your life. Identify your life stressors, devise a strategy to manage them, and then practice your stress management techniques everyday. Maybe while you are de-stressing the meaning of life will become crystal clear-or NOT. But who cares, life is totally manageable.