Going into the new school year can be stressful! Here are some tips to help this year to be as stress-free as possible!
1. Make goals for this semester
- It is best if these goals put your relationships first. Ex: one goal might be this semester I want to go to the drive-ins with my friends
- This can also look like I want to get to know a couple of teachers so that I have a mentor and reference letter 🙂
2. Start with gratitude
- There are studies that show there are many health benefits to being intentionally grateful. If you can wake up every morning and write 5 -10 things you are grateful for every day it could significantly boost your mood!
- For more benefits, you could practice this again at night or journal your closing thoughts that the day
3. Know your top study methods and top coping methods
This may take a bit of time and require you to get to know yourself better. Maybe you have these from last year, maybe you don’t. I will attach some helpful links 🙂 some study help :
UNC has a great article if you click here
There is also the following
Some types of coping are problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping, social support, religious coping, and meaning-making. Figure out your top form of coping and then find plenty of activities that can help you whenever you need them. Here are two articles that might help: to review coping as a whole and some ideas to try .
For both of these skills, it might take time to get into the rhythm. Yet, if you can find the skills that work best for you it will make your life so much easier!!
4. Sleep
Sadly, sleep is a big part of mental stability. Haha, I say sadly because many students would claim they don’t need it! :\ 7 hours is best <3. Aim for 7 hours or more at least 4 days a week. Preferably more but if not that’s ok 🙂
5. Be kind to your mind and go out of your way to be kind to others!
- Make it a goal to have one day off a week(sabbath is a command in the Bible and it is 110% for human benefit)
- Make sure the way you talk to yourself aligns with what you would tell a friend. You wouldn’t say “wow you are awful at that” you would say “you got this!” “I am sure you can do better next time”
- When we go out of our way to be kind to others our own happiness levels go up 🙂 It can be as easy as trying to compliment one person per day(let’s be real everyone loves a compliment so no one is going to think you are crazy). If that’s not your style maybe write your friends lil notes or send them memes 😉 whatever their love language is.