What are some ways to reduce stress?

Question

I have been studying a lot lately for final exams and I have noticed I have become very stressed out. There is so much to do and little time for fun! This will make me angry and frustrated, which makes it difficult to continue studying. What are some ways I can reduce this stress and make the studying easier?

Answer 1

I am also a college student and I, too often suffer from stress. (I'm 54, living below poverty level with an autistic 23-year-old son, haven't had a car in over a year, and my youngest daughter was abducted by her abusive father 5 years ago...)

I attribute my 4.0 gpa to eating healthy, exercising or walking, making time to do things I enjoy that relax me such as gardening, listening to soothing music, playing my dulcimer, guitar, and celtic flute, reading...

I also practice yoga breathing whenever I feel nervous in my abdominal area which is an immediate stress reliever. I also do this just prior to studying.

Most importantly, when feeling overwhelmed or having difficulty concentrating, I focus on the task at hand and try to forget everything else. Sort of like focusing on one bite of pizza instead of thinking about consuming the entire thing. All those small bites add up.

Good luck and I wish you peace and success!

Answer 2

Best ways to reduce stress are actually sex, and exercise. Just about any exercise will do, running, yoga, tennis, swimming, etc. Another good way to relieve stress is to laugh. Go to a comedy club or rent a funny movie.

Stress can be built up in the body and has very bad effects on your health. It is good to relieve stress by exercising daily. Another good way it to give yourself 1 hour out of every day where you just relax and do what you want to do... read a book, work on a puzzle, etc. You might think... BUT I DONT HAVE AN HOUR YOU IDIOT :)... but I feel that if you did take that hour, that you would far make up for the "lost" time in the quality of your learning throughtout the rest of the day.

Deep breathing has already been mentioned but it is also a very good way to reduce stress. The 1, 4, 2 ratio method mentioned above is the best (that is for every 1 sec you breath in you hold for 4 and breath out for 2... so as mentioned above if you breath in for 4 you hold for 16 and breath out for 8)

Hope this helps and hope your days become less stress-full.

Answer 3

I get stressed in my commute as well. I would have to say first you have to figure out where is the stress coming from. Is it that you are stressed from traffic? Stressed from a fear about driving, such as getting into an accident? Stress from aggressive drivers, stress because you bought a new car and you are worried something will happen to in in your commute, etc? Once you figure out what is the root cause of your stress it will be easier to deal with. For example, if you are stressed from traffic, find an alternate route, maybe it will be longer but if it is trough the countryside it may be less stressful, this will also work for avoiding aggressive drivers. You could also get a new stereo installed into your car and listen to your favorite music during your commute, or get XM and listen to whatever suites you that day. Get your mind off the worry and think about what what you are going to do to when you arrive at work or home. But whatever you do, don't text or talk on the cell phone while driving.

Answer 4

The best and quickest way to reduce stress immediately is to do deep breathing techniques. My personal favorite is breathing in through your nose to the count of 4, holding in the breath for a count of 16, then breathing out through your mouth for a count of 8. Do it a few times and you'll feel better. Meditation and Exercise are also excellent ways to reduce stress. Make sure you're getting enough sleep! You won't be any good at your finals if you're tired, anyway.

Answer 5

from personal experience if you study from sun up to sundown and become stressed you will do poorly because you studied for all exams and when you get the test paper all answers will be coming at you. not just in that subject. the best way is to study for a couple of hours then take an hour break each time. the day before dont study at all let the information sink in with a good nights sleep. Be sure to have fun but remember a final only counts as 10% of your grade average. Just have fun with any thing you put your mind too.

Answer 6

The type of stress you've described is a mental/emotional state. You can off-set emotional reaction by short bouts of physical action; Instead of 15 minutes of fussing about how frustrating something is, spend 5 minutes "doing" something. Whether it's cleaning the bathroom or going for a walk onto the stoop. Getting oxygen into your system will make the studying go easier.
As far as the sense of "so much to do and little time for fun!" goes, well, that comes with the territory. It's up to you to focus on the outcome, not the path. Is this how you're going to respond to every incident in your life that puts a burden on you? Are you going to get angered by every deviation in your path? Think about that for a moment and you'll get really cranky! But this is a good opportunity to realize where your priorities are, and how far reaching your vision is (or isn't).

Answer 7

Take breaks.

I have a very stressful business where I work with people with a number of problems. Many of these people have experienced horrific things. It becomes too easy to "adopt" these problems if I don't distance myself from them.

If I am feeling stressed, I take a break. I walk for about 20 minutes doing nothing except enjoying the scenery. I listen to music if I am working on a particularly difficult project. I take hot baths at the end of each day. I read books.

With respect to studying, you may need to speak to an academic counsellor who can help you learn the most effective method of studying. Cramming things in the night before is not the most effective. Start studying ahead of time by taking notes in class, typing them up at home (as a reinforcement) and classifying points in neat categories that are easy for you to refer to. When it comes time to study for an exam, take one chapter at a time and learn them well. Closer to the exam, then there is no last minute cramming, just review.

Answer 8

Take a hot bath close yourself off to the world set some candles up for yourself dim the lights and relax. Forget about all your studies and masturbation is another stress reliever always take at least one hour a day to yourself to reduce stress.

Answer 9

Quickest way - Sit in a chair and bend over so that your head is between your legs and below your heart and sit that way for 30 seconds. This will cause blood to flow to your head which will calm and relax you.

You can also practice progressive relaxation; lay down and slowly focus on different body parts; feet, ankles, lower legs, knees, etc. moving over your entire body. As you focus on each area, tighten all of the muscles then relax them. Focus on relaxing them. You will be amazed at how much you can relax when you focus on doing so. Taking deep breaths as you do this and imagining all of the stress flowing out with your breath will help you further relax.

Answer 10

Take it easy !
Give time to yourself completely and don't think of your studying when you are devoting time for yourself. Now enjoy some outdoor activities and NOT indoor. You need to be away from the place where you are studying.Go EXERCISES such as swimming, tennis, baseball, jogging but you need to do something physically to overcome the anxiety mentally. TALK or communicate with some of your funny friends( DON'T BE ALONE) chat about something funny away from studies, lessons and passing grades, THINK of something beautiful you like to achieve, relax and take deep breath.ALWAYS remember that studying is just a part of building our future and its not everything : you might be rich without even attending high school, and you might get job without even going to school. GET yourself organized my friend stress can kills and leads to many diseases( personality disorder, hypertension, diabetes, depression)and frustrations if you can't control it. STOP taking stimulants for a while like coffee, tea, hot chocolate or energy drinks, replace with orange juice or milk. DON'T feel inferior and weak and that you are unable to complete your assignment, instead look forward and be firm and self confident which will increase your self esteem and lessen your stress. DON'T resort to medications, you will rely on it. BE strong and rely on your defense mechanism and enhance it by being stronger to overcome stresses in your life. REWARD yourself when you think that you master or your done with some of your assignment by eating your favorite food or doing certain things.I am trying to show you more positive ways than negative ways to overcome stress. Actually stress is part of growing and you should accomodate yourself with it. Here, I am trying to deal with it and avoid it at the same time in your case. Good luck in your studying.