Who isn't stressed?

I don't know one person who isn't stressed right now. With the year coming to a close, everyone's trying to squeeze in time with friends and having fun before we all leave behind our first year of college. Oh, and on top of all that fun, comes a price, finals. We're only two weeks away from finals and the end is coming fast. It's easy to look forward to events such as MayFest and Block Party, but the only thing I'm focusing on right now is acing my finals...and that's where the stress comes in.


I could rant all day about the amount of stress I have, but 1. that
would be whining and 2. every college student is under stress. So, to calm myself down and keep sane these last couple weeks, I've adapted a few strategies to manage my stress. The first is A Day at a Time. How it works is before you crawl into bed every night, write down on a post-it note, or even just a piece of plain paper, 5 things (or more) that are stressing you out (It doesn't have to be academic related, although I guarantee at least one of your five will be school related). Writing these stressors will not only make you feel just a little bit better, but it will also organize your priorities. For me, eliminating stress is my number one priority. For my Day at a Time sheet, I pretty much ranked what was making me most stressed (1-5). My chemistry exam is Wednesday and that course as a whole stresses me out, so that being said, it is listed as my #1 stressor; then CLS project, finals, summer job, and my GPA follow.


As Dr. Blumin said in class, you're always going to have stress, but you need a way to deal with it. There are many ways to deal with stress and the Stress Reduction Plan is one of many ways to cope with stress. What this plan entails are activities that you can resort to when your overly stressed. There are many options under this plan including:

Physical Activity
Pamper Yourself
Change Environment
Share It
Enjoy
Get Help

The two categories that I find most helpful is Physical Activity (running) and Enjoy (watching a movie). These two activities help me regain my focus and calm me down after a long day. Also, listening to music is another great way to unwind (especially after an exam).

Identifying and directing your stress in a positive fashion is the only way I can deal with stress that comes along with everyday life. A little motivation doesn't hurt either.