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Guest Column: Some helpful tips to survive stress

Good grades, social life and sleep, pick two. And isn’t it the truth! A majority of WSU students have a job on top of all that. So how do we do it?

So many college students get overwhelmed due to the work load they carry and the stress they feel with school, family and social life. I’ve been in school for only three years, but I’ve learned a few secrets that I think you may find helpful in your life as a college student.

1. Prioritize — The biggest issue we face as college students is that we don’t prioritize our life correctly. I know that going camping instead of doing your homework is very tempting, or staying out until 2 or 3 a.m. with your friends will be a good time. But it’s not the time! The last night of my sophomore year, my friends and I decided to pull a prank on my adviser. We stayed out until 4:30 a.m. filling his office with cups of water filled to the very top. We stapled the cups together, making it nearly impossible to clean up.

Though this seemed like a good idea for the three weeks in advance that we’d be planning it, my human biology final at 8 a.m. didn’t seem to fit in with my plan. This seemed like a good idea, but the sleep I had during my final could have been a different time.

2. Write it down — The book “The Time Warriortalks a lot about stress and what exactly causes stress. Stress is not something that is caused by anything but ourselves. We put stress in our lives, because we let all the things we have to do in a day or week overwhelms us.

The simple act of writing down what we have coming up and being able to look on it periodically not only takes it out from cluttering our mind, but it allows us to take things one step at a time. Writing things down also gives you the option to plan to accomplish things on specific days at specific times.

A real secret is using a planner. I would die without mine! I write everything in it and plan to accomplish things on specific days so that I don’t let all the things I have to do that week stress me out each day.

3. Take breaks — Treat yourself! Oftentimes when I’m stressed out, I’ll take a quick nap, watch an episode of my favorite show, go on a walk, go grab dinner with a friend, anything! Studies have shown that for every 30-45 minutes of studying, you need at least one 5-10 minute break. It’s healthy for you and will release the stress you feel from the amount of work you have to deal with.

If nothing else, just realize that things sometimes need to be taken one step at a time. Don’t overwhelm yourself with everything that you have to do, because I know there’s a lot on your plate.

Do something, cross if off your list and move to the next. I know it’s hard, but I guarantee you it’s possible. Just don’t give up!

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