Managing stress as the semester wraps up

The most common question I am asked as a clinician is: “How do I feel less overwhelmed?!” Stress is a fickle feeling. Some of us love to keep ourselves busy and stressed because we feel that we function well under stress. Some of us long to find the answer to reducing our stress so we don’t feel so stretched thin. We may not realize that there is actually an optimal level of stress in which we perform our best under a certain level of stress. This is called the Yerkes-Dodson Law. Too little stress results in us procrastinating, finding other things to do, napping, and possibly performing poorly. Ironically, so will too much stress. But we engage in this avoidance for very different reasons when we are under- versus over-stressed.

It is important for us to learn about how to identify eustress, or positive/desired stress, and what is distress, the type we usually want to avoid. For example, we generally want to feel stressful enough to study for an upcoming exam and stressful enough to look both ways before we cross the road. But we don’t want to feel paralyzed by overwhelm, forget what we have studied or avoid our tasks because they are too daunting. Consider checking-in with yourself when you notice an emotion; it can be a valuable source of information. What is it telling me about this situation? What do I need? What am I missing?

We can do many things to manage our stress, and they may seem basic, but they must be practiced routinely or they won’t be as effective. First, start early. When it comes to school, look over your syllabi and familiarize yourself with what will be expected of you. It may be to your benefit to use a written planner. This way you can begin to plan how you will use your time in the coming weeks based on the size of your assignments. Consider planning each day around a regular schedule like your school days were in high school. If possible, get up in the morning and leave your dwelling, aiming to use time between/after classes for library and study time before returning in the afternoon or evening.

It’s understandable that you might want to put off your work right after class because you need a brain break. So take one, but set a timer so it doesn’t become an all-evening break. Set a timer for 20 minute chunks of time followed by a 10 minute movement break. Research shows that we can reset our focus by moving for 10 minutes and minimize distractions by using this 20-10 approach.

Limit your involvement to meaningful involvement. You may wish to examine your extracurricular activities and decide which mean the most to you. Quality involvement will mean more to your future than quantity of involvement. Choose the club/organization/sport that will bring you the most joy, leaving some of your energy to tend to the other tasks in life, such as connection and spiritual practice.

Tend to your basic needs. Admittedly, this feels like I am stepping into parent role but it needs to be said (and you have heard this before): get enough sleep. Eat nutritiously. Move your body. Play. Maintain your health. Connect with friends. Tend to your spirituality. Ask for help. Take the steps you need to make a stable baseline that can navigate changes in your stress level.

Check out the Joy Lab Podcast for an exploration on how to insert more joy into your life and manage unwanted stress.