While some stresses, pressures and disappointments are to be expected, it is possible to manage these so that they don’t overwhelm us. We can reduce the likelihood of excess stress if we deal with anxieties and difficulties at an early stage.
Ignoring them won’t make them go away and makes them more complicated to resolve later.
Can you spot the signs of stress? Do you ...
Sleep poorly or lie awake worrying?
Get headaches or muscle aches?
Flare up easily at other people?
Have a general sense of panic, dread,
anxiety or of being overwhelmed?
Being considerate of your needs and feelings doesn’t have to impede your ambitions – and can even help you to succeed. Give yourself a break. Find a healthy balance between extremes.
Strategies for managing stress and wellbeing
1. Get enough good sleep
Aim to sleep for 7–8 hours each day. Much more or less than this can tire you. Stick to the same hours for sleep. Use the same routine before sleep.
From late afternoon onwards, avoid products that contain caffeine. Power down for an hour before bed, switching off back-lit devices.
3. Create ‘breathing spaces’
Stress can start to mount without your having time to realise until you start to feel burnt out or overwhelmed.
Set aside times for rest, relaxing, fun, socialising, eating, quiet time. Give your body and mind time to refresh themselves.
2. Take breaks
Give yourself regular breaks in whatever you are doing. Watch for signs of tiredness.
4. Manage your mindset
Stress is affected by our attitude towards challenge. What excites one person can panic another.
If you tend to think, ‘I can’t …’, ‘Other people can …’ or ‘I’m useless at …’, change the record. Turn the message round: ‘I can …’, ‘I have already …’, ‘I am able to …’, ‘I am going to …’
How do students manage?
The mystery of time ...
Olivia, student
Time moves in weird ways - you seem to have loads of time on your hands - empty timetables compared to school, and all those empty evenings in the diary. And then not enough time to fit everything in.
It took me a while to realise that I need to be the one who organises things, to see I get everything done if several assignments have to be handed in at around the same time, and just getting out there and mixing so I have a social life.
A typical day ...
Krishna, student
On Tuesdays I have a lecture from 10 am to 12 noon. This lecturer does not just talk at us: she breaks the time up into short tasks, discussions, videos, etc. When all 90 of us are discussing something in groups, it can be noisy, but you get used to it.
The rest of the day is ‘free’ but as I am already on the site, I go to the library and prepare for the next day’s lectures, or do some reading for seminars I have every second Wednesday. Some Tuesday afternoons, I go to the gym, and study in the evening instead.
The first few weeks ...
Meenaxi, student
I thought I had a pretty good idea of what to expect as I had family at uni and I had been at a university summer school.
These did help but it was very different once I got here ... more people, more reading, more things to do, and everything seemed to sort of 'swim around' - there was so much information and so much to think about. I have become very good at writing lists!
List the times when you get most stressed or tense
Describe what happens
- How do you usually handle the situation?
- Do you have other options, what else could you try?
