How To Tackle Your School Stress

Happy back to school! I know school has been in session for about month or two now and school can bring a bunch of new things into the mix of life. On one hand back to school means seeing your friends, getting back into routines, and maybe getting back into that fall sport. But along with the good school can also bring back a familiar feeling of stress. The feeling of having a test, presentation or large assignment to do in multiple classes can be quite overwhelming. And as a sophomore in high school, I can definitely relate to the feeling.

So this week I wanted to share my top tips to help control your school stress. (And please not I'm not a certified psychiatrist or professional doctor. These tips are simply small things that can help you reduce your stress during school. If you're severely struggling with anxiety or stress I strongly encourage you to reach out to a professional or trusted adult for guidance)

1. Sleep

Sleep is a main factor for handling stress. It's been scientifically proven that individuals who sleep for less than 7 hours a night have higher stress levels than those who sleep more than 8 hours. Overall the less sleep you get per night, the harder it'll be for you to concentrate in class, and the more tensed and stressed you'll be, making it harder for you to perform well in school. Although speaking from experience some nights it can be hard to control what time you turn out the lights. So my main piece of advice for increasing your hours of sleep is: on the nights when you can control it, turn in a little early, and switch of you phone and any devices so you're not tempted to scroll when you should be asleep.

2. Find your relax activity

Finding a hobby or something you enjoy doing specifically to relax or that gets your mind off your current to do list. Finding this activity is pretty simple, for me it's running, the physical activity helps get my mind off my stresses and makes me feel ten times better whenever I do. Other relax activities could be yoga, reading, writing, baking and the list could go on and on. After you find the activity it's simply up to u to put in the work to implement it into your routine. For me I did this by participating in cross country in the fall and track in the spring. Implementing the activity in your life steadily is challenging, but it helps you learn to put yourself first in certain aspects of life.

3. Surrounding yourself with people who make you happy

This one's pretty short and sweet, but surrounding yourself with friends, family members, and overall just people who can lift your mood and make you laugh can instantly help relieve your stress.

And to tap our this weeks post, I wanted to share some memorable photos from this school year so far.

Me and my friends from this years cross country szn (pics 1+2) and Asking one of best friends to go to hoco w me (3rd pic)

Share with me some of your favorite ways to de stress during the school year and I hope my tips helped. Maybe I'll do a part two with more tips including adding some of yours!

XOXO

The writer