By: Maram E
In high school, the pressure comes to life. Students are juggling classes, homework, volunteer work, extracurriculars, chores, jobs, and more. During spring semester, the pressure builds up with SAT, ACT, AP exams, to name a few, being around the corner. Also, the mid-year slump occurs, where students are losing motivation to keep pushing through. Here are some tips to help you relax and keep your determination going.
- Take deep breaths: This is a common suggestion. When you feel overwhelmed, step away from the work or put the work down and take 3 deep breaths. Close your eyes and lie down.. Focus on something positive and take your mind away from the work.
- Watch Comedy: YouTube is filled with funny clips from a variety of shows. If you are upset, overwhelmed, or angry, watching something that makes you laugh will calm you down. This will remind you that there is joy in life and that you can always turn to laugh to ease your mind. Laughing can make you feel empowered by showing that work isn’t taking you over, and you can still have a good time.
- Exercise/Take a Walk: Walking around while listening to music can help ease your stress. Taking part in exercise or sports can help release bottled up stress in a productive manner. Dancing can also loosen you up. There are many different physical activities you can take part in to release stress.
- Journaling: Taking a few minutes to journal your worries, doubts, and fears can be relieving. After journaling, a sense of relief comes from being able to release stress from the body. Also, reading what you wrote in the journal can allow you to find the sources of your stress and lead to you decreasing your stress.
- Divide your Work: We have all had those moments when we have a million deadlines all at once. It is best to start your work early instead of procrastinating, in order to have a little work each day instead of big chunks of work over a shorter period of time. Ask teachers for assignments that are due at the beginning of each month. Figure out how you can do proportions of your work each day by creating a schedule; it will be less stressful in the end.
Great suggestions! I have shared this article with my students in tomorrow's announcement. This connects nicely with their first project in Success that deals with stress and health literacy. Thanks for posting!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post that highlights the most important skill of managing stress. Know that stress will come, but how you manage it means the difference between success and failure.
ReplyDeleteGreat strategies!
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly enjoyed this article and will share these tips in an announcement with my students.
ReplyDeleteThese are wonderful tips on how to handle stress and the challenges that come when assignments pile up. I often suggest to my students that they take a walk outside, even if it's just out on a deck or balcony. Somehow being in nature is calming.
ReplyDeleteLaughter is an incredibly important part of life. It's important to remember that life is more than work, and you'll work harder when you laugh and breathe deeply too.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the "divide the work" idea, because being able to check of accomplishments helps to build momentum for finishing the larger assignment.
ReplyDeleteExcellent strategies for managing stress in high school were outlined in the article. Students are faced with many pressures at this level, especially in the last 2 years. I have asked students to stop, set back, take a deep breath, and relax. To coin a phrase, "just chill." Frequently, I tell students to "take small bites" in accomplishing a goal, instead of trying to "eat the whole steak."
ReplyDeleteGreat advice. I really like the "watch comedy" suggestion. Watching funny videos online can really take your mind off trouble and stress. Exercising is also a great stress reliever.
ReplyDeleteGreat advice! I especially liked the comedy suggestion because laughing is one of the best stress relievers. Journaling and exercise are also great for releasing feelings of anxiety, worry, fear etc. These suggestions are useful to anyone regardless of age. Great article.
ReplyDeleteGreat tips. Sometimes you just need to take a mental break to refocus so that you can get back to an assignment or test preparation. When I use any of these tips, I come back and accomplish my task at hand much more effectively and efficiently.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dalila, these tips can work for anyone at any age! I think we should post these in the common areas, halls, bathrooms at my f2f school as we prepare for "testing season". Time management is one of the best ways to handle stress but that requires planning and having enough time to manage :) Thanks for the reminders of how to stay healthy and focused for success!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that exercise and dividing your work are key! Exercise gives you energy, clears your mind, and allows you to get better rest at night. Dividing your work and prioritizing assignments are key to help you not be overwhelmed! Less stress is better!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that exercise and dividing your work are key! Exercise gives you energy, clears your mind, and allows you to get better rest at night. Dividing your work and prioritizing assignments are key to help you not be overwhelmed! Less stress is better!
ReplyDeleteGreat advice about exercise! Your stress builds up and it needs a way out. Exercise is the perfect release of stress. Even if you feel like you have too much to do to take a break, you will be more successful if you take a break first. Just a short walk can make a world of difference.
ReplyDeleteThis is such good advice! It is very easy to get overwhelmed, especially if you fall behind in class. It is very important to learn how to handle stress effectively so you can still be successful. I am a big fan of dividing my work. It makes it much more manageable if it is in small chunks!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing these strategies that apply to both students and teachers! I especially value comedy's role in relieving my own stress, although I probably need to incorporate exercise a little more. I hope my students connect the relevance of our pacing guides to help them divide up the work into doable sections.
ReplyDeleteI like your comment about journaling. I think it can be used in other ways as well. Making a checklist at the start of the week and referencing at the end of the week may help students with daily tasks than need to be completed.
ReplyDeleteThese are great strategies. My face to face students really start to struggle with time management this time of year and they get frustrated. Exercise and reflection (journaling) are great ways of reducing stress.
ReplyDeleteAll of these are good ideas and for many people will reduce the stress of many situations whether it's a tough exam schedule if youre a student or if there is something even more troublesome going on in your life. However, for students or adults with ADHD these tips may not be enough. From my own experience with two adults with ADHD and a small child with ADD, emotions can be more intense. This includes stress. I would love to get some insight in how to help those suffering with the symptoms of ADHD.
ReplyDeleteAll of these are good ideas and for many people will reduce the stress of many situations whether it's a tough exam schedule if youre a student or if there is something even more troublesome going on in your life. However, for students or adults with ADHD these tips may not be enough. From my own experience with two adults with ADHD and a small child with ADD, emotions can be more intense. This includes stress. I would love to get some insight in how to help those suffering with the symptoms of ADHD.
ReplyDeleteI always find a walk is a great way to relieve stress, particularly if I leave the electronics at homes. When I do this I can focus on my walk, my environment and clear my mind. It always makes me feel better and usually provides me the reflection time I need to reconsider the challenge I am facing.
ReplyDeleteThe ideas of "dividing up the work" and "taking deep breaths" are simple yet effective techniques for students, tutors and teachers alike. I look forward to using them in my online classes.
ReplyDeleteThe ideas of "dividing up the work" and "taking deep breaths" are simple yet effective techniques for students, tutors and teachers alike. I look forward to using them in my online classes.
ReplyDeleteI really like this article and could use the advice myself. I particularly like the suggestion to watch comedy clips and exercise, as I find that I do this as an adult.
ReplyDeleteThis is great advice! We should all laugh daily and exercise more!
ReplyDeleteOnce you leave the world of being a student, sometimes you lose sight of how stressful school can be. I like this article because it allows me to reflect and keep my students life in mind as I plan for their success. These are great tips for students to practice so they can enjoy their school experience.
ReplyDeleteGreat advice about taking care of your whole self to prepare for a big test. All-night study sessions and eating badly simply adds to the stress and makes it all worse.
ReplyDeleteThese are terrific suggestions and they can certainly be used after your high school years as well. I find when writing a long paper or working on a major project, taking breaks and going for a walk, watching a video, and/or taking deep breaths can help revitalize you and keep you going. In addition, not procrastinating is a lesson everyone should learn! Wonderful tips!
ReplyDeleteThakng a walk is a great way to de-stress! I do this all of the time!
ReplyDeleteThese are some great tips for everyone, because everyone is going to feel stress at some point. The key is to know how to deal with the stress when it comes and these tips are a great way to do just that.
ReplyDeleteGreat tips for young people. I think tips 2-4 are easier to accomplish, especially for students involved in extracurricular activities/sports. One area that I struggled with as a young adult (and still do) was dividing my work. I think this tip is key to a students success and the earlier we can teach and encourage this skill to our young students, the more success they will encounter because this often creates a lot more stress than necessary.
ReplyDeleteThese tips are great for high school students and for adults. Feeling overwhelmed is a common feeling and these tips offer good advice. I often find myself talking a deep breath (maybe counting to 10 also) before I move on. I also like to divide my work up into manageable chucks. Life often forces us to juggle many things at one time and these strategies are a good starting point for finding a balance.
ReplyDeleteThese are great tips! #5 is something I do a of the time. Remember - how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. That is also the way to do a large task - divided into smaller tasks and handle it one bite at a time!
ReplyDeleteExcellent tips! I love watching a comedy before a test to de-stress.
ReplyDeleteGreat tips for everyone, not just students! #5 is very important. It helps me to make a To Do List of every little step I have to accomplish. Then I feel like I have really accomplished something when I can check it off or cross it off this list.
ReplyDeleteI think these are wonderful strategies to deal with stress. I know that for me, taking a moment to take several deep breaths can help diffuse a situation. Also, stopping what I'm doing to get some exercise (my favorite is swimming) can really help your mind get that break it really needs.
ReplyDeleteWhat wonderful ideas for alleviating stress - I especially love the one about watching comedy! Another helpful stress-buster could be playing with a pet, either yours or a friends. We all work better when our minds are at peace.
ReplyDeleteI love the "Watch Comedy" strategy! Sometimes all you need is a good laugh to make the world seem a little better. Dividing your work is also very important so you don't get overwhelmed. Make a plan that works for your time so you can take breaks when you need to. This is also helpful with large projects. Make a checklist to keep yourself on track without having to rush at the end.
ReplyDeleteAs a teacher I am aware of how stressed my students can get when they are facing difficult tests, personal responsibilities, parents expectations, and personal goals. You have offered great strategies for students to ease their stress levels. This is an issue that many students face and I am glad you have brought it up to let students know there is ways to combat this issue.
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely something high school students need to learn to do more of. There is so much pressure on students to succeed and do well. However, they need to relax and take a moment for themselves and seek out like minded individuals.
ReplyDeleteIf students only knew these simple tips. Often times I've seen students get completely overwhelmed and start to struggle. Many of them are trying to do to many things at one time and that's why I think taking a breath and divide and conquer are great tips to pull from this article. All too often students also wait until the 11th hour to get work done and don't realize that if you plan better you won't stress so much.
ReplyDeleteMaram,
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful list of ways to help high school students manage the many stressors they face on a daily basis. Not only are these great for high school students but also for anyone that is dealing with stress in their lives. All to often we get so overwhelmed and forget to take a step back to breath or take time for ourselves by exercising or going on a walk in nature. Love the article!
These are all fantastic methods to relieve pressure- they are also highly conventional and can be performed by the majority of people. High schoolers have a very packed schedule, and simple tasks like taking deep breaths and going on a walk don't take much time and are also effective. I really enjoyed reading over your list of destress techniques!
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