Menu
10 Ways to Deal with Academic Stress
Whether it’s keeping up with your peers, upholding your school’s reputation, or making sure to meet your parents’ expectations, academic stress and pressure can often be observed in majority of students. And while it may be a driving force to push you into even greater heights, too much academic stress can also be the factor that pushes you down a spiralling hole of academic burnout and loss of motivation.
Placing too much on a child’s plate will only lead to the child not finishing his/her meal and the child not wanting to eat for a longer period of time. The same goes for academics. The more academic stress a student experiences, the more likely he/she will lose motivation for academics and the harder it will become for him/her to gain interest in academics as well.
Luckily, there are a few ways to help lessen academic stress amongst students. And If you want to learn how to, then you have come to the right place. Relaxing and resetting stress build up can be as easy as taking a full night’s rest, and we have listed 10 similar ways to help you lessen academic stress.
Why stress build up is bad for you
Stress build-up is never a good thing. It is the accumulation of a student’s whole lifetime worth of academic stress piled up into a single bubble ready to explode. The slightest mishap could lead to an explosion and an outburst of that student’s pent up emotions, hardships, and inner thoughts.
What’s more dangerous is if that student hardly realizes that he/she is about to explode and begins an outburst at the wrong spot. This could lead to a lot of misunderstanding, ruined relationships, and words the student can never take back.
Or even worse, that student’s bubble never gets popped by other individuals and is instead suffocating the student so they decide to pop it themselves. These are a few examples of why stress build up is dangerous once left unattended.
Common causes of stress
There are a lot of factors which could lead to the development of academic stress and these factors can vary depending on person to person. However, there are a few common causes for academic stress amongst students which are:
Parental expectations
Parents often want their children to achieve great things not for their own sake but for the future of their beloved children. However, there are some instances when the expectations of parents become too high for a single student to reach and thus become a cause for the student’s academic stress.
School prestige
When students enroll into a prestigious school, they often have to keep up with that school’s recommended average. And most of the times, these schools often push their students to reach that certain mark for them to keep their prestige. While this might be helpful to keep others motivated to do their best, it could also become a root cause fr academic stress.
Lack of time management
It is not always the fault of others as to why some students experience academic stress. There are also instances when the cause is mostly internal. Poor time management can often lead to lack of time for relaxation, cramming, and a suffocating atmosphere which will inevitably lead to academic stress.
10 ways to lessen academic stress
While we can do nothing to eliminate the external causes of academic stress, we can work on how we receive such stress become more tolerant to them. Here are 10 ways you can do to lessen academic stress:
1. Take a break
Taking a break every now and then is something that is recommended when studying, exercising, or any activity that requires a lot of time. This will help relieve some of the physical fatigue you experience and will give you room to relax and not feel pressured.
Taking a break from academic activities is one of the things you can do to help lessen academic stress. It allows you to be free from the shackles of school for a while and lets you enjoy yourself for a brief moment. However, make sure that you are only taking a break and not running away from academics as the latter will only cause more problems not only for you but for the people around you as well.
2. Get enough rest
Another great way to relive and lessen academic stress is to get a full night’s worth of sleep. At least eight or more hours of sleep is needed for you to function properly and at your full capacity. Sleeping also relieves any physical fatigue you may have experienced from being in a classroom all day.
Sleeping for a sufficient amount of time also helps keep you motivated to pursue your goals and to continue moving forward, which is an important mind set when trying to finish your studies.
3. Exercise regularly
Exercising regularly is often overlooked by most students due to their tight and busy schedule. Students often find it hard to give time to exercise when they have an essay due the next day or need to study for their midterms. But even just 15 minutes of exercise a day can do wonders to boost your mood and increase your energy to finish the day.
Exercise promotes proper blood flow to your various muscle groups to help keep them from getting too tired too easily. It also improves your mood as exercise has been shown to increase endorphin production in the brain. Not only that but you also keep yourself physically fit and active to prevent the occurrence of common ailments such as colds or the flu.
4. Eat healthy
You may have already noticed by now, but taking care of yourself is one of the things you need to do in order to help lessen academic stress. And what better way to take care of your body than to eat properly.
Supplying yourself with your daily dose of nutrients not only prevents micronutrient deficiency but also fuels you to finish the day. Certain amount and variety of nutrients is needed by your body to maintain its everyday function and you can only acquire these nutrients by eating balanced meals every day. Not to mention that it just feels good to eat healthy and properly.
5. Breathe deep and slow
Have you ever been in a distressful situation and someone tells you to take a few deep and slow breaths and you feel immediately calmer than before you took those breaths? Well the same goes when you are trying to relieve yourself of academic stress.
Taking deep and slow breathes promotes proper oxygen levels in your body and relaxes your muscles. Your brain also gets the proper amount of oxygen it needs and can thus think more rationally than if you were hyperventilating. Whenever academic stress is starting to get to you, taking a few deep and slow breathes can do wonders to help you calm yourself and not be as affected.
6. Try meditating
Yoga and meditation have been an art that has existed for thousands of years and has proven its usefulness in various ways. One of these ways is to lessen academic stress. Just like breathing deep and slow, yoga allows for a calmer mind to process the causes and how you can deal with academic stress. And as a bonus, yoga also promotes flexibility and good posture.
7. Listen to music
Listening to music of your preference can often do wonders to improve your mood and alleviate feelings of stress and anxiety. Escapism has often been accompanied with good music and if you aim to relax and not mind the causes of your academic stress, then listening to music can often accompany you in your goal.
However, there are certain genres of music that promote specific emotions such as heavy metal promoting the release of pent up anger or lo-fi promoting feelings of surrealism. Do be wary of genres that promote even more sadness and negative emotions as this can often fuel you stress even more.
8. Organize your workspace
A well-organized workspace is a relaxing workspace. Nobody wants a cluttered and messy workspace. This will only remind you of your impending deadlines, tests, and other stressors that can lead to even more stress.
Take time to organize your workspace to remind yourself that you are in control of what you are doing and are not dictated by stressors. The more organized your workspace is, the lesser you will feel pressured and stressed about your academics as you remind yourself that you are in control of your own actions.
9. Think positively
The tips listed above would not work properly unless you have a positive mind set, which is what this tip is all about. Try to develop a positive outlook and view your situation in a different light. This may take some time to accomplish, but it will all be worth it once you see that this is all one great challenge for you to overcome.
There will be no academic stress if you do not view the common stressors as stressors. By changing your outlook and having a positive mind set, you can reverse the effect of academic stress and see it as a challenge which can propel you to even greater heights.
10. Talk to someone
The last bit of advice we can give you if you want to lessen academic stress is to talk to someone about it. It helps to talk to someone and let all your pent up stress out for another person to listen. This allows you to hear your complaints yourself and receive feedback or reassurance from somebody else.
You can talk to your friends, family, teachers, or even professional psychologists about it and feel a lot better now that you have said your worries out loud. Or you can write it on a journal and let your family read your thoughts. Anything to relay and express your stress to others can greatly help to the reduction of academic stress.
If you like what you have read and want to learn more, why not hire a tutor to supply you with even more knowledge than this blog? Luckily for you, FamilyTutor has just what you need. FamilyTutor is a home tuition agency in Singapore with thousands of highly skilled and capable home tutors. We cover tuition from pre-school up to university level students and have a variety of subjects to teach you ranging from Maths, Sciences, and Languages. All it takes is a few clicks of a button and you can hire the best home tutors in the market.
Carelle
Carelle is a teacher who has been through the ups and downs of the teacher and learner life. She wishes for every learner to gain educational satisfaction that will help embody the people they want to be in the future.
Tell Carelle Below What You Think About Her Post!
About FamilyTutor!
FamilyTutor is an established home tuition agency in Singapore! We match suitable home tutors for our clients not just to improve the students' academic grades, but also to build a strong rapport and meaningful relationship with the students and even the their whole family. FamilyTutor put every student in good hands!
If you need an excellent home tutor, feel free to call/WhatsApp us at +65 8777-2168! Our matching service is free!
Related Posts!
Follow Us On Facebook!
Education Levels
National Exams
Math & Science Subjects
Language Subjects
Japanese Tuition
Korean Tuition
German Tuition
Humanities Subjects
Social Studies
Chinese Literature Tuition
About Us
FamilyTutor is an established and the people’s favourite home tuition agency in Singapore! We match a suitable tutor for you not just to improve the student’s grade, but also to build a good rapport and meaningful relationship with the student and even with the student’s whole family! With FamilyTutor, every Singaporean son & daughter is in good hands.
Contact Us
- 8777 2168
- 8777 2168
- Mon-Sun 9am-10pm (Including PH)
- [email protected]
- 17 Petir Road Singapore 678278
