{"id":25394,"date":"2014-08-27T07:00:53","date_gmt":"2014-08-27T14:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/2014\/08\/6-ways-to-calm-down-when-youre-stressed-from-studying\/"},"modified":"2014-08-27T07:00:53","modified_gmt":"2014-08-27T14:00:53","slug":"6-ways-to-calm-down-when-youre-stressed-from-studying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/6-ways-to-calm-down-when-youre-stressed-from-studying\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Ways to Calm Down When You\u2019re Stressed from Studying"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\t\"6<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n

\n\t\tBy\u00a0Megan Weyrauch<\/a>\u00a0on September 9, 2013<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This\u00a0article<\/a>\u00a0 is brought to you by Uloop & Kaplan.\u00a0 Search\u00a0Uloop<\/a>\u00a0for student housing, roommates, college jobs, internships, scholarships, and college news.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s 3 a.m. and you\u2019re still studying. Sweaty fingers turn the pages of your textbook as your heart tries to bust out of its chest-jail. In a daze, you scan the same dull paragraph four times before you realize that you aren\u2019t actually reading the text. Your head is pounding and you cannot concentrate as you count down the final hours, minutes and then seconds until you need to be relaying your knowledge on paper.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re stressed from studying, buddy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stress is \u201ca\u00a0normal physical response<\/a>\u00a0to events that make you feel threatened or upset your balance in some way.\u201d When you sense danger, your body goes into \u201cfight-or-flight\u201d reaction mode in order to protect you. This is great for\u00a0emergency situations<\/a>, like slamming on your breaks to avoid an accident, but it is not so wonderful for studying. The symptoms of stress are numerous; below is a graph from\u00a0helpguide.org<\/a>\u00a0highlighting many of the symptoms and warning signs of stress.<\/p>\n

\"stressed<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0Stress occurs naturally in college students, who are overwhelmed balancing multiple classes with work schedules and extra activities. Studying proves another monster conducive to stress, and some students choose to turn to unhealthy ways of coping: alcohol, drugs, overeating. However, there exist many healthier (and cheaper) ways to beat stress.<\/p>\n

Instead of reaching for a bottle of beer to relax, relieve your tensions from studying in some of the following ways.<\/p>\n

1. Engage in a physical activity.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

One of the greatest ways to relieve stress is through physical activity. Whether this is through a vigorous workout or by participating in sports, you will find that getting your body moving helps you to literally\u00a0sweat off tension.<\/a><\/p>\n

Wittenberg University student Ben Fox has been involved in athletics from a young age, and has used this physical activity as an outlet for stress in his college years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really relieves a lot of stress from a lot of things if you can do some physical activity,\u201d said Fox. \u201cYou\u2019re sweating everything out and you feel like you\u2019re getting cleansed of your stress.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adding a daily physical activity into your schedule can help you to beat stress before it comes on. However, there are ways to get rid of stress as you are studying, too.<\/p>\n

Fox, who is an education major, mentioned that he keeps a jump rope hung up near his door for quick bouts of physical activity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen something is stressing me out, I pick up that jump rope and just jump rope like a fiend, and I\u2019ll feel much better about the stress,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Amanda Oravec, senior biochemistry and biology major of The Ohio State University, also likes to relieve some studying stress with physical activity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI run and I dance. A lot. It kind of takes me to my own world,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Relieve some stress with either a few minutes or hours of physical activity to get your blood pumping, and then go back to hitting the books.<\/p>\n

2. Get out of the house.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Leave the place where you are studying in order to re-energize. Take your dog for a walk or go alone and\u00a0spend time in nature<\/a>\u00a0for a little while to relax your mind. Spend some time thinking about something other than your study materials.<\/p>\n

\u201cTalk it out with friends or just watch a movie,\u201d said Oravec. \u201cStress studying is never good, so think about something else for a while to get your mind off of things; it makes things so much better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meet a friend for a quick cup of coffee (or for one of these\u00a0six healthier options<\/a>) to chat for half an hour about something other than your big exam or paper that is due, or go see a movie together. Get up and get out for a bit, but remember to come back; you have a test, after all.<\/p>\n

3. Write.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Writing when you are stressed out can help you figure out the\u00a0things that are bothering you<\/a>. While it may seem obvious that the act of studying itself is stressful, take a few minutes to write down a list of what aspects of your situation are causing you the most grief. Are you trying to study a lot of material in a small amount of time? Is there certain material that you don\u2019t understand? Did you procrastinate? Once you figure out why you are stressed you can better address how to alleviate your woes.<\/p>\n

You could also take some time away from studying and do some creative writing. Jot down a quick poem or short story to get your creative juices flowing; even if you don\u2019t consider yourself a \u201cwriter\u201d this will at least give you a much-needed break from studying.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

4. Do something you enjoy.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Hobbies<\/a>\u00a0can help you relax. Put aside the books and take a few minutes or up to an hour to put your stress towards an activity you enjoy. Oravec does just this with baking.<\/p>\n

\u201cI normally take a time out and do something completely different from the subject I\u2019m studying, and, once I feel better, I get back to studying,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m a stress baker. When I bring cookies and cupcakes to my friends, they know I\u2019m stressed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Oravec, Fox uses one of his hobbies, playing sports, to get his mind away from studying.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I\u2019m in the moment playing the sport, all that matters is that sport,\u201d he said. \u201cFor those 45 minutes of my day I\u2019m relieved of stress.\u201d<\/p>\n

Get physical, watch half an hour of your favorite television show or YouTube channel or just listen to a few of your favorite songs; breaking up your study sessions with activities or hobbies you enjoy will help relieve some test tension and studying monotony.<\/p>\n

5. Relax your mind and muscles.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Do some\u00a0yoga<\/a>\u00a0or Tai Chi. Give yourself a massage (or get a nice friend to give you one). Take a hot\u00a0bubble bath<\/a>. Imagine yourself elsewhere for ten minutes.<\/p>\n

Fox uses a technique called \u201cescapism<\/a>\u201d to weed out stress.<\/p>\n

\u201cI close my eyes, and I just imagine myself on a wonderful beach, and I\u2019m surrounded by fun people, we\u2019re doing the limbo, just enjoying the sun,\u201d he described. \u201cI\u2019m enjoying that mental image for ten minutes and then I come back to my studies and I feel relieved and can start my studies again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are some links to\u00a0muscle relaxation<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0meditative techniques<\/a>\u00a0that can help you to calm down.<\/p>\n

6. Just breathe.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Take a deep breath in and hold it for five seconds. Now let it out. Tell yourself that everything will work out in the end. Take a second to\u00a0focus on the present<\/a>\u00a0and just chill out.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes all people need to do to calm down is breath. It really does help,\u201d said Oravec. \u201cTake time out to relax and put things into perspective; chances are it\u2019s over a test or something that in the big picture of things is not going to change your life.\u201d<\/p>\n

If deep breaths don\u2019t help, you can check out some of these\u00a0breathing exercises<\/a>\u00a0to help you get through your stress.<\/p>\n

Stress is rough, but using any of these methods will help you to relax and to endure intense study sessions. If you have your own healthy methods for coping with stress, feel free to leave them in the comments below.<\/p>\n

We want to hear from you! Tell us which career goals you\u2019re pursuing and which graduate programs you\u2019re considering. Share your thoughts in the comments below, on Facebook<\/a>, and via\u00a0\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0using #kaplangoodlife<\/a>.\u00a0We may share your story in an upcoming post.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Visit\u00a0kaptest.com\/unlock<\/a>\u00a0to see what the good life has in store, and get inspired with more personal stories to come.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

For more college news, and to search for student housing, roommates, college jobs, and internships, go to Uloop.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The post 6 Ways to Calm Down When You’re Stressed from Studying<\/a> appeared first on Kaplan GMAT Blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Megan Weyrauch\u00a0on September 9, 2013 This\u00a0article\u00a0 is brought to you by Uloop & Kaplan.\u00a0 Search\u00a0Uloop\u00a0for student housing, roommates, college jobs, internships, scholarships, and college news. It\u2019s 3 a.m. and you\u2019re…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"1","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,558,243,940],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gmat","category-kaplan-blog","category-blog","category-gmat-prep-gmat","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/120"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25394\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}