5 Ways to Beat Stress

Exams are coming up,  coursework deadlines are approaching and the mood around college is quickly becoming more stressed. Stress is inevitable at this time of year, but there are several ways to reduce the panic…

Write a list:
Knowing what you need to prioritise and what can wait until later can stop you feeling too overloaded at once. Break up large tasks into smaller ones you can manage in one go.

Go outside:

Being stuck inside for hours can make you feel like your entire life is consumed by work. If you have got 10 minutes to spare, get some fresh air to clean your mind.  (Obviously, if your deadline is 9am tomorrow,  make sure you do that first…)

Take a break:

Take regular breaks so the work doesn’t take over your life; just make sure you actually come back to the work at some point. Taking breaks  refreshes your mind and allows you to come back to it with a fresh viewpoint. 

Relax:

Have a bath, watch low quality TV shows, just do whatever it is that will take your mind off of the stress and calm you down. You won’t be able to produce anything to a high standard if you are really stressed, so put your health first and relax…

Finally, remember that the stress won’t last forever and that it will all be worth it in the end!

Long Distance Life

Being separated from people you care about is never easy. Phone calls, texts, e-mails, Skype, Facebook and apps like Snapchat may be able to ease up the communication barrier, but the physical distance between you will always be a devastating obstacle. So how can you keep your friends, family and loved ones closer; and what are the perks of long distance anyway? By Lucy Baker

You may be wondering: ‘what could possibly be redeemable in a relationship like that?’ and the answer is—of course—the person. 

Although you might go through the ‘six emotional stages’ of a long-distance relationship: Anticipation, Frustration, Denial, Hopelessness, Anger and (the best part) Joy, at the end of the day you’re always thinking of that person and why it is that you want to keep them in your life so badly that you would sacrifice a safer, ‘easier’ homeland relationship or just lose contact with them altogether. 

The key to keeping them close is communication and trust. Despite possible time-zone differences, work and college, you should always make time for loved-ones. Make time here and there to send an email or make a call, and every so often maybe even send a handwritten letter or even a ‘care package’ filled with their favourite sweets or a new shirt, or just something to remind them that you’re thinking of them. Not only does this help with your communication skills, it’s fun for the both of you and will hopefully be reciprocated by your missed one.

Of course, we’re not ignorant of the fact that you’re going to miss that friendly shoulder to cry on or those special hugs that only they can give, so as much as you can afford time and money wise, make an effort to schedule some visits when you can. 

But what about when you can’t visit one another: what are the perks and distractions you can do then? Sure, you’ll be missing them a lot, but the less frequent your time is together, the more you will cherish it. Additionally, you don’t always have to look your best if you don’t want to, and your communication skills are forced to improve in order to have a successful relationship. LDR’s also mean you can be independent in your relationship, and have plenty of ’me’ time when you need it. 

But probably one of the best things that it can give you is the knowledge that if you can survive the distance, you can probably survive anything. Your relationship is a bond set for life, so don’t ever forget why you want those special people in your life.

How to lose a Hangover

Follow these helpful tips to rid yourself of those annoying hangovers - By Hannah Brown

Nobody enjoys having a hangover, unfortunately it can be an inevitable consequence of a good night out, but it doesn’t have to be. There is no one cure for a hangover (sorry about that) there are however many things that you can do to help  prevent and lose a hangover.

Prevention

1. Don’t drink alcohol on an empty stomach. Food helps slow down the rate your body absorbs alcohol, so make sure you’ve had a meal before you go out drinking.
2. Drink plenty of water or soft drinks in between the alcoholic drinks to avoid dehydration.
3. Have a spoon of olive oil before you go out. This may sound disgusting, but the fat in the olive oil will limit your body’s absorption of alcohol.
4. Be sensible when drinking. It may sound obvious, but by being careful and watching what you drink, you can avoid a hangover altogether.

Treating the Symptoms

1. Drink plenty of water to rehydrate.
2. Eat bananas and kiwis, as they are a good source of potassium (a mineral you lose when you drink).
3. Drink some fresh juice to give yourself a vitamin boost.
4. Take a shower, this will help rehydration and help to wake you up.
5. Make sure you have plenty of rest, sleeping is best, as your body needs time to recover.
6. Have some wheatgrass, as it is high in concentration of antioxidants, which will make your hangover less severe, but be warned if you’re not accustomed to the taste, because it may aggravate the nausea that usually accompanies a hangover, so it’s a risky one.
7. Do some exercise! I know when you’ve got a hangover, exercise is the last thing you will want to do, but a gentle workout will make a big difference. Just remember to keep drinking a lot of water, to prevent your dehydration from worsening.

What can get you motivated to get coursework done?

Harriet Stevenson explores how to get motivated.

Motivation. It’s as sought after as ‘how to lose weight’. Yet in many ways it’s harder to achieve. When losing weight there’s always going to be some sort of diet to follow, but with ‘achieving’ motivation it’s much more difficult.

Too often I found myself working until 3 in the morning on the due day of an essay set over a week ago. This habit then started to stretch towards coursework as well, a very dangerous path to take as with coursework there are no second chances.

That’s why for my English Coursework, I made it my goal to explore how to get motivated or, at the very least, how to get it done earlier than the night before or early hours of the morning!

I discovered that you can’t sit in a mess, well I can’t any way – if you have piles of work surrounding you for many different subjects then it will distract you and cause unnecessary stress for other work.  However with an empty desk or table the distractions are greatly decreased.

Mess isn’t the only distraction though – mobile phones!! Helpful though a phone is for quickly looking up facts it is also the biggest distraction technique, whether it be ‘twitter’, ‘facebook’, ‘tumblr’, ‘instagram’, and hours of precious work is wasted. Even with turning off wifi or 3G there’s still plenty of games to waste hours on. So solution is, hide it/put it in another room.

Hopefully now you should be sitting in a virtually empty room, phone hidden and on ‘do not disturb’ and other work filed away. Next step for me is to find something to listen to, but putting my iTunes on shuffle never seems to work.

That’s why I found out that film soundtracks work the best, preferably those without lyrics so you don’t find yourself singing along! Some of my favorites, are ‘Arthur Christmas’ (especially in winter) or ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ to help achieve motivation and also speed up the process of that long essay or tedious coursework.

Another idea is to buy a relatively large bar of chocolate (ideally one you won’t eat all of in pure desperation!) and hide it just behind your computer or laptop screen. Then you know it’s there but not noticeable enough to distract you. Think of it as a treat, when you’ve written a really good paragraph break off a piece and savor it.

Hopefully by this time you’re set to write that essay, or work on your coursework. It’s also important to remember that once it’s done you don’t have to do it again. The pain of work is only temporary! Also enjoy it, sounds stupid but, you’ve chosen to do these subjects so you must have enjoyed them at one point – find your passion for them and let that ultimately be your motivation!

Good Luck :)

Links:

Arthur Christmas Soundtrack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuUKrT_4KEI&list=PLE56C85C77867252B

Pirates of the Caribbean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npWSI9iu2i0