Month: October 2017

College is a time of go, go, go. You have a lot happening – you have classes, a personal life you’re trying to keep up with, and your own mental and physical health. How can you balance it all?

Creating structure for yourself, such as studying at the same time every week, can help you balance your academic workload. Creating a routine can alleviate the stress of not knowing what is coming up next or being surprised by deadlines. Try sitting down once a week to make a list of everything coming up the next week that you need to do, then pull out a calendar or planner and assign dates and time slots to each task. This can help you tackle the upcoming week with less stress!

The time you’ve had available to spend on your social life can fade as Fall quarter deadlines start to creep up. Having trouble squeezing in friend time? Double up! Create study dates with friends and spend the first 30 minutes to an hour catching up on life. It’s important to keep a healthy personal life balance because you cannot be in school mode all the time. It’s not good for your brain, or your mood!

Finding time to exercise is important, but mental health often gets pushed to the back-burner when trying to manage your time. Self-care is especially important when working and living in the stressful environment of college. Schedule time to do activities you enjoy and bring you a sense of peace – maybe this is reading a fiction book, watching a movie, or even making yourself a good meal. Treat yourself.

Lastly, when managing your time and trying to find balance, don’t be afraid to say “no” to extra activities or responsibilities. You don’t have to do it all and it’s better to find balance and success!

Setting goals is a common way to motivate yourself into action. But setting the wrong kinds of goals can have unexpected consequences on your mood. Setting unrealistic goals can cause you unnecessary stress and lead to feelings of failure for not meeting those goals. Setting goals that are realistic can motivate you and help you find success.

How can you set realistic goals? Try using this method! Good goals are SMART, which stands for:

• Specific goals are not too vague and include important details like what, who, when, where, and why. Doing well in class is a great goal, but the goal of studying every Monday is a better and more specific goal.
• Measurable goals let you know when the goal has been met. For example, setting a goal to study for two hours is measurable compared to setting a goal to just study.
• Attainable goals are realistic. Maybe you want to start exercising more – but getting to the Olympics from the couch might be difficult in a quarter. Try setting a goal of a weekly walk!
• Relevant goals can help you prioritize. For example, it might be more important to study for a test that is happening tomorrow than to try to get ahead for readings in another class.
• Time based goals can also help you meet deadlines on time, for example, setting aside a chunk of time a week before a paper is due to write, is going to help you meet your goal of finishing the paper on time (and not at the last minute!).

Lastly, while it might be helpful for you to follow S.M.A.R.T. goals to find success, it’s important to recognize what your individual strengths are and to utilize them. Maybe you perform better under shorter deadlines or setting a slightly higher than attainable goal will motivate you even more to complete a task. Maybe you will benefit more from smaller, easier goals at first. Regardless, be kind to yourself and remember you can always adjust your goals!

Unless you’re a student athlete, it can be hard to find the time and motivation to exercise. On top of juggling your academic responsibilities and deadlines, it’s starting to get colder and darker outside. While it might seem like extra work, exercise comes with many benefits – making it worthwhile!

Regular exercise is one of the best ways to help yourself manage stress. Stress is everywhere in college. Stress can contribute to feeling anxious and low. Stress can worsen physical symptoms too, leading to problems like shoulder tension, stomach upset, or headaches.

Exercise can help treat symptoms of anxiety, depression, and help boost overall mood. Research has found that exercise can not only reduce stress but improve alertness and concentration. Exercise can alleviate some of these problems by relieving tension, both physical and mental.  When you feel better, you can perform better – in and outside of the classroom.

What can you do to add or increase your exercise routine?

• Set small goals to exercise a few times a week. The success of meeting small goals can motivate you to go after bigger goals, like longer and more frequent workouts. Check out these dorm-friendly workouts that only require a chair and a wall!
• Attend a Be Well: Mindful Yoga class – these classes are every Monday night from 7pm – 8pm and FREE for undergraduates.
• Make it fun! Going for a walk, a bike ride, a fall hike, or playing outdoor games with friends can be fun ways to squeeze in exercise, especially on the weekends.
• Lastly, you can visit SPU’s fitness center to get a cardio workout or visit the weight room – open from 7am to 11pm!

As Fall quarter starts, maintaining a healthy sleep and diet routine can be difficult. Academics and extracurriculars start to take priority. All-nighters and late-night snack runs start happening, and sometimes you even skip breakfast – all which can impact your success as a college student!

Your goal for sleep? Seven to nine hours a night. Here are a few tips to help you get that full night of rest:

• You’ve definitely heard this before but limit screen time. Put your cell phone away 30 minutes before bed (crazy, I know) and try reading if you’re having a hard time sleeping.
• Be careful of trying to “catch up” on sleep on the weekends. Unfortunately, this isn’t how sleep works, you can’t stock up on it for later.
• If you’re having trouble sleeping try taking a hot shower before bed. Research has shown that this may trigger sleep.
• Lastly, if you’re exercising (hopefully you are!) and you’re having difficulties falling asleep, try moving your work-out to earlier in the day.

According to Google, the top foods college students consume are pizza, fries, ramen, chips, and hamburgers. Considering you may be away from home for the first time or you’re in a dorm room, this diet makes sense and it’s tasty. What can you do to eat healthier?

• Make meal time important and set aside time to eat. It’s easy to grab a quick bite when you’re rushing to class but remember that without a healthy body, you wouldn’t even be able to attend class. Be conscious of what you’re using to fuel yourself.
• You already know it, but try to eat less meat and bread. All hail veggies and fruit! You can go here to download an app to your phone to see all the nutritional information for everything served in Gwinn commons. Pretty handy for staying health conscious.
• Finally, trying checking out websites like this one, that offer healthy dorm room recipes. Maybe get together with a few friends and do a weekly dorm-style dinner.