Vacations are favorable to eliminate stress and depression accumulated during the months of the college year. Traveling, active or passive rest are different ways of killing depression. Having no homework, no compulsory readings mean freedom, no schedules or planned timetables mean comfort and composure. However, this complete disconnection does not always function as a good antistress but causes more psychological problems than one can assume. Studies are not luggage to bear during college months, drop off during vacations and endure again in September. Here we offer 10 tips on how to get ready for the new college year without undergoing double tension.
Do Shopping – Prep for College
A week before the college year go shopping and buy all the necessary accessories: pens, pencils, copy-books, backpack, etc. Shopping college material reactivates fragments on the brain responsible for collecting and analyzing information. This process is deactivated during the vacations. Shopping is a famous stress reliever and functions as mitigation, alleviation of despair.
Do Some Reading to Get Ready for College
Find an interesting reading material and read at least 2 pages per day, five days before the beginning of the college year. It can be a book, an essay, a newspaper or an academic article. It can be any language and any area of interest. It should not necessarily be related to the area of study. Reading as a cognitive task activates the electrical flow to the brain and takes it out of the calm state.
Get on Early-Bird Routine
A week before, set the alarm clock at 7 or 8 am and try to get up as soon as it rings. This way you will reduce the possibility of insomnia afterward. Likewise, the sound of the alarm will not be that stressful later.
Organize your Wardrobe
Organize your wardrobe. Catalog all your clothes and place them in sets to ease the process of selection in the mornings. Having a nicely arranged closet gives a sense of self-assurance and comfort.
Do Some Yoga
Exercise in the evenings. Yoga, spinning, any physical training help to relieve mental tension that will come afterward. If exercising is not a choice have a half-hour walk every evening a week before the new college year. Try to walk faster than you normally do. Make sure your brain is not only focused on the process of walking but enjoys it.
Sugar Escalates your Stress Levels
Reduce the use of coffee or energetic drinks containing taurine. Replace them with organic smoothies or fresh juices. Diminish the employment of sugar in these drinks. Tea is not recommended either. If you are a coffee addicted drink latte or cappuccino. You have also the option of drinking decaffeinated coffee if the taste is what you miss in the coffee.
Start Planning your Days
Rewrite your notes and plan your days at least a week before. Don’t plan things that are not important and don’t overload your timetable with disproportionate projects. Focus on the most important stuff and make sure you don’t forget about weekend plans that should not be related to studies. If it is not possible to arrange a study-free weekend try to have at least 4 hours for out-of-study activities. You should plan at least 4 first weeks of the new college year.
Train your Memory
Have fun and play memory games with your friends a few days before the college year begins. These games train your mind, stimulate it and make the transitional process from a complete calmness to an active, dynamic state easier.
Reduce TV-time
Reduce the time you spend in front of the TV or laptop. Change virtual communication with a tet-a-tet contact. Students highly exposed to virtual content are more sensible and tend to starve from depression easier than the ones who prefer physical, offline connections.
Brainstorming will Reduce your College Tension
Take a sheet of paper every evening during the last 5 days of the vacations and write down all your worries and doubts. Brainstorming reduces tension and keeps you calm. Once you have got all your uncertainties on the paper look at them once more and erase the ones you find less important. Repeat the same several times during several days without being afraid of writing down the same doubts and anxieties.
Final Thoughts
Knowing how to get ready for the new college year reduces the risk of suffering depression. The transition from the complete relaxed state to an extremely active mode of being frequently brought to desperation and sometimes even to abasement. Nonetheless, there are possibilities to reduce and even avoid this state of anxiety and stress and enter the new college year with a fresh mind, operating and progressive intentions. Thus, go shopping, do cognitive activities, get up early, exercise, organize your clothes and ideas, drink less coffee, play intellectual games and go offline.
About the Author
Edita Hovhannisyan is an expert in Iranian and English studies. She is a mom of two sons and holds two University degrees. She contributes articles about education, its methodologies and new approaches to more effective learning and progress.
