Finals Week Survival Tips

I’ve finally graduated college last weekend!!! Piles of homework, papers and exams will stay on my to-do list because I transferred to university. I stay motivated by reminding myself of the goal I want to achieve: to become a certified accountant. Final exams have been always a main source of anxiety for me. Throughout my college years I came up with 5 ways that helped me cut down stress during finals week:

1. Prepare for your exams ahead of time. Since I have a busy schedule, I try to set time every day to study. Studying has to be seen as a priority in order to find a way to get it done. The focus on finals week should be mainly on reviewing notes and not studying. Get started at least a week before the exam, all-nighter studying is not successful. My experience is that it makes you feel sluggish the next day and lowers your concentration.
2. Make an outline. As you read your textbook and your notes, write a summary for each topic and highlight to help you review. Review this outline before the exam.
3. Spend a great deal of time outdoors. Inadequate exposure to sunlight can trigger a depressed mood that could cause low scores on exams. Take frequent breaks like going out for a walk and have lunch outside the home. Finals week should not cage you in the house. A good study spot that helps me to focus is a park or backyard.
4. Get enough sleep. I usually feel energized and able to recall information if I sleep at least 7 hours. Don’t party during finals week! If you are sleep-deprived one night, it will take you long time to recover from a lethargic condition.
5. Eat healthy and exercise. Most students tend to eat junk food, “comfort” food while studying.  Try to limit caffeine and sweets because they are temporary energy boosts.  Instead, try to eat healthy snacks, such as fruits, nuts, and peanut butter. Workout is a good break from studying and a healthy habit that keeps you focused while studying.

Hopefully these tips will make your final week less stressful. Good luck!

Choose Happiness

Happiness is a conscious choice, not an automatic response. ~Mildred Barthel (http://quotegarden.com/happiness.html)

Each student is different in how they react to final exams. When finals week approach, I usually get anxious because I worry about good grades.  One day around my finals week, a little three year old girl, Callie posed me an interesting question: “Erika, are you mad or happy?”  She asked if I am mad because the notion of stress is not part of her vocabulary yet. It dawn on me that my tense mood that is carried from my personal life into my work is greatly perceptible and affects negatively everyone around me. The choice to become miserable or happy the whole day lies in my hands. Happiness is an emotional attitude that may be chosen.

• Make the happiness  choice. If you get flat tire or someone cuts you off in traffic, are you going to curse or smile? If you have an approaching stressful event, will you embrace a negative or positive mood? We may not be able to avoid stressful situations, yet we are able to choose how to respond to them.

• Make someone else  happy. Good spirits are transmissible. If  you are happy, you will find people around you sharing the same mood. If   you are kind in top of that, you will feel happier. Invite a friend for a  dinner or offer to help with something. Notice the positive feedback you get.

• Enjoy each moment of  your life as life is short. We are so      pressured with everyday life that we forget to enjoy small things like  smelling flowers or watch the nature. Callie reminds me every day to relish  and appreciate the moment. Whether you are playing with your children, or   having lunch with a colleague, ask yourself: “What do I want to remember  about this day?” I personally want to reach late adulthood with a good  sense of life satisfaction and happy memories.

We must choose to see the positive sides of the events. Life gives us a lot of opportunities to be happy about, yet most of us do not realize it. Do not rely on happiness to come to you.

Bye-Bye Stress!

Stress is a part of day-to-day living and an important concern as it is the cause of many medical and social problems. Nowadays, it is the number one killer and the leading cause of stress is financial problems. Sometimes stress is completely noticeable, such as when you are stuck in traffic, late for an appointment and lost a job.  But sometimes we get so accustomed to the everyday pressures, such as work conditions, money worries and family concerns,  that we don’t realize how stressed we really are. The main steps in managing stress in a healthy way are recognition of stressors, understanding the current way of dealing with stress and applying effective strategies, such as avoiding or changing stressors, compromising, and creating a healthy lifestyle.

• Recognition  of the particular events that cause stress.   Before you think about how to take proactive steps to manage stress, you      need to check on your habits, attitudes and acknowledge that you are the      one responsible for creating or maintaining stress in your life. You can      identify the causes of the stress by writing a journal, but I find      interesting quizzes. I found this short quiz on http://www.arc.sbc.edu/stressquiz.html     that may help. My score is 42 points, but the reason is that I really try  to manage stress.If you decide to keep a journal, write down what caused the stress and how you felt. Next, write down how you reacted to the particular stressor. Finally, keep a track of what you did to make yourself to feel better. Journals or stress tests can lead you to a greater understanding of yourself and your personal stress level.

• Look at the way  you currently deal with stress. Are your ways of  coping with stress healthy and useful or unhealthy and useless? Some of  the strategies you might use reduce stress temporary, but they have  negative effects on your health like smoking, drinking, using sleeping pills or drugs to relax, overeating, or under eating. After you recognized  your reactions to stress, it’s time to find healthy strategies to manage  stress.
• Find effective strategies.  Some of the stressors can be eliminated  by saying “no” to new projects and avoiding conversations on hot topics or  with people who irritate you. If you cannot avoid a stressful situation,   then you should try to change it. For instance, if you know that you are  running late is a stressor, then it’s time to start managing your time  wisely.
• Compromising is  another way to alter the stressful situations. Sometimes changing the stressor is impossible, and then you need to change yourself by changing your expectations and attitudes. I always pose this question to myself: “Is this event worth to stress?” Take a moment to think about all the things you appreciate in your life, including your own positive qualities. If you see good things about yourself, you will feel better. Do  not lose your sense of humor.
• Create a healthy lifestyle.  This involves eating a nutritious diet, exercising regularly, including rest and relaxation in your daily routine, making time for fun and getting enough sleep at night.

Finally, the key to a good stress management lies in our hands. We allow ourselves to be stressed, but we can control or stop stressor by learning effective tools.

How to Juggle Work, School and Child Care

As a busy adult, I get a lot done. I find myself juggle work, school, housework. It’s impossible to be a super woman, to handle everything, because you end up just stress yourself even more and accomplish less. I don’t remember to have times doing absolutely nothing at all. Sometimes we all want one of those days. Changing my attitudes and habits has helped me to balance my activities, chill out and get more joy from life. Whether you are a working student or working mom, these tips hopefully will help you in the juggling act.

1.      Schedule your time.   Before you go to bed, figure out the plan for the next day. This is the time when busy people get a relaxing moment to think of what they have done today and what it needs to be done.  For instance, figure out what homework you have due and what appointments you have soon.  This helps me to prioritize when other tasks come up at the last minute. I find it helpful to use the calendar to schedule a to-do list, but also don’t forget to include fun activities, such as vacation and meeting friends. Pick the top 3 things you need to accomplish today and get those done first, than your rest of the day will be more relaxing.

2.Establish a routine. Exercise reduces stress and helps you focus when you study or work, so keeping a working out schedule on a regular basis is essential. Manage your time wisely, so you can spend regular time relaxing and doing things you enjoy. From a nanny experience, I find it helpful to get everything done, if kids follow a routine as well. For example, have meal times, play times and clean up times at the same time, and ask children who are old enough to help with other chores. Younger kids like to sing a “Clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere” song as they clean.

3. Learn to Say No. You can avoid stressors by saying “no” to new assignments. Working as a nanny, I have seen many mothers struggling to meet their children’s needs. Some mothers say yes even when they are overloaded with work; therefore, they have hard time to balance child care with work. It is not going to be very disappointing and you will also be able to regain control of your life.  Over-loading yourself can lead to emotional and physical stress.

4. Do all your tasks at once. Grouping similar tasks saves a lot of time and allows you to focus better on the important tasks. For instance, instead of responding to the e-mail throughout the day, try to respond to them all at once. Make a list of your errands and do them all in once. Compared to running many errands, this strategy will save you time.