Finding Balance and Relieving Stress in College

Finding Balance - Kayla Blogs

This another installment of the Productivity and Time Management Class! I’m co-hosting this workshop with two wonderful bloggers, Sara + Dani! If you’d like to join us, just follow along with our blog posts every week (Sara posts on Mondays, I post on Wednesdays, and Dani posts on Fridays!) and join our Facebook group. In the Facebook group, you can get some individualized attention from Sara, Dani, and I and connect with other people who are following along with the class!

This week is all about balance. And I’m gonna be honest… I have none.

As I was sitting down to write this week’s post, I basically realized that there was no way I could preach to you all about balance because this is one of the things I’ve been struggling with the most. Especially this semester. It seems like everything in my life blew up at once. And I wasn’t used to having to keep so many facets of my life afloat at the same time.

I definitely haven’t been getting enough sleep. I haven’t been eating well. And I haven’t been working out as much as I would like to.

But hey. Sometimes life happens and sometimes it sucks. As college students, finding balance is HARD. We have to do five million things at once. It’s in our blood. We pull all nighters and drink too much caffeine and don’t take care of ourselves. It’s what we do.

Here are some things to work on when it comes to finding balance and practicing self care:

Learn how to say no.

I’m guilty of constantly putting pressure on myself to do more. I have such a hard time passing up an opportunity because I want to do so much. I have to step back and learn that it isn’t healthy to accept everything that comes my way.

Don’t skip meals.

I do this constantly because I feel guilty spending money even though I’m on campus for a whole day. I’ll put off eating dinner until I get home at 10pm and sometimes even then I feel terrible eating something so late at night. I need to start putting snacks in my backpack or packing a lunch. It’s not good to skip meals and throw your body out of whack. Sorry body.

Listen to your body.

If your eyes are hurting because you’re forcing them to stay open, listen to that. Take a nap. Go to sleep and come back to it in the morning. Too often we will ignore what our body is telling us and try to push through anyway. And then we wonder why we’re sick.

Find a physical way to relieve stress.

Exercise is usually my best friend for this. But because my schedule is so completely awful this semester, I haven’t been able to go as much as I’d like to so I’ve resorted to some light yoga and meditation. I’ll admit that I haven’t been doing either of those things as much as I had originally planned but that’s okay! It’s my goal to make those physical ways to relieve stress a priority in my life.

Find a relaxing way to relieve stress.

I wrote this post about a month ago when I was having a rough week. If you ever find yourself wondering what you could do to help deal with stress (that doesn’t involve exercise), I have you covered!

If you’re curious about more ways you can help yourself to live a more balanced life, you might want to check out Sara’s ebook! I wrote about it in a post before and I found it super helpful. Although I’m not the best role model for maintaining a balanced life, this book is going to slowly help me get there!

Don’t forget to check out Dani’s post on Friday to see what she has to say about maintaining some balance in life.

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19 Comments

  1. October 21, 2015 / 12:42 pm

    Here from the Blogging Elite 🙂 As someone who graduated last year, I can’t even begin to stress the importance of saying no and exercise. I wish I’d known when I was still in school haha. Thanks for sharing!

    http://www.meandmine-r.blogspot.com

  2. Sara Kate Steadman
    October 21, 2015 / 1:55 pm

    Amen!! This is so important and I couldn’t agree more with all of these, but I am especially loving the “learn to say no” one. It can be such a tough lesson to learn but you have to pour back into yourself sometimes! Thanks for sharing! Hopefully writing this has helped find your balance haha.

    xo,
    Sara Kate Styling

  3. Courtney Dunsmore
    October 21, 2015 / 2:49 pm

    Seriously good tips! I fail too often with the “listen to your body” tip- I need more sleep and to eat more, constantly!

    Courtney//As We Stumble Along

  4. October 21, 2015 / 3:08 pm

    Definitely recognise myself in all this – or, rather, in not doing any of this and (as a result) being bedbound for the past couple of days because I’m two months beyond exhausted and thus sick :s great tips, though, and a good checklist to have 🙂

  5. Sara Holt
    October 21, 2015 / 3:18 pm

    Learning to say no was the hardest thing for me to learn… in and out of college. But when we learn to accept that we can’t do everything, we feel so much more free!

  6. October 21, 2015 / 5:22 pm

    It most definitely is hard to find balance to do things while in college. But I agree with all of your points, it is really important to take care of your body and prioritize things like eating and exercise. I hope you can find some balance as you move along the semester, you’ve got this!

    Jadore l Jadoregrace

  7. Jordyn Brown
    October 21, 2015 / 6:42 pm

    I have the hardest time with skipping meals because my schedule is so hectic and crazy, but when I do take good care of myself I can tell the difference!

    xoxo, SS

    The Southern Stylista

  8. October 21, 2015 / 9:42 pm

    Balance is SO HARD– you’re not the only one! Your first three tips are so important and something I have really been focusing on recently. Exercise is helpful, too, plus it makes you feel better about your physical self. I’ve also been trying to meditate for at least five minutes a day; I’m really going to try to make it my new thing. If you’re interested in trying it, too, or learning more, I’d recommend Dan Harris’ book called 10% Happier.

    Best of luck this semester!! We got this!

    xo,
    Melissa | These words are my own.

  9. October 21, 2015 / 10:06 pm

    I’m not in school anymore, but I still find these tips to be so helpful. I’m identifying ways to relieve stress like exercise, reading in bed, and going on long bike rides sans phone.

  10. Miss ALK
    October 22, 2015 / 1:22 am

    I’ve definitely been doing badly with finding balance this week-it’s been so stressful with school and also some friend stuff!! Ahhh! Here’s to hoping for calmer and happier weeks ahead. 🙂

    xoxo A
    http://www.southernbelleintraining.com

  11. Ruka Urushibara
    October 22, 2015 / 5:35 am

    Skipping meals and then eating more at once, that`s my number one

  12. October 22, 2015 / 10:42 am

    Learning to say no is a big one for me. I truly need my alone time and tend to forget this when people are asking me to do things.

    -Morgan
    How 2 Wear It [] http://how2wearit.com

  13. Savannah Ward
    October 22, 2015 / 11:40 am

    Saying no is SO hard! But I think I’ve learned how to balance that pretty well. Skipping meals is so easy for me to do when I’m on campus all day and don’t want to spend the money, but it really brings me down and sets me back, so I always have snacks with me!

    http://thealwaysblog.com

  14. Cat
    October 22, 2015 / 11:56 am

    This post is so on point with how I’ve been feeling! College has been really putting on a lot of stress, especially with being a senior and figuring out life after graduation. I loved all of your tips and will be sure to start trying to get more sleep and saying no more often.

    http://classmeetscouture.com

  15. October 22, 2015 / 12:01 pm

    I agree we need both a physical and a relaxing way to relieve stress and sleep is SO important. Good luck finding more balance in your life!

    • October 23, 2015 / 11:29 pm

      Thank you so much Jordyn! I’m planning on catching up on a LOT of sleep this weekend.

  16. October 24, 2015 / 8:06 pm

    Not skipping meals is a really big one I need to work on – sometimes I just get so stressed out I can’t make myself eat!
    xx, Southwestern Prepster

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