Top 10 Stress Management Techniques for Students

Students, with their packed schedules, are notorious for missing sleep. Unfortunately, operating in a sleep-deprived state puts you at a distinct disadvantage. You’re less productive, you may find it more difficult to learn, and you may even be a hazard behind the wheel.

Don't neglect your sleep schedule. Aim to get at least 8 hours a night and take power naps when you need them.

Using guided imagery to reduce stress is easy and effective. Visualizations can help you calm down, detach from what’s stressing you, and turn off your body’s stress response.

You can also use visualizations to prepare for presentations and score higher on tests by vividly seeing yourself performing just as you’d like to.

One of the healthiest ways to blow off steam is to get a regular exercise program going. Students can work exercise easily into their schedules by doing yoga in the morning, walking or biking to campus, or reviewing for tests with a friend while walking on a treadmill at the gym.

Starting now and keeping a regular exercise practice throughout your lifetime can help you live longer and enjoy your life more.

When your body is experiencing a stress response, you’re often not thinking as clearly as you could be. A quick way to calm down is to practice breathing exercises. These can be done virtually anywhere to relieve stress in minutes, and are especially effective for reducing anxiety before or even during tests, as well as during other times when stress feels overwhelming. 

Another great stress reliever that can be used during tests as well as before bed (to prepare for sleep), or at other times when stress has you physically "wound up," is something called Progressive Muscle Relaxation, or PMR. This technique involves tensing and relaxing all muscles until the body is completely relaxed.

With practice, you can learn to release stress from your body in seconds. Learn more about PMR. This can be particularly helpful for students because it can be adapted to help relaxation efforts before sleep for deeper sleep, something students can always use, or even to relax and reverse test-induced panic before or during a test. 

A convenient stress reliever that has also shown many cognitive benefits, music can help you to relieve stress and either calm yourself down or stimulate your mind as your situation warrants. Students can harness the benefits of music by playing classical music while studying, playing upbeat music to ‘wake up’ mentally, or relaxing with the help of their favorite slow melodies.

This can be helpful while studying, but can also be a great strategy to use while walking around on campus or gearing up for tests.

It’s a fact that clutter causes stress, and can decrease productivity and even cost you money. Many students live in a cluttered place and even have cluttered study areas, and this can have negative effects on grades. One way to reduce the amount of stress that you experience as a student is to keep a minimalist, soothing study area that’s free of distractions and clutter.

This can keep stress levels low while studying, can save time in finding lost items, and keep roommate relationships more positive. It can also help students gain a positive feeling about their study area, which can help with test prep and encourage more studying. It’s worth the effort.

You may not realize it, but your diet can either boost your brain power or sap you of mental energy. While a healthy diet isn’t generally thought of as a stress management technique or a study aid, it can actually function as both.

Improving your diet can keep you from experiencing diet-related mood swings, light-headedness and more.

Students often find themselves "getting very sleepy" (like when they pull all-nighters), but—all kidding aside—self-hypnosis can be an effective stress management tool and a powerful productivity tool as well.

With it, you can help yourself release tension from your body and stress from your mind, and plant the seeds of success in your subconscious mind with the power of autosuggestion.

Did you know that optimists actually experience better circumstances, in part, because their way of thinking helps to create better circumstances in their lives? It’s true! The habit of optimism and positive thinking can bring better health, better relationships, and, yes, better grades.

Learn how to train your brain for more positive self-talk and a brighter future with affirmations and other tools for optimism. (Don’t know if you’re an optimist or a pessimist? Take this quiz!) You can also learn the limitations to affirmations and the caveats of positive thinking so you aren't working against yourself.