Five Helpful Tips For Managing Stress While
Studying Abroad
Students have a lot on their plate living abroad to study. Besides their studies, they have to manage their finances, make new friends, adjust to a new environment, get used to a different kind of cuisine, manage house chores, adjust to staying away from home, etc.
Keeping up with all these aspects of life as a student studying abroad can sometimes become overwhelming, which is entirely understandable. What is important is to realise that in case you feel overwhelmed or stressed, there are healthy and easy ways you can deal with it and feel relaxed!
Plus, staying healthy, physically and mentally, is essential to have a wholesome experience while studying abroad.
So here are five helpful ways you can manage stress while studying abroad –
Physical Exercise
Getting your body some physical exercise is one of the best ways to shake off the stress and feel refreshed. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a hardcore activity like gyming, but a brisk walk, cycling, or even a sporting activity like football or badminton can be a more fun way to burn some stress. Anything that gets your heart racing is ideal.
Biologically, why exercising helps us feel better, is because when we exercise, it releases endorphins which are happy hormones that give us a burst of energy and make us feel good. Exercising gives us a sense of accomplishment that works well with rejuvenating the mind.
Spending time outdoors and with other people exercising as well, will boost your spirits even more! When it gets difficult to motivate yourself to exercise on your own, joining clubs and societies in your college is a great help. Many times if you cannot push yourself to take the initiative of exercising on your own, you can even join clubs and societies through college.
Say you are living in a student housing in Australia, then you should find classes and groups nearby to help you get going.
Time Management
We often tend to get stressed because we may have a lot of tasks but not enough time to complete them. So the best way to tackle this problem is to manage your time in the best way possible, such as creating a schedule or a timetable. Allocating time to complete essential tasks will ensure you do them on time. Also give adequate time to yourself for socializing and relaxing, because all work and no play is not practical! Create a priority list and segregate tasks based on how urgent they are; This will help you have a greater clarity when you see your tasks listed out in an orderly manner.
Say you are living in a student accommodation in Glasgow, you can stick up your to-do list in your room and refer to it from time to time so that you don’t miss out on any deadlines!
Talking to friends and family
Having friends or social buddies is a good way of creating a local support system, especially if you have shifted abroad alone to study. It is very important to talk about how you are feeling in case you think you have been stressed for a long time. Sometimes you may even consider talking to a counsellor or therapist if the stress continues. But in general, having a social circle or even just one friend to talk to helps a lot in overwhelming situations.
Keep in touch with your family back home, frequently video call them, tell them how your day went, and wish them goodnight. This helps in letting your mind know you are not alone and your loved ones are just a call away.
Sleep well
You need to sleep well to function productively. Not enough sleep can distract you, spoil your mood or even give you unnecessary headaches. This, in turn, can lead to a bad day, and if you don’t sleep well for more days, it will only make you feel low and tired. So sleep well!
Meditation or Mindfulness Exercises
A calm mind guarantees a relaxed mood, and also helps deal with any stress related or anxiety you might be facing. Meditation is not as technical as it sounds, so don’t worry, you wouldn’t require much time to practice it. All you need to do is, sit by yourself, close your eyes and breathe. Inhale and exhale and focus on your breath. This is the most basic meditation technique to align your thoughts. You can also download meditation apps on your mobile phone that are great for beginners to learn different meditation and calming practices.
These are five simple and easy tips you can keep in mind to beat the stress of being a student studying abroad. Don’t worry, being a student in these covid times is a challenging adventure, you will only learn and grow from it. So whenever you feel things are getting too much for you, take a step back, review your feelings and take constructive action to start feeling better! And remember, you are not alone in this; everyone at some point can get overwhelmed when dealing with new environments away from home. Just follow these tips, and you will be doing great!
Studying abroad can be overwhelming at times but a warm and cosy home also helps to reduce the daily stress. Amber is a platform that offers thousands of accomodation options all over the world. Visit their website to book your home away from home absolutely hassle free!
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