May 18, 2016, by Emma
Keeping Cheerful During Exam Time
It’s mental health awareness week this week and in this time of seemingly never-ending stress, sleep deprivation and general misery, it’s more important than ever to look after your mental health. Whether you’ve been spending all night every night in the library, or have left it all to a last minute cram, it’s important to stop and breathe for a moment, which is why I decided to write a list of little peaceful things that I do when revising that allow me to remain cheerful (mostly) during this temporary hell!
Disclaimer: If you feel like exam stress is getting too much for you, or your mental health is seriously suffering, please go and seek professional help. No amount of ‘listening to the rain’ or ‘eating good meals’ is going to take the place of a mental health professional and your mental health needs to take priority.
- Watching the ducks on the lake
- Making a really nice (but easy to cook) meal at the end of a long day of revising
- Half price Frappocino’s at Starbucks during happy hour
- Listening to the rain when I wake up in the morning
- Sitting in the sunshine whilst I eat my lunch
- Noticing all the blossom and new leaves on the trees
- Listening to children laughing on my way home from the library
- Putting a tiny bit of extra effort into my appearance in the morning
- Waking up extra early and having a bath before I go to the library
- Having a candlelit bath after I come home from the library (Yes sometimes I have had two in one day)
- Finding something new on Netflix
- Having an ice-cream
- Setting a time in the evening when you’ll stop revision for the night
- Mindfulness meditation (don’t do this nearly regularly enough, but it does seriously help, I use an app called calm but there are loads of books and apps that’ll help you get started)
- Playing a new video game (Currently super into Life is Strange)
If you’ve tried all of these and more and you still find exam stress is getting too much, don’t hesitate to use the University Counselling Service or to contact Nightline for a friendly, non-judgmental ear to listen!
Have you tried any of these methods? How do you keep cheerful during stressful times?
The Millennium Garden on Uni Park
So I read “Keeping cheerful during exam time,” and think ‘why not, I’ll check out Life is Strange’, because god only knows I need to be more cheerful.
I’ve binged played the whole thing in one day, and I’ve finally finished at 3am. Suffice to say, I am not cheerful!!
(J/k, thanks for the rec, it really put exam troubles into perspective)
Oh nooo! Sorry I haven’t got to the end yet, although I’ve heard a lot of people say it destroyed them! I’m a bit nervous to finish now haha!