Doing the little things for yourself can make a big difference for your mental health. Make self-care part of your daily routine, college student or not. Here’s how you can check in on yourself and improve your mental health by taking care of yourself.
1.) Do more of what you love.
life in college can get specifically hectic and it’s easy to get wrapped up in papers and studying that you let go of what you want to be doing with your time. Carve out a specific time in your day or week to be dedicated to working on a passion project. A passion project can be anything from learning a new skill to directing your own movie. Whatever you love to do, make a specific time slot to do that. Passion projects help keep your motivation up and improve performance in everyday life.
2.) Taking mental breaks.
Every student loves those nights when they have 5 assignments due at midnight and an exam at 8 A.M. The workload does not have to be that extreme to take a mental break, but doing so will improve your quality of work. If you’re struggling to get in that so-called “grind mode,” walk away for ten minutes and do something that is not at all related to school, like watching a funny video, having a spontaneous dance break, or even a quick cat nap. Then after your mind is more relaxed, come back to your work and you will have improved focus.
3.) Go for a quick workout.
As someone who relies on adrenaline to get things done, raising my heart rate improves my productivity. A workout doesn’t have to be anything crazy, it could be a quick jog or even short walk around campus. getting your heart rate through exercise instead of caffeine will help you feel more awake and motivated. If you’re feeling specifically tense, pull up a short yoga video on YouTube to loosen up any tight muscles, and stay relaxed.
4.) Be creative
Embrace your inner child and pull out your artistic side. Even if you don’t consider yourself a good artist, taking time to draw or color will help relax the brain. Creativity will help your brain by forcing it to think outside the box and, in turn, distracting it from the stress of everyday life.
5.) Listen to soothing music and slow your breathing
After a long day of keeping your heart rate going fast, unwind and focus on slow breathing. Turning on slow and soft music can help you relax while doing slow breathing exercises. You don’t have to have a full-out meditation session, but paying attention to your breathing patterns will relax the brain as you are winding down to go to sleep.
6.) Invest in essential oils and a diffuser.
As someone who treats my anxiety with all-natural remedies (no pill shame, that’s just what was determined to be best for me) I can not stress how much I rely on my essential oils. I love diffusing mine at night to relax my brain in order for me to fall asleep. In any instance when I’m in need of relaxation, I mix a few oils together and turn it on.
7.) Disconnect from technology.
Whenever I’m feeling overwhelmed or anxious, trining off my phone for the night calms my mind because it eliminates unnecessary distractions that are causing me stress. This can be done in a couple different ways depending on what is causing you stress. If you find social media to be a toxic stressor in your life, setting time limits on social networking apps or dedicating one day a week to no social media will improve your mental health.
Hailey Nicole Inspired 