Want to hear something scary? We have less than two months left of school.
Stressed out yet? You’re not the only one. As we near the end of the semester, a sense of urgency and anxiety can be felt around campus. How will I get every assignment in on time? What do I need to study more? Does the professor like me enough to curve my grade 15 points to an A? You might have felt the need to ask yourself these questions, but what you really need to do is relax for a bit. Self-help is an $11 billion industry filled with discovery classes and projects. But you don’t have to pay for a subscription to take care of yourself. Here are five ways to relax without spending money.
- Clean your room.
Cleaning your room is something we might forget to do from time to time during school, but I find it incredibly therapeutic. A cluttered desk contributes to a cluttered mind, so get organized! Spend a few minutes of your next break straightening out your room, disinfecting your desk and keyboard and washing your bed sheets. This will also help to fight off those germs during cold and flu season. The last thing you need is to get sick!
- Go to the library, go to the nook on the third floor and look out at Cruz Plaza.
It’s called people watching, but 100% warmer. If you go to the third floor of the library and make a right, near the bathrooms is a tiny nook with couches and a window. If someone’s not already hibernating in the corner, take a seat and watch people out on Cruz. Or, find your own little nook on campus where you can just take in the sights. What are you accomplishing? Absolutely nothing, and that’s one of the keys to relaxing.
- Ditch the electronics.
If you’re like me and grow flustered at the amount of time you spend behind a screen, give yourself a break. Unplug yourself from the digital world for a while. Instead of scrolling down your Tumblr feed, write out your feelings, draw, jam on the piano in the Administration room in the CSC or just daydream. Do anything that gets you away from the phone and into relaxation.
- Eat some dark chocolate (with at least 70% cocoa).
If you don’t like chocolate, you’re missing out on the therapeutic effects a simple taste can do! According to the peer-reviewed journal Antioxid Redox Signal, chocolate can improve your mood to make you feel more content. Why not use it to relax? Plus, it tastes pretty good too!
Dark chocolate is not exactly free, but if you went trick or treating and rationed it like the health-conscious student you are, you should have a few in the mix.
- Take a day off from work.
This might be counterintuitive to you. Why would you take off work, miss money and dig yourself into even more debt? But, if your job is stressful and taking time away from your self-care, consider taking a day off and gain some of that much needed relaxation time.
Don’t wait until you feel overwhelmed to take some time off from your busy life. Take a step back, stop thinking about all of the assignments you have to do for a while and take a breather. Give your body and brain the break it deserves so you can effortlessly crush these next couple weeks of school.
