Transcript Time Management and Stress Management

Time Management and
Stress Management
Tips on how to stay mentally and
emotionally healthy whilst studying
Why Time Management?
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Good time management is essential to success
at university
Planning your time avoids a ‘traffic jam’ of
work and helps you cope with study stress
Helps you study for harder subjects
Makes you feel in control!
Most Important: Plan ahead
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Prioritize your tasks- decide which task is most
important and should be completed first.
For example- In a choice between writing an
essay due in 2 weeks or preparing a
presentation due to 4 weeks - start with the
essay.
Tips
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Complete small tasks straight away rather than
putting them off.
Break difficult or boring work into sections
Don’t try and write an assignment in one
sitting-write it section by section
If you feel yourself loosing focus, sit back and
think “What are my goals? Why am I
studying?”
Long Term Planning
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Using a yearly or 6 month planner allows you
to plan your work over the entire semester and
helps to remind you about deadlines and
upcoming commitments
Place your planner in a position where you
have easy access to it (desk or wall)
Write in dates assignments are due and exams
are scheduled
Long Term Planning Cont
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Remember to allow for extra workload. If you
have several assignments due at the same time,
you will need to begin each task even earlier
than usual
Plan start dates for each task and write them on
your planner. Draw lines back from the due
dates to the start dates, using different colours
for each subject
Planning on a Weekly Basis
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It may seem that you have no time to study,
but short and medium time slots can be used
effectively
Short time slots include train/bus journeys,
lunch breaks and gaps between classes
Anything from 15 minutes to 1 hour is a short
break and is still useful!
Tasks for Short Time Slots
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Reviewing lecture notes
Completing short readings
Revising for exams
Proofreading an assignment
Writing essay plans
Completing tutorial tasks
Medium Time Slots
1 to 3 hours is a good time for more
concentrated study.
Medium time slots can be used for:
 Revising for exams
 Drafting/editing assignments
 Reading for assignments
 Taking notes from readings
Long Time Slots
More than 3 hours can be set aside for:
 Working on assignments
 Completing extensive amounts of reading
 Doing research for assignments
 Revising for exams
During medium and long time slots, take regular
breaks after 1 hour, as your concentration
begins to slip
Weekly Planner
For weekly planning use your student diary or
a timetable.
Fill in all the main demands on your time :
 Lectures and Tutorials
 Hours of work (part time job)
 Regular social commitments
 Mealtimes and family events
 Sleep times
Weekly Planner
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When you have written in the main demands
on your time, look at the blank time slots left.
This will help you work out how many hours a
week you actually have for study.
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Then plan time slots for study, fill in times that
can be used for study periods including short,
medium and long time slots
Stress Management
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The first and most important part of stress
management whilst you study is time
management! If you are organised and plan
ahead you won’t become as worried or
stressed with your studies.
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However there are several other tips that
can help you keep your stress under
control…
What is stress?
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Stress is our body’s way of responding to
any kind of demand. It can be from positive
or negative experiences.
Stress is unavoidable, we all need a certain
degree of stress in our lives to keep us
motivated, to protect us and to keep us
alert.
Stress and Performance
How do I know I’m stressed?
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Stress can be felt in a variety of different
ways, including physically, emotionally,
cognitively and behaviourally.
There are many different symptoms of
stress and each individual can experience
them differently.
However there are common signs and
symptoms of stress…
Intellectual Symptoms- How stress
can affect your mind
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Memory Problems
Difficulty making decisions
Inability to concentrate
Confusion
Seeing only negative
Desire to escape or run away
Repetitive or racing thoughts
Poor judgment
Emotional Symptoms-How stress
can make you feel
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Moody and hypersensitive
Depressed
Anger and resentment
Easily irritated
Lack of confidence
Anxiety
Sense of being overwhelmed
Urge to laugh or cry at inappropriate times
Physical Symptoms- How stress can
affect your body
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Headaches
Digestive problems
Muscle tension and pain
Fatigue
Chest pain, irregular heartbeat
High blood pressure
Weight loss or gain
Sleep disturbances
Skin problems
Behavioural Symptoms-How stress
can affect your behaviour
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Eating more or less
Sleeping too much or too little
Isolating yourself from others
Neglecting your responsibilities
Teeth grinding or jaw clenching
Loosing your temper
Overreacting to unexpected problems
Overdoing activities such as shopping or exercise
So what can we do?
There are many different techniques we can
use to assist in managing our stress.
Some general things we can do include:
 Exercising regularly
 Eating right
 Eliminating or reducing caffeine
 Sleeping regularly
 Develop emotional supports and using them
What else?
Relaxation Breathing:
 Take long deep breaths and visualize the air
going from your mouth down to your stomach.
 Attempt to do this 10-15 times a day.
 Breathing will slow down or stop the stress
response in your body, it helps the body to
relax.
What else?
Mindfulness:
 Find yourself a quite comfortable place where you
can sit down. Close your eyes and breath, noticing
your body, how it feels etc.
 With your eyes still closed, purposefully shift your
awareness away from your body to everything you
can hear and smell
 If you feel yourself getting caught up with your
thoughts, shift your focus back to your breathing
 Practice for 5-10 minutes
What else?
Laughing:
 Have some fun! Enjoy leisure activities as
your normally would.
 Having a balance between work, study and
friends is beneficial to your well being.
 Have regular hobbies or activities that you can
enjoy. This gives you a “time out” from study
and from stress!
4 things in 5 minutes
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1. Breath deeply- take several deep breaths to
slow your heart rate and reduce your stress
2. Relax your muscles- stretch your neck,
stand or sit up straight
3. Make a change- Step back from what you’re
doing. A few seconds can bring a lot of
perspective
4. Laugh- Nothing relieves the tension in your
body or mind like a little laughter
Remember:
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We cannot avoid stress. Positive and negative events
can cause stress so we have to be realistic.
Stress can be accumulative, so its important to
recognise our body’s response and warning signs of
stress.
Take a break between semesters to have some “down
time”.
Get help if you need it, through either friends or
talking to the student counsellor.