Avoid or moderate all substance use. Alcohol and caffeine are the most widely used and abused substances by college students. Alcohol use certainly does not contribute to your ability to study and retain information.

If you are going to drink alcohol (and you are of legal age), do so with a certain degree of intelligence. Drink only moderate amounts. Make sure you have a non-drinking designated driver. And, curtail your alcohol use a few days prior to major exams or projects. There’s no better recipe for failure than a hangover and a chemistry final to turn you into a college drop out.

  Caffeine is widely used, especially around exam time. A pot of coffee and an "all-nighter" is still a fact of life at most colleges. But excess amounts of caffeine can lead to nervousness and forgetfulness. These are not traits that you would normally like to possess during an exam.

Remember to take time for yourself. Play a video game, watch a movie, talk with friends. If you’re feeling overwhelmed and totally stressed out, sometimes all you need is time away to relax and re-group.

  “Attitude is everything.” What does that mean? The way you think about things can make all the difference in how you react to events. Have you ever noticed how the exact same situation can stress one person out, while it might not affect another person at all? This difference can usually be explained by the way that each individual thinks about the situation. Changing the way you think (a.k.a. cognitive restructuring) can help you manage stressors in your life. Here's how.

  Each time something happens in our lives, the information about that event enters our minds. We then interpret it; we form beliefs about what the event means, why it happened or how it is going to affect us. While we can't always control the events that happen, we can control what we think about the event, which in turn shape our feelings about them.

  Self-talk is an ongoing internal dialogue we each have. Oftentimes this conversation is overly critical, irrational and destructive. To reduce stress, instead of being your own worst critic, treat yourself with a gentle touch. Talk to yourself like you would a child who you care about very much.

<< Previous    1  2  [3]  4  5  ...8    Next >>