Feature
Take a chill pill
Zannatul Lamea
STUDENT life is bombarded with activities. The more the activity, the more comes stress as an unwanted sideline. Stress effects include increased irritability, heightened sensitivity to criticism, loss of concentration, tempestuous mood and so on. The most common kind of stress comes from academic studies. And with the exam season getting on the nerves of A level and HSC examinees, stress is all on hype. As a part of our student life, cramming is almost an indispensable part. Piling up all your lessons, assignments, and studies for a “tomorrow” that never comes, results in equivalent amount of piled up stress as well. Cramming sometimes does good actually, only when you can keep your head cool . Stress before exam can be lethal and most of the times results in low grades. So, for my examinee pals- the best way to keep your stress level under control is to think about the exam less and focus on study more. Most of the students are seen worrying about what questions will come in the exam, will they find it “common” and thousands of other dilemmatic thoughts. Instead of chewing the head of your pen and wondering with a vacant gaze about questions to come or ways to peek over your classmates script- it would be much fruitful if you actually spend that time going through your lessons. You don't need to learn everything by heart, if there is shortage of time, try reading the untouched topics at least once, focus on understanding your lessons not memorising. Again, stuffing facts and dates into your brain leaves no room to remember them adequately. The best advice would be to jot down the points on a piece of paper, just as you read the lessons. Writing it once is as effective as reading it five times, seriously! The most important part would be to revise. Whatever subject matter you have covered, revise them at least once before the exam. If you have understood and at least eye-scanned your lessons once, you don't need to worry about getting “common” questions anymore.
Next in line comes stress resulting from work. Be it your part time job or full-time- works stress always sets its claws real deep. Instead of working at a stretch, take a break at times. Go for a coffee, or a refreshing lime, chat with your colleague, have some light conversation and freshen up. A short break can energize you with a fresh spur of energy. Lingering your work or keeping it off for sometime later would increase the stress level subsequently; don't put off what you can do today, at least shortlist your to-dos and set deadlines for each to have a grip on yourself . Trust me this helps to keep you on track. You can't be organised unless you want to, and once you want to, don't put it off, be spick and span and get set go!
Another type of stress which students somehow are worse at is stress resulting from relationships. Ranging from relationship with your closest friend, your immediate sibling, your colleague, your cousins and most significantly- your going to be spouse; stresses are by-products of quite a lot of the listed relationships. When you take something too seriously, that is when the level of stress starts reaching its peak. Misunderstandings are part of every relationships, so instead of going all frenzy when there is a disruptive situation in your otherwise smooth relation, don't freak out! Give it some time, try putting yourself in others shoes, try to reason out from you significant one's point of view. If you are too arrogant to admit your mistake or consistently think it is not your fault, then try dissolving the matter completely. Don't bring it up, act normal, do something to make up for your mistake, even if you don't want to apologise directly, try sending unspoken signals to set things right. Relationships take years to be build, but may take a few minutes to break. Try your best, do your part- so that you don't repent later thinking you could have at least tried. Treat gently with all relationships that are close to you, give it sufficient amount of love and warmth to nurture your relation into a healthy one.
Whatever kind of stress you are going through, sort it out and eliminate it from the very root. Take a day out, do what makes you feel happy, talk to someone you like, recollect your sweet memories and cherish them. Wipe out your stress and live your life in full throttle, stress isn't really worth, it really isn't...
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