Regardless of how organized or hard-working you may be, graduate school can be quite stressful. In today’s blog, we’ll talk about how to manage stress in a healthy way. We’ll discuss setting boundaries, finding healthy outlets for stress, and more.
1. Set Healthy Time Boundaries
Because your workload in graduate school will fluctuate, you may inevitably have to work into the evening or get up early to work. However, in general, it’s important to set limits on how much time you let schoolwork consume. Try to set aside at least an hour of each day where your time is your own and you don’t check email or think about school or work.
For me, I like to wake up before anyone else is up so I can have some quiet time on my balcony with coffee. I try not to let myself check any work or school emails, instead just sitting and listening to the birds and watching squirrels outside. Sometimes that doesn’t always work out, but in general, I try to honor that time to myself, and it helps me be more centered and productive for the rest of the day.
I have other friends who dedicate their time after night classes to reading for fun or watching a show. Whatever works best for you, try to keep a small portion of your day for yourself. By setting this healthy boundary, you’ll be less likely to burn out and feel overwhelmed.
2. Find a New Hobby
As you dedicate a little time each day to yourself, you might explore a new hobby as a way to manage stress. Crafts like crocheting, knitting, collaging, painting, etc. are great ways to keep your hands busy and get your mind off of school and work.
If you are looking for super practical hobbies, you could start by trying new recipes, which can give you meals or desserts for the week while you decompress. Or, you could start growing and caring for houseplants. I love having plenty of greenery in my house, especially in the colder months. Plus, having things to take care of is a great distraction from stress.
3. Self-Care for Your Future Self
Self-care is another good way to manage stress. While immediate self-care like doing a face mask or getting a sweet treat are awesome, future-oriented self-care is just as important. When I’m feeling stressed, my first impulse is to let my home and nutrition sit on the back burner. However, this can easily snowball into even more stress when my space is a mess and I’m not eating real meals.
To combat this, I prioritize chores as a form of self-care. Instead of letting cooking go by the wayside, I think of meal prep as a service for myself in the coming week, and this helps motivate me. It’s the same with tidying my room and doing the dishes every day. Doing these small chores now is a favor to myself when I come home tired after a full day. Try using this strategy with any tasks you’re tempted to ignore when you’re feeling stressed, and think of these chores as a favor to your future self.
4. Give Your Eyes a Break
Nowadays in graduate school, almost everything is online. Between digital textbooks, online assignments, and jobs that require a computer, it’s easy to spend 8+ hours a day looking at a screen during the school year. If this is the case for you, it’s important to give your eyes a break. My eye doctor recommended that I stare at the ceiling or across the room for a few minutes each hour. By refocusing your eyes on a far-away point, you’re giving them some rest from the close-up computer screen. When you rest your eyes, you’re less likely to feel fatigued and run down as you work. Conserving your energy in this way doesn’t take much time but helps keep you going for longer.
You may also want to take a prolonged break from screens if you are on your computer for hours at a time. Especially if you get headaches from too much screen time, it’s important to look at something non-electronic for 20 or 30 minutes between long periods of screen time. This could be reading a book, stretching, or just closing your eyes at your desk for a bit. By breaking up your periods of screen time, you reduce eye strain, which helps you feel more energized and less overwhelmed.
5. Give Your Brain a Break
Similarly to your eyes, your brain gets fatigued when you work for long periods of time. If you feel your brain getting tired, try not to push it to work longer. Instead, take a quick break to do something that doesn’t involve lots of focus or brainpower. Maybe you go on a 15-minute walk around the neighborhood, or maybe you do some yoga.
I personally love to do some stretching when I’m taking a break, since my muscles often tense unintentionally when I’m focusing. Yoga with Adriene on Youtube has some great neck and shoulder stretches that are a go-to for me. If you need to be around people for a while, maybe you go to the gym for an hour or attend an exercise class. Any type of movement is a great way to give your mind a rest. Plus, when you move your body, it can help give you an energy boost!
While stress is a part of life, there are some ways you can manage extra stress in graduate school. We hope today’s blog has helped you find the best stress management strategies for you. For more tips on graduate school life, be sure to check out our Tips and FAQs blog section.
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